i found this oil study a few days ago
it was on top of a storage box in my laundry room
i’m known for putting stuff in a really safe place,
but then forget where that “safe” place is

it has been lost for a few months now
this pieces has always been one of my favorites
i painted it in 1997, back when my concept of the little girl was still very new
as my concepts have revealed and defined themselves over the years,
the application of media has also become more difinitive

i look back at pieces like this and think
“i’ll never be as good as i used to be”

 ”study”
19″ x 17″ (oil on gessoed watercolor paper)

shame n. a painful feeling of guilt for improper behavior

it took me years to escape feelings of shame
the hardest thing was when i realized
that i had no improper behavior to feel shameful for
so where did the undue shame come from?

“covering shame”
15″ x 20″ (watercolor)

it seems that when i paint, i’m always in a state of reflection
-searching in the past for those kinks that would get me hung up
i’m always fascinated by the way issues come full circle
and in the completion of the full cirlcle, i find wisdom

the concept of “learning from mistakes” is good,
but when we choose to actually apply what we learn to our lives, it’s great
…transformation is powerful

this painting is about looking back
and finding meaning in a moment of reflection

“did you ever know how much you meant to me?”
36″ x 30″ (oil on wood panel)

in a single figure painting, i move into internal thoughts…
…what’s happening inside this person?
i ponder the mystery of the human psyche, and where our thoughts take us

i like the dynamics created when two figures are introduced
it seems to tell more of a story, a narrative
i start to have an experience of the external world
i want to know what history is between these two people
or what is going to happen to them

“what do you think it’s going to be?”
15″x 20″ (watercolor)

for those of you who are unaware
…santa fe has the 3rd largest art market in the country
nyc, los angeles, then santa fe
pretty good for a town whose population is only 70,000
there are 200+ galleries and tons of museums and art spaces
every friday i take niamh and finn downtown to do the rounds
all of the gallery openings are on friday night
and the museums are free at that time
this past friday niamh got really excited for the Mexican Painters show
at the Museum of Fine Arts,
because there were to be some kahlo and rivera pieces in the exhibition
she was so disappointed to find that frida was represented by a small still life
and diego, just two small figurative studies
she wanted self portraits and murals!
overall the show was really amazing

a few weeks ago we did the contemporary/modern art museums
site santa fe, james kelly, linda durham, etc
as we were driving by the santa fe farmer’s market
i noticed that they were making progress on the new park
the city is tearing up an old parking lot next to the farmer’s market
this area will be transformed into a lush park
for afternoon picnics and live music
at this time there are two huge mounds of broken cement pieces
waiting to be hauled off to a landfill
so, as we drove by finn gasped and pointed to the cement piles…
yelling, in total awe and amazement, “LOOK AT THE BEAUTIFUL SCULPTURES!”
ni and i smiled at each other
finn does have an appreciation for modern sculpture
it’s always the first thing he gravitates to in a museum

…the newest painting of him

“what about this? do you like this?”
15″ x 20″ (watercolor)