CHRONOLOGY
The Chronology pieces (like The Delicate Spring series) continue the theme of time, for which plants are a natural marker. These are collections of flowers that appear during a specific period of time, sometimes overlapping, sometimes blooming out of season. Each painting evolves as a kind of diary that stretches back and forth through memory and anticipation.
THE DELICATE SPRING
The spring, with its exuberance and complexity, demands perennial attention. The series began in 2008, with particular focus on the delicate lilting gestures of the flowers. Through successive spring seasons, an implied wreath-like circle began to develop in each composition.
WILDFLOWERS
The three-mile section of trail from the Albion Basin campground to the top of Catherine Pass was bedecked with the flowers in Catherine Pass; Wasatch Mountains, UT, when I spent two days in early August of 2007 wandering up and down the trail with my camera. I worked on the piece (and three variations, still in progress) in the studio for several subsequent years.
All the flowers in The White Pine Range, NV were photographed at the lower elevations of a hike to Mt. Duckwater, in the "island" White Pine Range, one day in June 2013. There was a lush natural garden at around 6000'. Higher up were bristlecone pines and an array of tiny wildflowers that will have to find their way someday into another painting.
Day in the Desert is based on several different trips to Death Valley, and the surrounding area, many years apart, beginning with the super bloom of 2005.
DAHLIAS
The models for the Dahlia series all came from one abundant garden. I began these four pieces in July and August of 2015 and finished them in the fall of 2017, to include in the show "INSIDE/OUTSIDE: EXPLORATIONS" (with Tony King) at the Haldan Gallery in South Lake Tahoe. July Tableau reflects the initial dizzying impact of having a hundred or so cut dahlias in the studio. In Choreography (see image on HOME page) they are organized in a collective dance, and in Red and Pink quieted into a slightly less riotous palette. The idea for Mosaic was to arrange the flower heads and buds in an approximate geometric pattern, closely fitted together, a little like tiles.