What is Plein Air?

What is Plein Air?

Friday, June 11th through Sunday, June 13th from 1pm to 3pm
Site: Mt. Ashland
#artbeyond2021

The term plein air means “out of doors” and refers to the practice of painting an entire finished work outdoors. Join seven established plein air artists up on Mt Ashland. The general public is invited to engage with the artists and observe their work from 1pm to 3pm.

About the Artist

Julian Bell
Sarah F. Burns
Lupe Galvan
David Gordon
Gabriel Liston
Phyllis Trowbridge
Deb Van Poolen

Related Events

Saturday, June 19th from 10am to 5pm
Saturday in the Park
Site: Lithia Park

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Saturday in the Park (Plein Air Event) & AGA Summer Art Show

Saturday in the Park (Plein Air Event)

Saturday, June 19th from 10am to 5pm
#artbeyond2021

Open to all. Sign up to join fellow Plein Air artists in Lithia Park on Saturday, June 19th. Artists can come and go throughout the day. The general public will be encouraged to engage with the artists between 10am to 5pm to talk to artists about their work and process.

The first 30 registered artists will be invited to show one piece created at this event at Scienceworks Hands-On Museum from June 21st through September 16th. Art will be sold at by Scienceworks with 50% of sales price going to the artist and 50% to Scienceworks.

Please register here to be a participating artist.

Ashland Gallery Association (AGA) Summer Art Show

Saturday, June 19 from 12pm to 5pm.

In lieu of the traditional Open Studio Tour, the AGA is thrilled to display a Summer Art Show at Ashland Art Works that will include live demonstrations and the showcasing of member’s artwork outdoors. Ranging from paintings, to sculptures, and ceramics, there’s a little bit of everything. So stop by and take a peek. The gallery is a short stroll from the plaza.

Related Events

Friday, June 11th through Sunday, June 13th from 1pm to 3pm
What is Plein Air?
Site: Mt. Ashland

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Left Edge Percussion

Left Edge Percussion Performance
Framework: Scaffolded Clouds

Saturday, June 5th
Time: 4pm
Site: Willow-Witt Ranch
#artbeyond2021

 

Left Edge Percussion will perform Framework: Scaffolded Clouds by Terry Longshore, as part of the Schneider Museum of Art’s Art Beyond, on Saturday, June 5th, at 4:00 pm. In the event of inclement weather, the performance will be rescheduled for Sunday, June 6th, at 1:00 pm. The performance will take place at Willow-Witt Ranch, located at 658 Shale City Road
Ashland, Oregon 97520. 

Framework: Scaffolded Clouds was commissioned by the Schneider Museum of Art for Art Beyond, an outdoor art exhibition focusing on sculptural and installation based artworks. It will be performed on Avantika Bawa‘s A Yellow Scaffold on the Ranch, an installation artwork created for the exhibition and erected at Willow Witt Ranch outside of Ashland, Oregon. 

The performers play on the artwork itself, an idea that came to composer Terry Longshore when Scott Malbaurn, Director of the Schneider Museum of Art, first described the work to him, “I instantly thought of climbing on and playing directly on the scaffolding, but I was afraid that would not be welcomed. It turned out Avantika loved the idea; ‘Beat the hell out of it!’ she said. I was thrilled!”

Similar to Bawa’s works, Framework: Scaffolded Clouds is modular and minimalist in nature, utilizing cells of rhythmic and textural musical material including a technique borrowed from Greek-French composer and architect Iannis Xenakis – “stochastic clouds of percussive sonorities.” Silence is also employed, inspired by the “space between” – a meadow, a cloud, an interior, etc. – one experiences when viewing Bawa’s Scaffold series. The score is arranged in a scaffolded fashion, the cells of musical materials built upon and connecting to each other, with instructions to the performers on how to move between them during a performance. 

The premiere of Framework: Scaffolded Clouds will be performed by Left Edge Percussion on June 5th, 2021, at 4:00 pm. Performers: Terry Longshore (Artistic Director), Jade Hails, Delaney Jai, Bryan Jeffs, Bobby Odle, and Parker Stockford.

Rain Date: Sunday, June 6th at 1:00 pm

About the Artists

Left Edge Percussion is a contemporary percussion group in residence at the Oregon Center for the Arts at Southern Oregon University, led by artistic director Terry Longshore. The group tours and performs throughout the Northwest and actively collaborates on innovative projects with composers and artists of various media. The members of the group have been featured around the globe at prestigious festivals, competitions, conferences, and workshops and bring a diverse array of influences and collective energy to the ensemble. Left Edge Percussion has commissioned, co-commissioned, or premiered works by Joseph Bertolozzi, David Bithell, David Crowell, Josh Gottry, Bryan Jeffs, Ivan Trevino, Alejandro Viñao, and Drew Wright.

In addition to regular performances at the Oregon Center for the Arts at Southern Oregon University, recent Left Edge Percussion performances include the Teatro Principal in Guanajuato, Mexico, the Center for New Music in San Francisco, Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics at Stanford University, Gold Lion Arts in Sacramento, Northwest Percussion Festival, Britt Music & Arts Festival, Oregon Shakespeare Festival Green Show, Hipbone Studio in Portland, Ashland World Music Festival, the Oregon Fringe Festival, and the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC). In 2020 Left Edge Percussion was invited to perform at the Bang on a Can Long Play Festival in New York City, and the Other Minds 26 Festival in San Francisco, both postponed due to COVID-19.

Related Artists

Avantika Bawa
Terry Longshore

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Volunteer at Vesper Meadow

Volunteer at Vesper Meadow

Saturdays, May 15th through July 17th, from 9am to Noon
Site: Vesper Meadow
#artbeyond2021

RSVP Required 

Engage deeper with the concept of Barerra‘s art, and volunteer as a land steward to support the mission of Vesper Meadow. All are welcome to join at the scenic Vesper Meadow Restoration Preserve, and participate in restoration activities such as planting, creek-wood structure preparation, and seed collecting.

RSVP to volunteer at Vesper Meadow by clicking here

About the Artist

Gabriel Barrera

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Augmented Reality Engagement and Instagram Event

Date: The competition will run from May 15th to July 18th. Winners will be announced on Thursday, July 22nd
Site: Lithia Park
#artbeyond2021

Get to Lithia Park and engage with the 4th Wall App, a free, augmented reality (AR) public art platform exploring inclusive creative expression by Nancy Baker Cahill. Post your still or video images to Instagram with #artbeyond2021 and geo tag Lithia Park. Nancy Baker Cahill will select some of her favorites and you can win free Schneider Museum of Art gear! Be sure to join Baker Cahill’s free Zoom talk listed below under events. Download the free app HERE.

Related Events

Thursday, May 13th at 12:30pm
Virtual Creative Industries Discussion: Nancy Baker Cahill
Site: Virtual

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FREE Family Days with Whistlegraph

FREE Family Days with Whistlegraph

Saturdays May 15th through June 12th
Time: 11am to 1:30pm
Site: Lithia Park

#artbeyond2021

Find us on the lawn next to the playground.

Sponsored by the Rotary Club of Ashland

Join the Whistlegraph team for complimentary sketchbooks and drawing utensils to the first 40 families who find them near the Lower Duck Ponds at Lithia Park. Follow their drawing prompts in the park for a day of family fun!

About the Artist

Whistlegraph

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Virtual Creative Industries Discussion: Nancy Baker Cahill

Virtual Creative Industries Discussion: Nancy Baker Cahill

Thursday, May 13th at 12:30pm
Free, and open to the public
#artbeyond2021

Join SMA Director Scott Malbaurn for a Creative Industries Discussion with Nancy Baker Cahill.

About the Artist

Nancy Baker Cahill is a new media artist who examines power, selfhood, and embodied consciousness through drawing and shared immersive space. She is the Founder and Artistic Director of 4th Wall, a free Augmented Reality (AR) public art platform exploring resistance and inclusive creative expression. Her recent AR public art project, Liberty Bell, commissioned by Art Production Fund, earned features in the New York Times, frieze Magazine, Artnet, Smithsonian Magazine and the Washington Post, among many other publications. The project, on view through 2021, spans six historic and culturally significant sites along the Eastern Seaboard of the U.S. and appeared in Artnews’ list, The Defining Public Artworks of 2020. Baker Cahill was also included in ARTnews’ list of 2021 Deciders. Her 2018 TED talk, Augmented Reality (AR) as an Artist’s Tool for Equity and Access, launched her international public speaking practice. She has since delivered keynotes at the 2019 Games For Change, 2020 A.W.E. (Augmented World Expo) and has spoken at the Hirshhorn Museum and numerous academic institutions and conferences. She is the Art and Creative Technologies Advisor for the XRSI Safety Initiative and is one of ten artist scholars in the Berggruen Institute’s inaugural 2020 Transformations of the Human Fellowship. In May of 2021, Baker Cahill will receive the Williams College Bicentennial Medal of Honor.

More Information at nancybakercahill.com

Related Events

May 15th to July 18th
Winners will be announced on Thursday, July 22nd
Augmented Reality Engagement and Instagram Event
Site: Lithia Park

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Avantika Bawa

About the Installation

Site Location: Willow-Witt Ranch
Title: A Yellow Scaffold On the Ranch
#artbeyond2021

A Yellow Scaffold On the Ranch is the sixth installation of the ‘Scaffold Series’. Here utilitarian scaffolds are transformed by color and context into formal sculpture, as they cease to be objects of function. This transformation is realized by painting them bright yellow, and consciously choreographing their install on Willow-Witt Ranch nestled in a valley in the Cascade mountain range. Yellow, the dominant, and only color in the installation is directly connected to growth and life. A Yellow Scaffold On the Ranch serves as a symbol of hope as we move past these trying times, while also bringing a burst of cheer to those who gaze at it amidst the pastoral background.

About the Artist

Avantika Bawa is an artist, curator, and educator based in Portland, OR, and often resides in her hometown, New Delhi, India.

Bawa has an MFA in Painting from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a BFA in the same from the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, India.

She has participated in the Skowhegan, MacDowell, Kochi Biennial Foundation, and Djerassi residencies among others. Noteworthy solo exhibits include shows at: The Portland Art Museum, Schneider Museum, Ashland, OR: Suyama Space, Seattle, WA, The Columbus Museum, GA, Saltworks Gallery, and the Atlanta Contemporary Arts Center, Atlanta, GA: Nature Morte, and Gallery Maskara, India: White Box, Tilt Gallery & Project Space, and Disjecta, Portland, OR.

In April 2004 she was part of a team that launched Drain – Journal for Contemporary Art and Culture. www.drainmag.com. In 2014 Avantika was appointed to the board of the Oregon Arts Commission. She is currently Associate Professor of Fine Arts at Washington State University, Vancouver, WA.

 

Connect with the Artist

WEBSITE
INSTAGRAM
FACEBOOK

Artist Statement

My practice emphasizes the intersections where drawing and sculpture, stasis and motion, and the functional and non-functional intermingle. Geographic and architectural differences in landscape strongly inform my work. I explore the diversity of topographies, the presence or absence of color in local environments, and the range of visual and tactile qualities of locally sourced and fabricated materials.

Bearing in mind a location’s prior use, I create wall drawings and/or paintings, and repurpose and rearrange functional objects to create temporary installations on-site. My approach is influenced by Minimalism and its emphasis on reductive form, modularity, and experimentation with scale. I gather and compose industrial products like brick, plywood, and concrete, simulating common gestures, such as sitting, leaning, pulling, and stacking. These installations invite the viewer to experience the crossroads between the utilitarian, historical, and aesthetic qualities of each space.

In addition to site-based works, I have a sustained drawing practice. Often these are preliminary studies, or a response to my installations, while the majority are stand-alone pieces. These drawings are deliberative yet whimsical, as I work with the pure physicality of line, shape, surface and color.

Related Events

Thursday, June 3rd at 12:30pm
Virtual Creative Industries Discussion: Avantika Bawa
Site: Virtual

Saturday, June 5th, 4pm
Performance with Left Edge Percussion
Site: Willow-Witt Ranch

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Gabriel Barrera

About the Installation

Site Location: Vesper Meadow
#artbeyond2021

Signal Fire announces Gabriel Barrera as 2021 Tinderbox Artist in Residence at Vesper Meadow. The artwork created at this residency will be on display at Vesper Meadow and will include a mural on the barn as well as additional collaborative artworks with visitors and or volunteers. Tinderbox Artists in Residence are embedded in grassroots environmental advocacy organizations. Artists receive a stipend, and work closely with the staff and volunteers in the office and the field to develop a body of work specific to the experience. This partnership exists at the intersection of multiple artist communities, regional social justice initiatives, and decolonized environmental stewardship showcasing the capacity of interdisciplinary coalition building across the Rogue Valley.

About the Artist

Originally from Southern California, Gabriel Barrera is a Mexican American/Xicanx visual artist living in Southern Oregon. He works in various mediums including traditional art methods, multimedia and graphics. His artwork is rooted in social justice, advocacy, and youth mentorship. Gabriel received a BFA from Pratt Institute and has worked for over 20 years as a scenic artist in theaters such as South Coast Repertory, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and numerous colleges. He currently operates ScenicG, a visual art and design company providing services in art/design, workshops, consultation, facilitation and mentorship. Learn more at scenicg.com.

Connect with the Artist

WEBSITE
INSTAGRAM
FACEBOOK
ETSY

Artist Statement

I am Gabriel Barrera. I own ScenicG, a small art and design company with my spouse, Merilee, in Southern Oregon. I am a painter, scenic artist, activist, and mentor. My recent artwork has centered around the intersections of social justice, identity, social location and isolation during the pandemic. When practicing my art, I take into consideration the intersectionality of identity, social impact and relevance of the subject. I paint in oil and acrylic and am influenced by methods and techniques from my 20 years as a scenic artist. The Tinderbox-Art Beyond residency is an important component to building a strong alliance with indigenous artists like Ka’ila Farrell-Smith who will be a mentor throughout the residency and beyond. The residency will help me build trusting relationships with local tribal artists and activists fighting for environmental justice.

The Tinderbox-Art Beyond Residency at Vesper Meadow sponsored by Signal Fire and the SOU Schneider Museum of Art is an important part of my personal and artistic journey. The conceptual framework of my artwork will center around environmental justice, the history of the environment, people and animals of the land. The artwork I produce and share from this residency will include a painted mural on the facade of a barn, individual art pieces made from remnant findings on the land, and an art panel for visitors to practice art making. I also plan on creating a video documenting my artmaking process. I look forward to providing a lecture midway into my residency describing my artwork and advocacy.

Related Events

Saturdays, May 15th through July 17th, from 9am to Noon
Volunteer at Vesper Meadow
RSVP Required

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Terry Longshore

Site Location: Willow-Witt Ranch
Title: Framework: Scaffolded Clouds
Composed by Terry Longshore
Performed by Left Edge Percussion
#artbeyond2021

About the Artist

Terry Longshore is a percussionist whose genre-crossing work exhibits the artistry of the concert stage, the spontaneity of jazz, and the energy of a rock club. Based in Ashland, Oregon, he maintains an energetic career as an educator, performer, and composer. He serves as Professor of Music and Director of Percussion Studies at the Oregon Center for the Arts at Southern Oregon University, where he directs Left Edge Percussion and is Chair and Graduate Coordinator of the Music Program.

Whether collaborating with multi-media artists, composing live music for dance and theatre, or premiering works by today’s most ground-breaking composers, Terry Longshore brings a dynamic voice to every musical encounter. He is the co-artistic director of flute and percussion duo Caballito Negro and multi-media duo Left Edge Collective, and is member of the Portland Percussion Group and Flamenco Pacifico. He has performed extensively with ensembles Skin & Bones, Conundrum, Sonoluminescence, and red fish blue fish, and has performed at numerous festivals and concert series including the Bang on a Can Marathon, the Los Angeles Philharmonic Green Umbrella Series, the Britt Music & Arts Festival, the Transplanted Roots International Percussion Symposium (Montreal and Guanajuato), Musik i Väst Festival (Sweden), the Cabrillo Music Festival, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Festival of New American Music, the Northwest Percussion Festival, The Oregon Fringe Festival, Center for New Music (San Francisco), and numerous times at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC). His compositions for percussion have been performed at festivals and competitions throughout North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.

Longshore has premiered over 100 compositions for solo percussion, percussion ensemble, chamber ensemble, symphony orchestra, and the theatre. With nearly 100 tracks on Spotify and other music platforms, his recordings include multiple CDs for composer Mark Applebaum on the innova and Tzadik labels, the percussion music of Iannis Xenakis on Mode Recordings, music of percussion maverick William Kraft on Albany, and Michael Gordon’s Natural History on Cantaloupe Music. He also champions new solo and chamber works for percussion by commissioning, organizing, and participating in consortium commissions for works from a diverse body of composers. Recent projects include collaborations with and commissions by composers Rajna Swaminathan, Joby Talbot, Aaron Garcia, Susanna Hancock, Finola Merivale, Emma O’Halloran, Shruthi Rajasekar, Steven Snowden, Annika K. Socolofsky, Ivan Trevino, Molly Joyce, Alejandro Viñao, Bryan Jeffs, Jared Brown, Jodi French, David Crowell, Mark Applebaum, Peter Garland, Eugene Koshinski, Robert Honstein, Wally Gunn, Erik Griswold, Elliot Cole, and Roshanne Etezady. Terry Longshore is a Marimba One Vibe Artist, a Yamaha Performing Artist, and an artist endorser for Zildjian Cymbals, Vic Firth Sticks and Mallets, Remo Drumheads, Gon Bops Percussion, and Beato Bags. He is a member of the Black Swamp Percussion Education Network, and is a trained HealthRHYTHMS facilitator.

Terry Longshore holds bachelor’s degrees from the California State University at Fresno (Business Administration – Computer Applications and Systems) and Sacramento (Music – Percussion Performance) and earned the master’s and doctoral degrees in Contemporary Music Performance from the University of California, San Diego. His education includes significant study of Spanish flamenco and the classical music of India, including study at the Ali Akbar College of Music. His teachers include Steven Schick, Daniel Kennedy, Swapan Chaudhuri, Ronald Holloway, David Glyde, Chuck Flores, and Kartik Seshadri. He enjoys fly fishing, cycling, hiking, and especially traveling the world with his wife Jennifer and hanging out with his children, Madeleine and Maxwell.

Connect with the Artist

WEBSITE
INSTAGRAM
FACEBOOK
TWITTER
YOUTUBE

Artist Statement

Framework: Scaffolded Clouds was commissioned by the Schneider Museum of Art for Art Beyond, an outdoor art exhibition focusing on sculptural and installation based artworks. It will be performed on Avantika Bawa‘s A Yellow Scaffold on the Ranch, an installation artwork created for the exhibition and erected at Willow-Witt Ranch outside of Ashland, Oregon. 

The performers play on the artwork itself, an idea that came to composer Terry Longshore when Scott Malbaurn, Director of the Schneider Museum of Art, first described the work to him, “I instantly thought of climbing on and playing directly on the scaffolding, but I was afraid that would not be welcomed. It turned out Avantika loved the idea; ‘Beat the hell out of it!’ she said. I was thrilled!”

Similar to Bawa’s works, Framework: Scaffolded Clouds is modular and minimalist in nature, utilizing cells of rhythmic and textural musical material including a technique borrowed from Greek-French composer and architect Iannis Xenakis – “stochastic clouds of percussive sonorities.” Silence is also employed, inspired by the “space between” – a meadow, a cloud, an interior, etc. – one experiences when viewing Bawa’s Scaffold series. The score is arranged in a scaffolded fashion, the cells of musical materials built upon and connecting to each other, with instructions to the performers on how to move between them during a performance. 

The premiere of Framework: Scaffolded Clouds will be performed by Left Edge Percussion on June 5, 2021, at 4:00 pm. Performers: Terry Longshore (Artistic Director), Jade Hails, Delaney Jai, Bryan Jeffs, Bobby Odle, and Parker Stockford.

Related Events

Saturday, June 5th, 4pm
Performance with Left Edge Percussion
Site: Willow-Witt Ranch

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Cheryl Kempner

About the Installation

Site Location: ScienceWorks Hands-On Museum
Title: A Whimsical Gathering
#artbeyond2021

Whimsey is necessary during our current time of multiple challenges. Maybe it is possible that a steel tree grows branches in the shapes of spirals topped by a red-winged black bird. I hope strolling by my fanciful trees will bring smiles to visitors. These plasma cut steel pieces also signify strength and longevity along with light heartedness.

About the Artist

I have a Master’s degree in Adult Education and taught for 23 years at community colleges. This teaching supported my art explorations in handmade paper, glass fusing, silver smithing, plus many more. But hand building clay has been the winner for the last three decades. My clay work has been carried at five galleries around Oregon and I have sold at summer art fairs from Washington down to Central California. All these art experiences have added to my ease in succeeding in this new metal art form.

Connect with the Artist

WEBSITE
INSTAGRAM
VISIT MY STUDIO

Additional artwork is available at Ashland Art Works, 291 Oak St.

Artist Statement

I create art that makes me smile.  I hope that visitors will stroll by my whimsical metal trees and smile, too.  I cut rusted steel with a plasma torch. Often the scraps that fall to the floor inspire new ideas for yet another piece.  My husband does the welding and both of us do the powder coating.  I am pleased that as a seventy-year-old woman, I can still create and share these fun pieces of artwork.  Yes, it is possible that a steel tree could grow branches in the shape of spirals with each topped with a red-winged black bird.

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Jessi Eaton-Shields

About the Installation

Site Location: ScienceWorks Hands-on Museum
Title: with(in)
#artbeyond2021

with(in) was created entirely during the pandemic. While living in the mountains of Ashland, I have found myself surrounded by nature while being quarantined. In fact, while on a run in the Siskiyou National Forest, I found the steel bars for this artwork, discarded in mass down a steep mountainside. As a stay-at-home parent during a pandemic, I can relate to the idea that so much has been lost, a year discarded. Yet I hope that with this piece I can give people pause, to experience another viewpoint on what most would consider lost.

Geometric shapes don’t often appear in nature which is dominated by organic shapes. While creating these geometric forms I thought about humanity creating a place for itself in nature. Now more than ever we are confronted with the choices that we have made, the marks we have left on the land, and trying to figure out how to live with(in) nature without destroying it or ourselves.

With this piece, I wanted to combine my background as an architectural stone carver with the inspiration of Buckminster Fuller to create an architecturally inspired experience. A playful expression of possibilities. The complex angles and shapes mirror the complexities of being a parent during a pandemic while trying to instill in our children that there is still magic, innocence, and discovery in the world. My hope is that adults will experience that childlike playfulness and wonder as well.

About the Artist

Jessi Eaton-Shields lives in Ashland, Oregon where she lives and plays in the mountains with her two little boys, husband, and boxer dog.  She is from St. Louis, Missouri, leaving to attend College of the Ozarks where she studied Studio Art.  She later moved to Austin, Texas for an Americorps program in conservation.  It was in Austin that she apprenticed under Master Stone Carver Joseph Kincannon learning banker masonry and architectural hand carving, quickly moving up to being an associate and member of the design team at Kincannon Studios.  She was active in the arts community of Austin and participated in the EAST Austin Studio Tours for many years as well as exhibiting in many solo and group art shows.  She moved to Oregon to raise her children in the mountains as a stay-at-home parent, occasionally leaving to help teach at stone carving symposiums, and is a member of the Northwest Stone Sculptors Association.  She is currently attending Southern Oregon University, homeschooling her kids during the pandemic, and creating art in her studio in Ashland.

Connect with the Artist

INSTAGRAM

Artist Statement

I believe that every subject can be explored by the same individual through different mediums creating completely separate and complex visual representations on the same subject matter, which is why I have tried to meld my background in fine art and architectural stone carving.  Whatever the medium I choose, or combine, I am trying to create a unique viewpoint on a complex subject, idea, or emotion.  I am a tactile person and this shows through in all of my work including the two-dimensional pieces, but I am more drawn to making three-dimensional work including sculptural painting.  I enjoy mixing organic and found items, and creating something profound from discarded and wasted elements, spinning the ideas of reduce, reuse, and recycle, while bringing significance to the ordinary. I incorporate flora and fauna in every medium and question ideas on existence, reality, meaning/purpose, and the complex human condition and mind.

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