Ripple and  Threads    

Ripples of water act as a reminder of the reverberations of acts/action. The Ripple Ellipse series explores the notion of “ripple effects” through color contrast and layered elliptical gestures.  

These paintings begin with direct gestures and evolve as particular colors define distilled, clarified sensations of rippling motion. The interplay between singular, immediate action and sustained, accumulative acts is fundamental to the Ripple Ellipse paintings’ visual structure and chromatic contrast.

Color relativity and interaction are powerful and provide a model for nuanced, contextual thinking. These paintings honor the inherent properties of diverse pigments, thereby modeling color’s ablitity to be expansive, inclusive and relational.

The flow of rivers provides a metaphor for time’s passage. Nana’s Thread pieces engage with inter-generational connections, thereby embodying time’s passage and enduring relationships. 

My Nana sewed and embroidered into the wee hours most nights. I brought a small metal cabinet with drawers holding all her thread to my studio when she passed away; each drawer holds cotton floss and thin woolen yarn collected over decades. She organized her thread according to color relationships, each drawer holds a shared hue. 

I sense Nana’s presence in these threads, just as her care and spirit are stitched into her quilts that keep us warm and wall hangings that enliven our homes.