My work

The ocean and the coral reef have been the focus of the few paintings below. I have chosen two techniques to create the work. Both techniques use encaustics (beeswax, damar crystals and pigment.) However, one technique uses the wax applied directly on wood and the other is where wax is manipulated on a heated surface and then a paper print is taken from the image and reworked with pencil.

The Largo Release

34" x 48" Encaustic on Wood

December 10, 2011 I watched by best friend’s son release his parents ashes into the sea just off Key Largo. He walked proudly down the dock, wearing his father’s hat. I decided to think of that day as a beginning, not an ending. That life is forever renewing and reinventing itself just waiting for us to live it.

Seafood or Sea Life?

34" x 48" Encaustic on 

Wood

Seafood is printed proudly on most menus. I wish it would read sea life instead of seafood. By choosing plant base dinners we can make a difference in the depletion of our oceans one plate at a time.

Worth Restoring

23” x 17” beeswax, pigment and pencil on paper

I am sure car dealerships would love to see everyone purchase a new car this year. We look at old cars and see all the work that is involved in keeping them in good working condition. My son, Alex, drives an old, very used, 1979 Firebird. It needs a lot of work, but he loves his car and doesn’t see all of its imperfections. 

The day when he went to get his car painted after weeks of sanding and preparing the surface, I realized that in order to restore anything first, you have to love what you are restoring whether it is an old car, a relationship or the Coral Reef.