Paper Places

The Paper Places series portray landscapes across the U.S., Canada, Australia, Mexico, Costa Rica, and Singapore...up to 2011 so far; an ongoing series. Styles are deliberately varied to impart the unique nature of different locations.

During 2002 we changed residence to Texas from Canada. Moving to a new country offered the opportunity to fresh-start my career in new directions. Nine years later, extensive travel these past few years and a move to Oregon finds me re-orienting once more, reestablishing home and business.
At the personal level, every piece in this series celebrates an appreciation for the places I've been fortunate to visit or live. Home is certainly where the heart is.

The series also inspired the following poem, which accompanies each piece:

It remains
When things are gone
and people
passed and roads
and paths and places
we belong
to the essence.

In this series there are oil pastels, dry pastels, graphite, and watercolors pieces. Sizes vary, and are so listed. The 11 x 14 inches Oil Pastels on paper are framed in 22 x 26 inch custom made white wood frames. Other pieces may have dark frames, but intentions are to hang groups fairly close together in limited gallery spaces, and still be appreciated individually.

Using oil pastels, in particular, is sculpting; colors are layered then scratched away using pottery tools, fingernails, or whatever else works. Surfaces are built up, removed and rebuilt again. This process is typical of all my work no matter what the medium. Pure bits of color showing through the layers emphasize textures and liveliness.