where I spend my days

My studio is in a 20'x20' building west of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Here are a few interior views.

looking out the front door (north)


looking out the back door (south)


a side wall (west)


The blue and green and dark colored squares on the table and floor are 12"x12" plexiglas with encaustic wax. The finished piece will be 280 of these squares hanging in a grid.

At the moment I'm still painting individual squares, keeping them in organized piles on the floor as I finish them and trying to make one square blend into the next. I'm following a drawing I made that was chosen by the client.

Welcome to my studio

I'm going to keep a history of my work on a current commission. I decided to do it in this blog. So . . . welcome to my studio.

These are some views I see when I'm there.

the front door -


a little meadow -


a nice confluence of lines -

Anouk update

Here is a new picture of Anouk. She is a lively little sweetheart. It was truly indescribable to hold her.

The best

Our new granddaughter, Anouk. Born 7/8/09

2 hours old

Woman - Silver Leaf on Mylar

This is my newest work. The title is Woman. The pattern was created in the computer. Woman is silver leaf on mylar with bits cut out. The background is a cream colored wax saturated paper. Woman is flat and about 50" x 40". It is on exhibit at WSG Gallery in downtown Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Wax and Wire in UM Hospital Lobby

"Stillness in Motion" is on exhibit in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the main lobby of the University of Michigan Hospital from February 16 to April 13, 2009.

Most people will look at these paintings and see the wax patterns - they are the subjects. But for those who care to observe more carefully, the Moire pattern is there. Look and the motion of the Moire pattern will take you on a journey, the wax pattern with its stillness will bring you back to the present. Opposites - one doesn't exist without the other.

"Chinatempo", 36"x36", wax on 2 layers of aluminum screen, painted background


"Moire 1", 36"x36", layered aluminum screen


"Circle", 36"x36", wax on 2 layers of aluminum screen


"Traveling", 36"x36", wax on 2 layers of aluminum screen


"Stillness in Motion", 36"x36", wax on 2 layers of aluminum screen


"Lightness from Dark", 36"x36", wax on 2 layers of aluminum screen

"Stillness in Motion" at WSG Gallery

This exhibit at WSG Gallery in Ann Arbor, Michigan runs from September 23 - November 2, 2008.

"Bulging Flat", patinated silver leaf on polyester film, 60x40


Installation view of 4 screen pieces.


"Indotempo", encaustic wax on 2 layers of screen creating a Moire pattern, 36"x36"



"Stillness in Motion", encaustic wax on 2 layers of screen creating a Moire pattern, 36"x36"


"Lightness in Dark", encaustic wax on 2 layers of screen creating a Moire pattern, 36"x36"


"Traveling", encaustic wax on 2 layers of screen creating a Moire pattern, 36"x36"


Patinated silver leaf on 12"x12" squares of plexiglas - four of 20 in the grid


"Reflection", patinated silver leaf on polyester film, 24"x36"


"Waterfall", patinated silver leaf on polyester film, 72"h x 60"w

Westin Book Cadillac Hotel in downtown Detroit, Michigan

These are images of commissioned pieces included in the newly renovated Westin Book Cadillac Hotel in downtown Detroit, Michigan.

The first two are grids of 8.5"x8.5" squares of patinated silver leaf on plexiglas.





"Elemental 20 - Blue Stripe", patinated silver leaf on polyester film, 44" x 32"



"Elemental 21", patinated silver leaf on polyester film, 35" x 65"

"The Distance Between Black and White" - Woman Made Gallery

These are photos of the pieces that were in the Woman Made Gallery in Chicago, September 2 - 28, 2008. All of them are acrylic transfers of photos on the back of half inch sanded plexiglas. Each on is 18"x24" or 24"x18".

"Porch Rain"


"Ocean Web"


"Black Tree"


"Land"


"Grasses"


"Skywriting"


"Lake Michigan Trees"


"Tree Fence"

sunrise at Wingaersheek Beach

beauty on 11 June 2008, 4:30am

new work at Wenniger Gallery in Rockport, MA

Here are the encaustic paintings on cradled panels that I have at the Wenniger Gallery. I'm showing work there with Mari Marks Fleming and Chris McCauley. My assignment was to make small paintings and to work from photographs taken the year before at Wingaersheek Beach in Gloucester, MA.

"beach 5", 12" x 12" x 2"

"beach 1", 12" x 20" x 2"

"beach 15", 12" x 12" x 2"

"beach 13", 20" x 12" x 2"

"beach 14", 18" x 16" x 2"

"beach 7", 12" x 12" x2"

"beach 8", 12" x 12" 2"

"beach 4", 12" x12" x 2"

"beach 11", 12" x12" x2"

another grey - CCQ

This is a really useful grey. I was taking a workshop on "Painting Still Life" which is a stretch for me. I used these three colors (Cobalt blue, Cobalt yellow and Quinacridone red) to get to a nice dark black, the greys and the bright, various oranges I needed to paint the orange (fruit) that I was using as my subject. Because I know these colors will work together to make black and grey, as opposed to mud or some dull greenish black, I had a full range of bright, primaryish colors through the secondary colors and on to black to work with. Plenty of choices and they are guaranteed to all look good together since they're incestuous.

The workshop was an extension of the Second Annual Encaustic Conference held in Beverly, MA. I learned lots and made new friends - nice.

black

grey

cobalt blue

cobalt yellow

quinacridone red

variation 1

variation 2

variation 3

I tried to make these color samples smaller but no luck - maybe next time.