NEW WORK
"L’elephant Fantastique"
2025, Oil on Canvas, 24"”x 30”
ARTIST STATEMENT
“I had a dream”….No, REALLY!…”I had a dream”. That is exactly what brought this magical image into being. I had been “asking” for a flying dream. I had not had one in a long time…and one night my wish was granted and I was flying very high, winging my way around these monolithic (and I mean HUGE) gray cement statues of elephants with antlers. How could I ignore a “gift” like that? So, I started a canvas and placed my majestic elephant in it.
As with a lot of paintings, I seem to hit a spot where I start a piece and come head to head with this picture I have in my mind and what is manifesting on the canvas. And so it happened with this piece. I looked at my feeble beginnings and the scale was all wrong and the color disappointing. I thought I should cut my losses and start over again. But at the insistence of my inner circle of friends I decided to keep going. This piece has a mystical quality that I can hardly take credit for. Because here and there, now and then, through the struggle, magic happens.
This is why I feel very humbled, because I know, after a lifetime of producing art, that it is only when we step aside and “allow”, we are guided to magnificence. My personal feeling is that I am just a conduit between divine intervention and the hands that bring it into the physical world. There is a beautiful prayer by St. Francis…”Lord, let me be thy instrument…” It is my privilege to have been chosen for this vocation and I am thankful every day that this is my calling.
"A Horse of a Different Kind"
2025, Oil on Canvas, 24"”x 48”
ARTIST STATEMENT
After completing “L’elephant Fantastique” I became quite enamored with the “idea” of
animals with antlers. It always feels to me that when you catch onto a concept that feels
good, that you make the most of it and produce a series.
Therefore, as a follow up to my magical Elephant I approached the theme with a beautiful horse. This piece is quite large 2’X4’, giving me a lot of room to create grandantlers with a whole world of imagery around them.
This was a really fun piece to work on and I let my imagination fly. Enjoy my “Horse of a Different Kind”.
"It's 5:00 Somewhere"
2025, Oil on Canvas' 24” x 24"
ARTIST STATEMENT
This painting came out of a sketch I did years ago. I had surgery on my foot and then fell and injured the other foot…so I was in a wheelchair. May none of you ever have to endure such an experience. It is beyond challenging.
Because my house has steps…not only could I not walk but I could not stay in my own house. I had to rent a small house with one continuous floor, no steps, and it happened to be in Albuquerque. My home is in Santa Fe. So, my surroundings were completely unfamiliar. This, obviously, was a disorienting time of life.
Thank God, I have a wonderful partner who helped me through it or I would have not been able to do it on my own, because I could not drive either…I was “house bound”.
So here I am in a “confined” situation for a month and did my best to make the days as enjoyable as I could. I had brought sketching pads and pencils, not daring to paint in a rental. Interestingly and not surprisingly, 5:00pm became the highlight of my day. I could relax and have a little cocktail hour with my sweetie. I did ONE sketch, and one sketch only during that time…and it was the pencil sketch that led to this painting years later. “It’s 5:00 Somewhere”.
This is a whimsical piece and it was a joy to work on. Of course, because I hold myself to a certain standard, even though I felt very casual about it, this piece took way longer than I planned to spend on it, but that was fine. The joy of my retired life with my new job description as “full time artist” afforded me that luxury. I have all the time in the world!