Influences
The natural world
I draw on my extensive world travel. From the Tibetan plateau to the depths of the Indian ocean, nature, landscape, and the creatures that share this planet have been my greatest inspiration.
Victorian avant-garde
The mix of decorative arts and fine arts that blossomed during the 1850s . They blurred the line between fine art and craft. The line I like to walk. Their celebration of beauty. Their use and understanding of pattern.
Iznik pottery
The sophistication, abstraction and color astound me!
Charlie Harper
His playfulness with his subject matter is equal to his ability to distill, to strip away all that is unnecessary.
Mark Rothko
His refinement and meditative seduction.
Cat kaley McCarroll
A bit about me
I am a traveler. I was drawn to National Geographic Magazine as a child and they shaped my vision for my future. My paintings are of the quiet moments in travel: of spying a rabbit in the high Sierra or a hornbill in the jungles of Borneo. It could be an empty street on a winter’s night in Vienna or a covey of quail walking through a suburban neighborhood in Nevada. These are the experiences that drive my work.
Like a Haiku poem, I work to create an image that is distilled, beautiful, and elegant. Each painting is a single story. I focus on structure and pattern. I keep my color palate limited. I compress depth, and work within a flat field.
Verre Eglomise, reverse painting and gilding on glass is a fascinating technique. I love the craft of such an ancient medium. I try to carry that feeling of history into my work, using antique or repurposed glass as much as possible, and giving the images a sense of age. I want my paintings to feel they have their own history.
I studied fine art with a concentration in printmaking at Kent State University. After many years I rediscovered verre eglomise and learned the craft from Frances Federer. Fast forward, and here I am in San Francisco working in a pre-roman technique in the 21st century. I stand on the shoulders of great artists and artisans, blending art and craft.
HISTORY OF VERRE EGLOMISE
Verre églomisé, from the French term meaning gilded glass, is a process in which the back side of glass is gilded with gold or metal leaf.
The gilding may also be combined with reverse painting on glass.
The technique dates back to the pre-Roman eras, but its name is derived from 18th century French decorator and art-dealer Jean-Baptise Glomy (1711–1786) who is responsible for its re-popularization.
One of the key historical periods of the art was in Italy during the 13th to 16th centuries. Small panels of glass with designs formed by engraved gilding were applied to reliquaries and portable altars.
It has also been used throughout Europe since the 15th century, appearing in paintings, furniture, drinking glasses and similar vessels and jewelry. It is also often seen in the form of decorative panels of mirrors, clock faces, and in more recent history, as window signs and advertising mirrors.
detail from peacock