Painted Ground

Tippecanoe Arts Federation • 2018
Lafayette, Indiana

“Recently, regular trips to Lake Michigan have reinforced a life-long love of found beach objects and of the vistas provided by open water. This love inspires my most recent work, allowing me a measure of serenity, humor, and hope in today’s divisive and hate-filled world.

A seagull lands twenty feet in front of me. The air is cool with the scent of fish and decaying vegetation. The light is a soft grey with pink slashed along the horizon. Objects on the shore whisper their stories to me. I discover a smooth grey stone covered in tiny holes, an angular brown pebble with contrasting lines, a bit of plastic (the new beach glass). Bits of an extinguished fire, broken concrete, once even a carved fragment from some grand building hint at their mysterious pasts. My spirit is repaired.

“Listen for the surf as you stroll through my paintings. With luck, you’ll be able to join me for a day at the beach.”