ARTIST STATEMENT
My recent watercolor paintings celebrate the exquisite beauty of the natural world on a small scale, while also humorously exploring themes of thwarted yearning and lowered expectations. As the world was slowly returning to normal after the confinement and disruption of the pandemic years, I experienced a traumatic injury to my drawing hand that derailed my painting practice for many months and which is still impacting my productivity. Most of the works in this exhibition were completed during this difficult period during which I had to adjust my work habits and even the way I hold paintbrushes and other tools to accommodate ongoing left hand stiffness and pain. While my watercolors have long depicted delicate subjects and fraught situations to invite contemplation of the fragility of life and the lurking potential for catastrophe, this upheaval in my own reality drove home the lesson that one's own familiar routines can be forever changed in a heartbeat. My recent watercolors explore these themes and express my belief that color and light can overcome darkness, and that the world can be both gorgeous and unsettling, and that humor can be a welcome distraction from all manner of ills.
All but one of the paintings in this exhibition incorporate text painted to resemble penciled handwriting, with which I hope to draw viewers into the work and to either disarm or amplify the narrative tension in the scene depicted. Most of these painted blurbs originate from notes that I scrawled in my sketchbooks when I was months along in my recovery and could finally hold a pencil again and begin writing and drawing simple doodles. Sometimes I would plan a future composition around a particular sentence from those sketchbooks, and other times, many months later, I would match an almost completed painting to a previous sketchbook quote. I love words that suggest multiple meanings and text that dovetails with my themes of confinement and unfulfilled desire but does so playfully and humorously.
The exhibition title, “Every tiny little thing,” refers to the diminutive creatures who inhabit my artworks and also to the intricate details that have become more challenging for me to paint these days, as well as to the small steps in my recovery for which I’ve been so grateful. This is my smallest solo show in many years, and it includes some tinier watercolors than I’ve ever shown before. In a very small nutshell, this exhibit is about adjusting expectations but still hoping for modest miracles.
My recent watercolor paintings celebrate the exquisite beauty of the natural world on a small scale, while also humorously exploring themes of thwarted yearning and lowered expectations. As the world was slowly returning to normal after the confinement and disruption of the pandemic years, I experienced a traumatic injury to my drawing hand that derailed my painting practice for many months and which is still impacting my productivity. Most of the works in this exhibition were completed during this difficult period during which I had to adjust my work habits and even the way I hold paintbrushes and other tools to accommodate ongoing left hand stiffness and pain. While my watercolors have long depicted delicate subjects and fraught situations to invite contemplation of the fragility of life and the lurking potential for catastrophe, this upheaval in my own reality drove home the lesson that one's own familiar routines can be forever changed in a heartbeat. My recent watercolors explore these themes and express my belief that color and light can overcome darkness, and that the world can be both gorgeous and unsettling, and that humor can be a welcome distraction from all manner of ills.
All but one of the paintings in this exhibition incorporate text painted to resemble penciled handwriting, with which I hope to draw viewers into the work and to either disarm or amplify the narrative tension in the scene depicted. Most of these painted blurbs originate from notes that I scrawled in my sketchbooks when I was months along in my recovery and could finally hold a pencil again and begin writing and drawing simple doodles. Sometimes I would plan a future composition around a particular sentence from those sketchbooks, and other times, many months later, I would match an almost completed painting to a previous sketchbook quote. I love words that suggest multiple meanings and text that dovetails with my themes of confinement and unfulfilled desire but does so playfully and humorously.
The exhibition title, “Every tiny little thing,” refers to the diminutive creatures who inhabit my artworks and also to the intricate details that have become more challenging for me to paint these days, as well as to the small steps in my recovery for which I’ve been so grateful. This is my smallest solo show in many years, and it includes some tinier watercolors than I’ve ever shown before. In a very small nutshell, this exhibit is about adjusting expectations but still hoping for modest miracles.
RESUME
EDUCATION
1985 BA with distinction, Pomona College, Claremont, CA
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024 Every tiny little thing, Billis Williams Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2020 It's all arranged, George Billis Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2018 What Lies Within, George Billis Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2016 Whatís clear now, George Billis Gallery, Los Angeles CA
2010 Enigmas and Elegies, Left Coast Galleries, Studio City, CA
2006 Borderline States Art Murmur Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2004 Strange Angels, Gallery 825, Los Angeles, CA
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2023 Summer group show, George Billis Gallery, New York, NY
2021 Group show, George Billis Gallery, Westport, CT
2020 Gallery Selects, group show at George Billis Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2019 The Imaginary, Carnegie Art Museum, Oxnard, CA
2017 Soluble Power, Carnegie Art Museum, Oxnard, CA
2017 The Cityscape Show VII, George Billis Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2015 Group Show, George Billis Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2012 Recent Work, Swenson Fine Art, Laguna Beach, CA
2011 WILDlife, Heather James Fine Art, Jackson, WY
2011 A Window Between Worlds, James Gray Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
2011 Re:FORM, Honor Fraser Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2010 Group Show, James Gray Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
2009 Salt Creek Environment: Local and Endangered, Haydon Art Center, Lincoln, NB
2009 La Petite, Left Coast Galleries, Studio City, CA
2009 Group Show, James Gray Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
2008 Spirits of L.A., Los Angeles Municipal Gallery, Hollywood, CA
2008 California Visual Artists, 2nd City Council Gallery, Long Beach, CA
2008 Bronze and Brushstrokes, Left Coast Galleries, Studio City, CA
2007 You Are Here, two-person show at Bandini Gallery, Culver City, CA
2007 Bridge Art Fair, with Art Murmur Gallery, Miami, FL
2007 Contemporary Realism, Modern Masters Fine Art, Palm Desert, CA
2007 Art International, The Pasadena Center, Pasadena, CA
2006 Memorias de Comunidad, Highways Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
2006 Random Perspectives, Red House Gallery, Venice, CA
2006 Vanitas Now, Art Murmur Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2005 Looking At Art, LAMAG at Los Angeles International Airport, Los Angeles, CA
2004 In America Now, Don OíMelveny Gallery, West Hollywood, CA
2003 Petite works, Gallery 825 Annex at Bergamot Station, Santa Monica, CA
2003 Turn It Up, The Art Coalition, North Hollywood, CA
2002 Visions International, Art Center Waco, Waco, TX
2002 To Your Credit, Eastern New Mexico University, Roswell, NM
1999 Moving Toward The Millennium, Watts Towers Art Center, Los Angeles, CA
1995 Gramercy International Contemporary Art Fair, Chateau Marmont, with Newspace Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1994 The Next Wave In, Santa Monica Museum of Art, Community Focus Gallery, Santa Monica, CA, curated by Ronn Davis
1994 Underexposed, Los Angeles Municipal Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
BIBLIOGRAPHY
2020 "Unavoidable Fate," American Art Collector, May 2020, pp 68 - 69
2019 "Conflicts of Interest" issue, Nonprofit Quarterly, Fall 2019, cover and pp. 9, 11, 21, 29
2018 "Impending Disaster," American Art Collector, August 2018, pp 108 - 109
2014 Tierney Brosius, Leon Higley, Lana Johnson, "Promoting the Conservation of the Salt Creek Tiger Beetle Using the Visual Arts," American Entomologist, Vol. 60 No. 1
2009 Lynne Bahr, "Photographic Effects, Painterly Vision," Watercolor, Spring 2009.
2008 Jenica Jones, "Look Very Close," Bootleg Magazine, No. 37, August, 2008.
2008 Theo Douglas, District Weekly (cover), Vol. 1, Issue 52, Long Beach, April 2008
2008 Studio Visit Magazine No. 2, Open Studios Press, Boston, MA, April 2008.
2008 Raoul De la Sota, "Spirits Of Los Angeles," City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, Los Angeles, CA
2007 "Los Angeles Art Show - Five Centuries of Art," Fine Art Dealers Association, Santa Monica, CA, January, 2007
2007 Peter Frank, "Art Murmur," Art Murmur Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, 2007
2006 Linda Ford, "Art Murmur's Borderline States," The Arts District Citizen, May, 2006
2006 Sergio Martinez, "Binaries Lurking In Our Minds," SoCal.com, February 20, 2006
2002 Shirley Gottlieb, "Arresting Art," Long Beach Press-Telegram, August 23, 2002
2002 Gottlieb, "Art that might stop you in your tracks," Beachweek, August 2002
2002 Gottlieb, "From Metal to Print," Long Beach Press-Telegram, July 5, 2002
2002 Jenny Bower, "To Your Credit," Eastern New Mexico University Roswell Press, 2002
1994 Peter Frank, "Art Picks of the Week" for "Underexposed" at LAMAG, LA Weekly, August 12, 1994
1985 BA with distinction, Pomona College, Claremont, CA
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024 Every tiny little thing, Billis Williams Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2020 It's all arranged, George Billis Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2018 What Lies Within, George Billis Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2016 Whatís clear now, George Billis Gallery, Los Angeles CA
2010 Enigmas and Elegies, Left Coast Galleries, Studio City, CA
2006 Borderline States Art Murmur Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2004 Strange Angels, Gallery 825, Los Angeles, CA
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2023 Summer group show, George Billis Gallery, New York, NY
2021 Group show, George Billis Gallery, Westport, CT
2020 Gallery Selects, group show at George Billis Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2019 The Imaginary, Carnegie Art Museum, Oxnard, CA
2017 Soluble Power, Carnegie Art Museum, Oxnard, CA
2017 The Cityscape Show VII, George Billis Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2015 Group Show, George Billis Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2012 Recent Work, Swenson Fine Art, Laguna Beach, CA
2011 WILDlife, Heather James Fine Art, Jackson, WY
2011 A Window Between Worlds, James Gray Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
2011 Re:FORM, Honor Fraser Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2010 Group Show, James Gray Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
2009 Salt Creek Environment: Local and Endangered, Haydon Art Center, Lincoln, NB
2009 La Petite, Left Coast Galleries, Studio City, CA
2009 Group Show, James Gray Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
2008 Spirits of L.A., Los Angeles Municipal Gallery, Hollywood, CA
2008 California Visual Artists, 2nd City Council Gallery, Long Beach, CA
2008 Bronze and Brushstrokes, Left Coast Galleries, Studio City, CA
2007 You Are Here, two-person show at Bandini Gallery, Culver City, CA
2007 Bridge Art Fair, with Art Murmur Gallery, Miami, FL
2007 Contemporary Realism, Modern Masters Fine Art, Palm Desert, CA
2007 Art International, The Pasadena Center, Pasadena, CA
2006 Memorias de Comunidad, Highways Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
2006 Random Perspectives, Red House Gallery, Venice, CA
2006 Vanitas Now, Art Murmur Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2005 Looking At Art, LAMAG at Los Angeles International Airport, Los Angeles, CA
2004 In America Now, Don OíMelveny Gallery, West Hollywood, CA
2003 Petite works, Gallery 825 Annex at Bergamot Station, Santa Monica, CA
2003 Turn It Up, The Art Coalition, North Hollywood, CA
2002 Visions International, Art Center Waco, Waco, TX
2002 To Your Credit, Eastern New Mexico University, Roswell, NM
1999 Moving Toward The Millennium, Watts Towers Art Center, Los Angeles, CA
1995 Gramercy International Contemporary Art Fair, Chateau Marmont, with Newspace Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1994 The Next Wave In, Santa Monica Museum of Art, Community Focus Gallery, Santa Monica, CA, curated by Ronn Davis
1994 Underexposed, Los Angeles Municipal Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
BIBLIOGRAPHY
2020 "Unavoidable Fate," American Art Collector, May 2020, pp 68 - 69
2019 "Conflicts of Interest" issue, Nonprofit Quarterly, Fall 2019, cover and pp. 9, 11, 21, 29
2018 "Impending Disaster," American Art Collector, August 2018, pp 108 - 109
2014 Tierney Brosius, Leon Higley, Lana Johnson, "Promoting the Conservation of the Salt Creek Tiger Beetle Using the Visual Arts," American Entomologist, Vol. 60 No. 1
2009 Lynne Bahr, "Photographic Effects, Painterly Vision," Watercolor, Spring 2009.
2008 Jenica Jones, "Look Very Close," Bootleg Magazine, No. 37, August, 2008.
2008 Theo Douglas, District Weekly (cover), Vol. 1, Issue 52, Long Beach, April 2008
2008 Studio Visit Magazine No. 2, Open Studios Press, Boston, MA, April 2008.
2008 Raoul De la Sota, "Spirits Of Los Angeles," City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, Los Angeles, CA
2007 "Los Angeles Art Show - Five Centuries of Art," Fine Art Dealers Association, Santa Monica, CA, January, 2007
2007 Peter Frank, "Art Murmur," Art Murmur Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, 2007
2006 Linda Ford, "Art Murmur's Borderline States," The Arts District Citizen, May, 2006
2006 Sergio Martinez, "Binaries Lurking In Our Minds," SoCal.com, February 20, 2006
2002 Shirley Gottlieb, "Arresting Art," Long Beach Press-Telegram, August 23, 2002
2002 Gottlieb, "Art that might stop you in your tracks," Beachweek, August 2002
2002 Gottlieb, "From Metal to Print," Long Beach Press-Telegram, July 5, 2002
2002 Jenny Bower, "To Your Credit," Eastern New Mexico University Roswell Press, 2002
1994 Peter Frank, "Art Picks of the Week" for "Underexposed" at LAMAG, LA Weekly, August 12, 1994