About The Work Drawing My drawings are a response to the natural world.  Mountains, a flowing river and clouds are my inspiration.  I extract the formal commonalities of nature and distill them into my own macrocosm. I choose charcoal because it provides a stark boldness, amplifying nature’s mysteries. Charcoal produces rich, velvet values and crisp lines that I find pleasing. I rub powder charcoal onto the paper to achieve multiple tones. At times, tone is erased, lightened then reworked. I work without visual reference; only memories of certain elements.  Line is the backbone of the work. Color is limited or not included to focus on the beauty of the tone and line.  I enjoy applying sensitive lines and feeling the receptiveness of the paper.  Layers of lines build upon one another, a rhythm emerges and forms develop.  The line accelerates and takes me where it wants to go.  The experience is one of awareness, fluidity and expectancy. Photomontage I take vintage photographs and found objects, remove them from their original context and place them in illogical situations or weird associations.  I enjoy the mystery or humor that develops within the new narrative. All the materials in my work have been collected over many years and from a variety of places. The vintage magazine images I purposely seek out at antique shops and yard sales. I am attracted to their yellowed pages and imagery of a bygone era. I find it fascinating to come upon an estate sale where little curios and magazines have been stored away for fifty years. Why have they been kept for so long in this garage? What is their purpose? Taking them home and transforming them into a work of art is the way I honor their inherent beauty. The postcards, which appear in each of the assemblage pieces, are personal; old cards sent from friends or relatives on past travels.  Most of them have a cheery message written on the back that tells of the wondrous place they are visiting.  There is personal attachment to each of the objects as well. In “The Cuzco Experiment”, my father’s childhood marbles are glued to part of a rusted pencil sharpener I found in his work shed. My process derives from the need to organize and categorize.  Much time is spent placing images and objects together.  Some are kept for years until they find purpose.  It is similar to building a jigsaw puzzle.  Images and objects are spread across multiple tables, moved around and laid next to each other until there is a fit.   I am reminded of Joseph Cornell who drove his mother mad by covering up the dining table with his bric-a-brac and cutouts as he worked on his assemblages.