I’ve had an enormous attraction to the evocative power of photography since early childhood. My parents had piles of sepia toned photos which led me to believe that that the sky was yellow in the “olden days” and that the world used to be black and white in the past.
And when I was five, we had the chance to see the traveling version of “The Family of Man”. The photos displayed were huge and I remember feeling that I could walk right into them. My parents purchased the book and I would spend every afternoon during an enforced “nap” looking at it. I invented stories for each photo and grew to feel that I knew each person, that they were part of my own “family”.
I eventually learned that the sky never was yellow, (unless you count smoggy days) nor was the world previously black and white. But my fascination with photographs never left. I can look at them for hours and wonder: “who was this person? How was their life? What were their dreams? Were they happy?”
I’ve been very lucky to have boxes of found and very old photographs land in my lap and make their way into my artwork. This series plays with a number of those old portraits. While the people will forever be anonymous to me, I can subtly invent a life for them in my art. Or at the very least suggest a narrative that the viewer can pick up and develop for themselves.
Old photographs rarely tell a story directly, rather they can stimulate us to dig deeper, recognize what feelings they have elicited and perhaps connect to our own past and the time when the sky was yellow.
“Livorno”
2021. 8”x8”
mixed media: acrylic paint, found envelope, found studio portrait, found paper, acrylic paint on paper and oil paint on cradled wood panel
“Chaucer’s Gentil Knyght”
2021. 8”x8”
mixed media: acrylic paint, found papers, found 19th century tintype, remnant of found text from Chaucer and oil paint on cradled wood panel
“Cat’s Cradle with Serpent”
2021. 8”x8”
mixed media: acrylic paint, found papers, found image, found piece of mimeograph, pencil and oil paint on cradled wood panel
“Two for Tennis”
2021. 8”x8”
mixed media: acrylic paint, found photo, found papers, found remnant of letter and oil paint on cradled wood panel
“The Child is the Father of the Man”
2021. 6”x6”
mixed media: acrylic paint, found photographs (19th century child portrait and WWI photo), piece of antique Bingo game, rubber gasket and oil paint on cradled wood panel
Sold
“Stringing Along”
2021. 6”x6”
mixed media: acrylic paint, found 19th century studio portrait, found papers and oil paint on cradled wood panel
Sold
“Stand By Me”
2021. 6”x6”
mixed media: acrylic paint, found 19th century studio portrait, found papers and oil paint on cradled wood panel
“Threads of Meaning”
2021. 6”x6”
mixed media: acrylic paint, found 19th century studio portrait, found fabrics and papers and oil paint on cradled wood panel
“Lost in Transit”
2021. 6”x6”
mixed media: acrylic paint, found photograph, found papers, envelope sent to Italy with cancelled stamp and oil paint on cradled wood panel
“Qualified”
2021. 6”x6”
mixed media: acrylic paint, found papers and image, found antique photo, remnant of old book and oil paint on cradled wood panel
“But Will It Work?”
2021. 6”x6”
mixed media: acrylic paint, assorted found papers, found antique photo, found religious amulet and oil paint on cradled wood panel
Sold
“Seed Catalogue”
2021. 6”x6”
mixed media: acrylic paint, assorted found papers, found antique photo and oil paint on cradled wood panel
“Assumed Magic”
2021. 6”x6”
mixed media: acrylic paint, assorted found papers, found antique photo and oil paint on cradled wood panel
Sold
“Farm Family”
2021. 6”x6”
mixed media: acrylic paint, assorted found papers, found antique photo, pieces of old book and oil paint on cradled wood panel
“Board of Education”
2021. 8”x10”
mixed media: acrylic paint, assorted found papers including portion of a graduation document from 1906, found antique photo and oil paint on cradled wood panel
“I Think I Remember What You Said”
2021. 8”x10”
mixed media: acrylic paint, found papers, found antique photos and oil paint on cradled wood panel
“Of This I Know Very Little”
2021. 11”x14”
mixed media: acrylic paint, found papers, pencil on player piano paper, found antique photo and oil paint on cradled wood panel
Sold
“Tales of Africa”
2021. 8”x8”
mixed media: acrylic paint, bookbinding tape, cover and front page of a book published in 1842, found photograph, dried found flowers, and oil paint on cradled wood panel
Sold
“Miss Platt’s Trip to Paris”
2021. 6”x6”
mixed media: acrylic paint, found, papers, found antique photo and oil paint on cradled wood panel
“Small Sailboat on a Busy Sea”
2021. 8”x10”
mixed media: acrylic paint, assorted found papers, found antique photo and oil paint on cradled wood panel
“On the Patio with Omar”
2021. 8”x8”
mixed media: acrylic paint, assorted papers, found papers, found photo, cigar box remnant, colored pencil and oil paint on cradled wood panel
Sold
“Three Generations”
2021. 8”x8”
mixed media: acrylic paint, found papers, colored papers, found grommet, found antique photographs and cigar box remnant on cradled wood panel
“Funny Thoughts”
2021. 8”x8”
mixed media: acrylic paint, found papers, oil pastel, found rusty metal piece, found photographs, colored papers and oil paint on cradled wood panel
Sold
“Preparing for Sea”
2021. 8”x8”
mixed media: acrylic paint, found papers, remnant antique wall paper, found antique photo, found illustration from the “Hardy Boys”, acrylic paint on paper and oil paint on cradled wood panel
“Lucy and Babs”
2021. 6”x6”
mixed media: acrylic paint, found papers, pencil and colored pencil, found antique photo, oil paint on cradled wood panel
“Clarence”
2021. 6”x6”
mixed media: acrylic paint, found papers, found antique photograph, oil paint on cradled wood panel
“Nesting Materials”
2021. 6”x6”
mixed media: acrylic paint, found antique photograph, metal thread, found papers, oil paint on cradled wood panel
Sold
“Jujubees”
2021. 6”x6”
mixed media: acrylic paint, found antique photograph, found papers, oil paint on cradled wood panel