These paintings were inspired by personal experiences and observations of human interactions. Some of the works use the subject matter of carnival events, while others evoke situations related to a circle or ring. The ring is a place where variations of highlighted events repeat themselves again and again. It evokes the merriment of childhood games and the brutality of boxing. The open-ended narratives suggested in the paintings invite viewers to connect the images to their own experiences. Moreover, these sometimes overtly comical looks at human behavior expose the absurdity in our lives as we pursuit things we never seem to find. The Spinner struggles to keep up with indecision, The Bean Counter obsessively sorts to create balance, and the Pony Girl slogs continuously in circles through the mud waiting for recognition. We all want our piece of the pie and maybe someone else’s if we can get it. We all find our own versions of carrots and sticks to motivate us enough to keep going as we fend off the gadflies in our way. We all want to be the lucky duck, but achieving that may require the courage to take a leap of faith while exposing our vulnerabilities.
I happened upon a wetlands area in Oregon that had been reduced to parched cracked dirt. Every few feet for two hundred yards or more in the area in front of me lay a rust colored ring encircling a desiccated body of a decaying fish. There were scores of dried fish in all kinds of configurations usually in small clusters in every direction. Some were nestled together side by side as if to offer each other some measure of comfort as they gasped final breaths. Some were snout to snout and others belly to belly. Some large fish seemed to be protecting their young as they played. All were frozen in place with flaking scales and emptying eye sockets; more delicate bones would be revealed each day. While this grotesque and malodorous scene was disturbing, I was utterly fascinated by the beauty of the poses, the ochre rings surrounding each and the unmistakable boney structures of each fish. I loved the way the colors, textures, and shapes of the fish looked on the crackled earth. This experience was the inspiration for the mixed media works in the series called, “Drought”.