ARTIST’S STATEMENT
As a visual artist I’ve worked in film, sculpture and pottery, but am primarily a mixed media
painter.Growing up in south Florida, I developed a “love-hate” for Florida kitsch, often
incorporating Florida postcards into my art. Vacuous tourist imagery is sometimes a metaphorical
part of my iconography. While the message may be serious, I enjoy using visual puns, satire, or
playful humor in my work. Vintage pop culture items like postcards, toys and Cracker Jack box
lenticulars, taps into both nostalgia and collective memory. This helps the work resonate with the
viewer, while also being used to comment on social issues in unexpected ways.
Charity Announcement
I am pleased to announce that 10% of all art sales will go to the following charities:
Doctors Without Borders - offers medical humanitarian assistance to people based solely on
need, irrespective of race, religion, gender, or political affiliation. Teams of doctors, nurses,
logisticians, and other frontline workers are often among the first on the scene when peoples’
lives are upended by conflict, disease outbreaks, or natural or human-made disasters.
International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) - provides urgent care, rescue and rehabilitation
to animals world-wide and helps to protect their natural habitats.
Orca Network - supports Pacific Northwest whales in
their natural environment through education, advocacy &
research.
Eons ago, I was a field technician for the phone company
in South Florida. During my many repair visits to the
Miami Seaquarium I had the privilege of getting to meet
the famous orca, Toki (captured name "Lolita"). Marine
biologists doing research on orcas have written about
orcas’ telepathic communications. Trainers and
veterinarians who knew Toki have commented on her
ability to communicate in this way, even with humans.
Having spent some "quiet time" with her outside of her
show performances I can attest to this, and to the
profound effect she had on me. After 50 years in captivity
and a decades-long legal battle to free her, she was set to return home to the Pacific Northwest
at the end of 2023. Sadly, in August, 2023, just months before her release date, Toki died in
captivity at the Miami Seaquarium. Her mother, known to the Lummi Nation as "Ocean Sun,
" is
still alive. She’s believed to be around 97 years old and travels with another pod, having outlived
all of her captured offspring. To learn more, see Toki's Legacy:
