"Lost Maples", 36 x 48

One day, after a flooding rain, I visited Inks Lakes State Park in Burnet County, Texas. As I walked around the edge of the lake, I came upon the sight of branches of a maple tree being suddenly and unexpectedly engulfed in flood waters. I was fascinated by the pattern of swirling waters carrying away leaves dropping from the tree. I could see some of the leaves dropping beaneath the surface in the reflections of the tree on the swirling waters. The event brought to mind the name of another state park in Texas, Lost Maples.

"One Leaf", 36 x 48

Inspiration sometimes comes in strange ways . . . I caught the concentric circles emanating from one dropped leaf in a photo taken at Lake Tanglewood, between Amarillo, Texas and Palo Duro Canyon State Park. The circles radiated over the reflections of blue sky and colorful, tangled vines growing beside the lake. Streaks of sunlight came through the leaves and settled on the surface of the water. As I painted this piece, I came to recognize an inspirational metaphor in the concentric circles and the rays of light from the direction of the one dropped leaf. The metaphor was originally unintended and unconscious in nature, but once I saw it, I ran with the idea. I've read that the unconscious knows more than the conscious mind, and I'm coming to believe it.

"Water, Leaves and Light", 34 x 44

Here's another painting created from rearranged elements from a series of photos taken at cow creek. I was entranced peering through the teal water to the bottom of the pond, while at the same time observing the patterned reflections of evergreens on the surface of the water. I became engaged in watching the way the water acts like prisms. The sunlight travels through the moving surface of the water, causing undulating patterns of light that break into rainbows on the rocky bottom of the pond.

"Wild Sycamore", 36 x 48

I love painting simple, intimate, close-up views of my subjects, eliminating the nonessential and focusing on my primary interest. This painting is the first of a series created from elements taken from numerous photos of cow creek, near Smithwick, Texas in the fall. (Cow creek is a beautiful place, one of my special personal sanctuaries.) The ripples on the water in the background are coming from a little waterfall trickling into a small, but fairly deep pond on the creek. I love the variety and contrast of colors in the autumn leaves of the many sycamores surrounding this pond.

"Shadowplay", 36 x 48

When my children, Matt and Amy (center), were young, my wonderful in-laws took us on a vacation to Disneyland with their cousins, Dustin and Becca (on the outside). We stayed in the Lofton motorhome, parked at the Disneyland RV campground. After walking for hours around the park, we enjoyed relaxing breaks in the campground hot tub. I'm always drawn to the sight of water, and was fascinated by patterns created in the hot tub by air bubbles.
There are two things I'd like to mention concerning the composition of this piece. First, I added the fifth figure (we see the back of his shoulders and head in the foreground) to keep the eye of the viewer in the painting. The gaze of this boy (we'll call him Steve), leads us to Amy, and next to Becca, floating with the beach ball. Our eyes follow the turn of Becca's head toward Matt and then travel on to Dustin. Dustin looks at Steve and the circle (or triangle) is completed. Our eyes stay in the shadowed portion of the picture as we follow the gazes of the figures. Second, I broke all the rules by placing the lighted area solely in the upper right hand corner of the painting. Once an artist learns the rules, she can break them from time to time for effect.

"Sidewalk Leaves", 30 x 60

Rain changes the appearance of everything. This sidewalk became a slick, reflective surface, mirroring the sky and trees from above. At the same time, I could see the granular texture of cement through the transparent rainwater. And, of course, the multi-colored leaves lay where they fell, like confetti after a party.

"Above and Below", 36 x 48

I've often heard artists state that they didn't choose the subjects they paint, but the subjects chose them. This is the way I feel about a subject that I'm drawn to paint over and over - water. While living in the Texas Hill Country during most of the 80's and 90's, I came to love the clear waters in the area flowing from springs to streams, rivers, ponds and lakes. Because the land is rocky, relatively little sediment is picked up in the waters. Often they are remarkably clear. Like liquid jewels, they refract and reflect light, creating beautiful shades of blue, teal and green. I love looking through the water's transparency and simultaneously watching the undulating reflections on the surface, constantly moving, always changing. "Above and Below" is an attempt to focus attention on these qualities.