I had submitted my series of Fisher-Price milk bottle paintings to a museum exhibition about toys and collectibles. They were not accepted to the show, but the process got me thinking of them again.
When I decided to paint them, I had a specific memory of this collection being some of my favorite toys. I don't even know why. I can remember prying off the mismatched plastic lids and pouring the 'contents' into cups, refilling with every imagined flavor of milk and juice, a tiny bartender.

Even though I was a child in the 80s, my toys were older because I had 4 older siblings, and the playroom contained all these late-60s and 70s toys, a lot of Fisher-Price, mixed in with more 'modern' items. (Right now I'm not moved to paint any Care Bears or My Little Ponies or even my Pound Puppy, but maybe in another 10 years.)

I love the colors, this blend of faded and fluorescent, and the tactile memory of play that the photos brought up, and then the mixing of paint to evoke them. 

In my recent work this year, I have been jigsawing shapes from thin wood and painting/assembling them into wall-mounted compositions, occupying the space between two and three dimensions. Those shapes are oblong and round, stacked adjacent to each other in rows or appearing to be piled on the same flat plane.

In this new series, the layers of cut and painted wood evoke a dense and fantastical field of grass. and the piece interprets the sense of confronting wild greenery by representing the shapes and shades of it like that your imagination might conjure. The largest piece, 48"x50", is titled after a line in a Walt Whitman poem, ‘observing a spear of summer grass’. They may all be titled a variation of this, as they all grew from the same idea. Noting the word ‘spear’ instead of blade, both words descriptive and dangerous, as these sharp wood spears softly writhe and tangle around each other. 

I made this painting for the set of a private photo shoot with a 60s vibe. I painted it as a close copy of a print by Shag (the LA-based artist whose work is incredibly fun) which the photographer, Dean Goldberg, saw and dug for the project. I replicated his complete design, using an orange/red palette to suit the photo shoot, instead of the original's greens and blues.
Initially I hesitated to post this, but I consider it an homage to the artist (with respect- it took some work) and I think it is a groovy painting. 28”x36” acrylic on canvas. I may not exhibit as it doesn't feel like my original work, but I would very much like to sell it with the understanding that it is copied from another artist for a specific purpose. It would look pretty cool hanging on the wall in a bar/lounge or a hotel with a hip midcentury mod decor..
The piece is back in my studio and makes me want to kick off my heels and recline in an egg chair with a martini next to my pool table, watching the fiery sun set behind the skyline.

One of several pieces available here at Wonderwall Studio as a framed print in several sizes, here brightening up a breakfast table. Personally I would like this chair to go with it. The original painting is 40"x65" and still available, though the prints are probably an easier fit for most interior decorating. 

These four paintings are now available on Perigold, a premium home design retailer, as prints in several sizes, float mounted on linen with colored acrylic box framing or mounted on wood panels. Doing what I can to brighten up those interiors! 

For example, the Citron Stack original painting is just 12"x16", but the finished pieces are offered as 19"x24" or 32"x40". So cool. So premium. 

I have two pieces in this exhibition 'Celebrating Color', opening Fri July 12 at Womenswork.art in Poughkeepsie. They are new this year and were only previously shown at CMA Gallery at Mount St Mary College March through May, so I'm glad to have another venue in the Hudson Valley to exhibit them. Especially since celebrating color, so to speak, is a major focus in this new work!

‘Transit’ is a group exhibition opening June 24 at Krasdale Distribution Center in Hunts Point, NY, and includes six of my paintings. They will be there for 3 months, after which they will travel to the Krasdale Corporate Offices in West Harrison, NY, where there will be a reception on Oct 16, 5-8 pm. The second leg of the show will close Nov 13.

These are 2012-2018, from a slowly braking series of car/travel paintings. The curator, Kirsten Kucer, was familiar with this earlier work and felt it would be a great fit for the exhibition. I am always glad for new venues to show them. (And sell them.. In this exhibition, interested buyers are referred directly to the artist for purchase, so.. contact me!)
They reflect a particular kind of labor, observation, love, and matching of color/texture to the reference images. I’m still there but I like to visit places I haven’t been. I suppose this ‘place’ used to be ‘the past’, in effect, and now.. it's somewhere a little more abstract.

This new piece will be in the upcoming Far and Wide National exhibition at Woodstock Artists' Association & Museum, opening May 11. Reception Sat May 18, 4-6 pm. Through June 9.

'Paleta de Colores', acrylic on wood, wall-mounted, 34" tall x approx 16" wide. Again, because I like how some words/phrases sound better in Spanish, even though that isn't the language I ever studied, I only learned French and forgotten much of it. (Some came back to me when I went to Montreal 7 years ago, but that was only 3 days.) I'd like to use more German words but when I play around with phrases they just sound so stern, not as playful. 'Malkasten' (Paintbox). Still, that could be an effect I'd want, if a certain piece called for it. 

I admit. I do not feel as happy today as I appear in this photo. ☁️😕☁️ But it’s from my current show and I’m still happy about the work and needed a reminder. I think I tried to paint how lemon cream pie might taste on a gray February winter day. 💛 Sun, citrus, clouds, stone.
​The show ‘Explorations In Form’ is open daily at CMA Gallery at Mount St Mary College in Newburgh for two more weeks.
This piece is 'Pila Límon', 30"x30", acrylic on canvas, maplewood frame. Still available; contact the artist directly to purchase. Then I will be this happy! 

West Elm now has one of my works available online, as a print on wood panel in two different sizes, through a print gallery/studio in Austin TX! Higher visibility stacking! This is exciting and I am grateful to Wonderwall Studio for connecting West Elm with my work. Wonderwall has 15 more of my pieces available on their own site as prints, along with several options for mounting or framing. 
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The original painting, Pink Party Stack, is currently in the 'Explorations In Form' exhibition at CMA Gallery, Aquinas Hall, Mount St Mary College in Newburgh. The show is up through May 22 and is open every day, contact  cma-gallery@msmc.edu for more info.

​Screen shot of the West Elm site, because it's still a thrill: