A piece for the upcoming McPherson College show celebrating the women’s suffragette movement. It’s called They Promised Her the Moon. Inspired by my great grandmothers, who like many women, left home and journeyed West toward a new life. By day, women walk diverse paths, but at night we gaze at a common moon. A shared time […]
Why I Use Gathered Sage
For Oculus Moon, I wanted to the painting to strongly embody earth elements. It is a piece that sees within you and dares you to dream. I was drawn to use prairie sage collected in late summer with buds of a full growing season. I gathered the sage and left thanks of cornmeal to the […]
Celebrate Kansas Scenic Byways at the Birger Sandzen Gallery
So excited to be a part of this regional show that celebrates the beauty of Kansas Scenic Byways at the Birger Sandzen Gallery. My piece interprets the Post Rock Scenic Byway with an antique flour sack as the canvas and handmade stone paint with local slate and sandstone. […]
Moon Before Yule
This celestial piece honors the Moon Before Yule, the Anglo-Saxon name for the full moon that occurs close to the ancient winter solstice celebration. My rendition holds the spirit of the long night. It is made of hand-laid stone texture embedded with organic corn to symbolize plenty and painted with acrylic and iron oxidized to […]
Moonrise Over a Limestone Field
A nod to limestone fence posts that dot the prairie land, built by pioneers because there were no trees. The canvas is 1930s Depression Era flour sack found in a rural antique store. I used hand-ground Kansas slate, sandstone and burnt wild sage to depict the rugged fields, leaving the sack logo as a full […]
Waterfall of Stars
We came whirling out of nothingness, scattering stars like dust… The stars made a circle, and in the middle, we dance. Rumi Every man should bathe one night in the absolute darkness of the prairie. A waterfall of stars cascades from above and the wind gently whispers in your ear to let it be. Here there are […]
Toward a Simple Life
If you ever wanted to live a simple life, try living on the prairie. The vast plain shows us we are but a small part of something larger. Here it is quiet and sublime, with a great canopy above and dark soil below. The prairie’s void draws you toward the earth, an invitation to root […]
Thunder Head
Autumn storms are not the bombastic rains of summer with load noises and light, but something else. Mature, resigned and filled with a coolness that reminds us to be patient and faithful. This piece has layers of thick stone texture, iron oxidized to rust, acrylic and earth elements, including limestone, soil and plant ash. […]
Arrival of the Snow Geese
When the snow geese arrive at Fossil Lake, they descend in a great spiral, as if the breath of the north gently bore them toward earth. Snow Geese are said to be guardians of the North Wind and a teacher. For many weeks, I see them as they winter here, showing a beautiful sense of […]
