"Evelyn"/2003
Pastel on Canson Mi-Teintes paper, 19/5"x25.5"

"Dorothy"/2002
Pastel on Canson Mi-Teintes paper, 19/5"x25.5"

Part 1

Part 1 My first subjects in the fine arts program in at the University of Florida, were figures. Printed as Etchings/Lithographs and painted in rich oils. They existed in an ambiguous kind of space that could be read as 2d or 3d illusion; they were psychological in nature and explored human relationships and our human condition in the universe.

Over the next 30 years, I became absorbed in the vegetable, animal, and mineral kingdoms. I made these explorations through drawing, painting, fabric, prints and the development of my own invention of solar light sculptures. The sculptures used natural light to focus on the color, light and internal structure of meteorites and crystals. The solar sculptures were constructed of paper, light and energy -using natural light as their source, the reflective light and color changed as the sun moved across the sky. At this point, I understood most of my explorations to be spiritual in nature. The sculptures are a metaphor for the human spirit. Like our bodies, the vessel is made of a material substance which holds something quite timeless and beyond form. A commission for a solar sculpture by a microbiologist resulted in a several year study of our human evolution through a microbiologic lens. This study culminated in the commissioned five unit piece and a triptych exhibited with the work of other artists/microbiologists. The triptych explored the creation of energy and matter, and at what point in evolution, molecules and more complex structures began to contain "Life". They celebrated the beauty and complexity of natural forms and processes and the binding Force that makes all this possible.

Part 2

Several years ago, I was very drawn to begin working with figures again. I missed the pure joy of drawing and began working in life classes and also in pastel portraiture. Pastels, a new media in my experience, offered the chance to respond to a subject through drawing and the use of light and color (painting) simultaneously.

I had been teaching art with elders for ten years and I began looking at people differently. I saw them in the context of their entire lives- mostly in their 80's/90's and within our very human condition at the end of life, coping with loss, a breakdown of the physical body, cognitive functions and facing mortality. What consistently remains vital and alive is their spirit, being, their presence. And for those able, it is the spiritual life of each person, their relationships, appreciation of beauty and their ability to create through choice that brings comfort and hope. These are all intangibles.

I love observing and recording the human form in its individual physical characteristics, gestures, posture, facial expression, breathing and clothing. These also give vital clues that help to capture attitude, and emotional energy of the subject. As I became more involved in portraiture, there was something more essential that began to call-that sought expression; and, while it required technique, media and description of the physical and psychological subject, it was not really defined by these. I was becoming more aware of an energy I felt radiating from the model. At first, my awareness grew into pure wonder at a human being in all its complexity and perfection. Gradually, I have come acknowledge this quality as "presence". This energy, is spiritual and intrinsic to each human's being. At every moment, and at every age we are, it resides within and generates every cell of our body -every moment of our lives. The vessel is made of a material substance which holds something quite timeless and beyond form.

Part 3

I am working on a series of portraits in the Reutlinger Community for Jewish Living, a three level long term care community, where I teach and direct an art program for residents offering classes, workshops, and exhibitions of resident work. For those who do not directly engage in artmaking, the ongoing portrait project promotes participation in the art process with engaging and healing results. Each week one resident or caregiver models -while others watch the portrait evolve-from blank sheet of paper to finished image. The magic of a creative process is witnessed as it unfolds and brings something of beauty and truth into being. There is much non-verbal communication that occurs between the subject and artist. There is healing that occurs within this focused time of being seen and often results in a lasting bond -regardless of the physical or cognitive abilities of the sitter. The portraits hang side by side so that residents and caregivers have equal importance. The paintings are displayed and visited by the residents, caregivers and family members with surprising shifts of perception in each model as well as in each viewer about themselves. For the resident, the portrait provides a focused, healing experience that requires only sitting still and being exactly who they are in the present.. The finished portrait, a result of "being seen" and witnessing their presence, may also offer the residents and caregivers a mirror into their identity. For staff and family, the portraits invite a new and expanded view of the subject as a presence and an individual beyond a caregiving framework. For all viewers, it is my hope they raise recognition and awareness as to our true nature as spiritual beings who cannot be contained in and defined by the vessels and labels in which they presently reside.