Marilyn

Marilyn, pencil on canson paper, @ 11x14"

Nicole

Nicole, watercolor, 16x20"

I think I've found my new favorite way to work....after watching a demo by Jon Houghton, I just threw the paint on the paper. I am liberated!

Carolina

Carolina, charcoal, 18x24"

Sweet Carolina agreed to pose for a demo on portraits for my class........

Jamie and Julia

oil on canvas, 30x40", Private Collection

detail

detail

Exposing Scarlet; CPCC Responds

This image is on display in Pease Gallery through March 31, as part of Artsfest at CPCC. Please visit Exposing Scarlet: A Visual Response to the Scarlet Letter in Ross Gallery, and CPCC Responds in Pease Gallery.

Portrait of My Mother, For My Daughter

pearls, watercolor on 300lb Arches paper, mounted on canvas, 24x30"

One day I found a sweet looking photograph of my mother as a child. “Are you holding a doll in this picture?” I asked. “No” she said. “I’m holding my dead sister”. It was common in Appalachia during that time to record life and death through a photograph. As I read the Scarlet Letter, I was conscious of the role of nature and the impact of civilization. Nature takes without conscious thought or deliberation, as with my little aunt I never knew. Pearl, regardless of her conception, survives by nature’s whim. Today, nature doesn’t always decide fate…she could be created in a test tube or vacuumed from her mother’s womb. In regards to nature and science, I do not propose that one is good and the other bad…they are simply facts of life today. Portrait of My Mother, For My Daughter acknowledges the grace that allows my mother, myself and my daughter to survive by nature’s whim and without civilization’s intervention. The pearls in the painting represent the lives that are not so fortunate.

Missing Mountains, mother cries

Missing Mountains (mother cries), 2007
collage; oil pastel, coal, thread
This image was exhibited at the America Recycles exhibit in November, 2007---I'm late putting it up.

Here is an article about work....http://www1.cpcc.edu/spark/features/art-instructor-finds-inspiration-from-childhood/

detail of Missing Mountains (mother cries). This image is made up of xerox copies of aerial images of strip mines in Kentucky and West Virginia. The forested area is compiled of views around my parents home. Dad found the lump of coal for me.

Watercolor Demo----"High Rocks"

High Rocks, Pippa Passes, KY

watercolor on 300lb Strathmore cold press paper, about 20 x 16"
landscape demo for my watercolor class