CPSA Acceptances & Artist Statements:

 Tranquility, 1996
Published in The Best of Colored Pencil 4

As a child, I kept baby turtles as pets.  Over time, I learned more about turtles, terrapins, and tortoises than most people want to hear about.  When my emotions run strong, I dream in turtles.  While I am not cognizant of the powers turtles have in my subconscious, I know they give me feelings of joy, safety, and comfort.  I developed rheumatoid arthritis and learned to cope with pain through visualization.  The warm protected pool of water that I floated through to escape pain, fear, and fatigue is represented in Tranquility.

 

 

Waiting for Prince Charming, 2000
Artist's Statement Missing

 

Live Bait, 2002
Awarded Signature Status

These colorful hook bearing creatures, rescued from my father-in-law’s tackle box, were the inspiration for Live Bait.  Living on Lake Chautauqua for most of his life, he had used the lures over 60 years ago to catch muskellunge.

In Live Bait, a sports shirt tossed carelessly on the floor serves as a background for this fun fantasy piece in which the lures have come to life at the end of the day to play.

 

 

Gilliver's Travels, 2003

The history and contents of my father-in-law’s tackle box served as the inspiration for Gilliver’s Travels, my second painting featuring the fishing lures that he used at his home on Chautauqua Lake in New York to catch the prize of the lake:  the muskellunge.  The colorful lures, with their playful and mischievous expressions, seem to be carrying on without him in this fantasy piece where the muskellunge, now ‘a fish out of water’, is surrounded by a horde of small creatures reminiscent of the classic tale wherein Lemuel Gulliver found himself beached and at the mercy of the little people of Lilliput.

 

 

Significant Lives, 2004
Received the CPSA 5-year Recognition Award

Significant Lives is a celebration of two extraordinarily ordinary lives:  that of one ant with one dandelion.  Despite the brief and lowly lives of these two representatives from the plant and animal kingdoms, they exhibit splendor, symbiosis, and purposefulness. 

Magnification and realistic style in presenting the subjects challenges the viewer to really “see” the dandelion and the ant. The background may represent a ticker-tape parade, a grassy field, a cathedral wall, or simply a deep, rich, supportive backdrop to showcase the subjects.  The painting was rendered using a limited pallet of primary colors to support the theme.

 

 

Anticipating Rebirth, 2006

The praying mantis in this drawing was found in October 2003 in a brilliantly colored pin oak tree.  Both the insect and the tree were prepared for the end of their spring-to-fall life span:  the lethargic mantis had laid her eggs in insulated egg sacks and the tree had stopped feeding the leaves.  These particular leaves would soon die and fall to the ground; the mantis would do the same.  The months of dormancy talked about throughout the ages from mythology to meteorology would reign.  But when the pin oak leaf is as large a mouse’s ear and the praying mantis nymphs emerge, the cycle of life and growth will begin anew.

 

 

If I Had Wings, 2008  
CPSA Award for Outstanding Recognition

Published in CPSA'S Signature Showcase Book

The orderly quilt-like configuration of roads and farms seen in this aerial view of Ohio are vestiges of the political subdivisions (townships) laid out by Congress over 200 years ago.  As a 35-year resident of Ohio with a college degree in history, I was fascinated by photographs taken by my daughter from an airplane that showed this enduring feature that I studied so frequently from the time I was in elementary school.

Unfortunately, I am a “grounded” person and would never see this sight myself.  How can I rise to lofty heights when I cannot get my rigid, rotund self off of the ground due to my many fears that have limited my vision and perspectives throughout my life?  Through my pencils!  First my being has to assume a “safer” form. . .the turtle hasn’t let me down so far. . . then find a powerful wingman to carry me

 

 

My Sunshine; A Self-Portrait, 2009

My Sunshine is a portrait of my dog and me drawn in French Greys with just a touch of color.  My dog came from the Humane Society almost 13 years ago with the name Cody.  I came to recognize that his last name was undoubtedly Pendant:  pronounced co-dependent.  Since then, Cody and I have been through a lot together. When he was young, he gave me a reason to get up and exercise even when fatigue and arthritis pain made me want to sit.  He developed stress diseases with me as my children packed up and went off to live their own lives.  He took over being my ears when I lost most of my hearing.  Cody just knows.  During the bad times, he would lie in bed with me; during the good times he would insist that we get out in the sun and play.  Without him, no self-portrait of me would be complete.  He is my sunshine.

Note:  Cody was put to sleep on August 17, 2009 while our picture hung in Atlanta at the 17th CPSA International Exhibition.

 

Trudging Turtle, 2010

This is a picture of our 2009 summer garden turtle, Ellie Mae.  This picture began as a preparatory study of the box turtle from the backside since my primary interest was color mixing.  I plan to do other pictures of Ellie Mae using her as a model for my concerns about these creatures and their ability to adapt to our world.  

 

The Golden Boy, 2011

The Golden Boy is a portrait of our 2010 garden turtle:  a gorgeous, unflawed young specimen of an Eastern Box Turtle that I called "Jethro" as a companion to Ellie Mae.  My attraction to turtles has been on-going since I was child.  My artwork is an attempt to honor their role in my life.

 

Other CPSA Shows

 

2003 CPSA's Explore This!2
San Francisco Award of Excellence (3rd Place)

Mother Nature's Lace
(A 30" x 30 " Shadowbox with real birch leaves attached.)

2006 Signature Showcase
Invitational Show for Signature Members