Welcome to my Blog
Enjoy my newest paintings, inspirations, classes & events
March 16, 2017
Today is pajama day at the school. You are allowed to bring one stuffed animal, that you can fit in your backpack, and wear your pj’s all day. Pretty much, it’s gonna be a great day. Back here at home where I work, it’s pajama day every day. And even though […]
April 12, 2016
Ode to a Juniper Tree You.Luscious.Beast. Meet me at the topOf a stark desert landscapeAnd I will worship your thirsty barkWe can scream at the clouds“Come! Come!”Cool me with your puffy petalsAnd your Blue.Gray.Wall.Of rumbling disgruntledness.Terrorize me with your fiercebolts of lightningAnd I will scream back into the whipping windYou.Don’t.Scare me.
April 10, 2016
I went to dinner with one of my most pizaaz-iest friends last night. Brilliance is so sexy. I hadn’t seen her in years and our lives had been through divorce, single parenting, wild child stories, several businesses and relationships. And here she was, looking better than ever at 50, surrounded […]
March 26, 2016
This is what I believe in, and what I teach my students: prepare thoroughly, do multiple sketches, KNOW your subject and then when you approach the canvas – completely let go. What I like about Gustav Klimt’s unfinished “Portrait of Ria Munk III”, is his unbridled doodling and dazzling, mismatched […]
March 18, 2016
The town of Ridgway, Colorado is run by creative, forward-thinking people who are highly supportive of the arts. They recently asked me to write about why I came to Ridgway, why I love this place so much. Here is my story… I live in a wild playground. A valley full of […]
November 30, 2015
I heard this weekend that an angry man who was ejected from a Wisconsin football game by police – instead of opening fire with a weapon or sending a bomb – sent 240 coconut donuts to the cop shop. Bravo, beautiful crazy person. Followed by yet another shooting on American […]
January 23, 2015
I overheard a comment a student of mine made at SQUAM last fall, and have been thinking about it ever since. “Inspiration is for amateurs”, she said, quoting another artist. I talk a lot about inspiration when I teach – was I missing something – is it just fluff? I think inspiration […]
October 1, 2014
Fall is my favorite season. If I could superglue every last golden, creamsicle colored leaf onto its branch I would. October brings with it preparation for one of my favorite holidays – Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead – and one of my greatest art influences. I don’t know what it is […]
September 26, 2014
This evening loved me like no other its fingers on the wind, stroking every moment of this day i hold so perfect This gift to mountain dwellers this last warming light before winter spreads its bony fingers We will cling to warm mugs we will cling to warm bodies But […]
June 16, 2014
Today I’m combining techniques I learned in Flora Bowley’s class with… ? With what? That’s what I’m wondering. I’m dreaming of soft backgrounds, when I combine these bold photos with MY techniques, however I have no idea how that’s going to happen. I’ve got great contrast and colors going on […]
June 3, 2014
When the river is swollen and lets loose its great, muddy flow I witness the catastrophe. Holding on to the last bit of anything worth holding on to with all its might until the proportions of what can hold a thing Tip, and what has clung to […]
February 10, 2014
From beneath this Beautiful Mess I have just cracked open The sound of the wind is like a freight train reminding me of the helicopter crash in southern Cal, and the fire that came towards us My heart a drum. Roaring through the trees and burying the mountains in black […]
May 26, 2012
Be sure to click on this painting for a larger view… Under the bridge the water moves, one thick rolling tongue. In this metal cavern of rivets and last night’s campfire cigarette butts and can top There is no time. Who slept here? This warm fire. We share this space. […]
February 7, 2012
The large nude on canvas did not turn out. However I am inspired to do another very soon and can already see it in my head! Here is a small one which I just love. ____________ My body my heart my soul my tears every nerve turns towards you and […]
January 22, 2012
In my latest quest to paint a nude, I’ve been moved by Gustav Klimt’s women (famous for “The Kiss“). At left, the woman’s face in “Water Snakes” is so ethereal – relaxed and blissful. At closer glance you can see it’s actually a painting of two female lovers. Klimt’s rich […]
December 23, 2011
My sister asked me, “What do the birds mean to you?”, in regards to my recent series of raven paintings. I had to think about this for weeks because it’s hard for me to put a visual image associated with deep emotions, into words. As always I resort to rambling. […]