In Her Image - Artifact Series
Spirit Woman tempera on paper: 18 x 20 Produced during the study of new freer brush strokes. The series of exercises with black tempera on paper was begun while camping on the Arizona Mexico border. Music was playing, there was dancing with the brushes and the motor-home was literally filled with tempera sketches of dancing women. Spirit Woman was born along with her sisters. (Naco, AZ 1998) She has been the inspirational piece for much of IN HER IMAGE |
Moon Mother oil on canvas: diptych 30 x 30 each Woman, as substance, ethereal, abstraction and symbol. There may be a hidden meaning in the fact that she is divided into two sections, however the truth is we couldn't transport any larger canvases and this image needed to be bigger than life. (Santa Fe, NM 2007) |
Primaries oil on canvas: 18 x 24 From the trash can series. The basic image of Primaries, Moon Mother and Listening came from a dented old trash barrel in a laundromat in the barrio of Santa Fe. The light hit the dents in such a way that it caused me to pause and get out my sketch book. I worked on the basic configuration until a paintable image appeared. Primaries represents the source of water, food, earth, air, colors and forms of life. (Santa Fe, NM 2007) |
Modern Woman oil on canvas: 24 x 48 The ancient woman emerges from the tree of life in the dark natural world to assist mother and daughter as they begin the journey toward the city. It is a remembrance expressing the support of the mothers, grandmothers and the ancient women which each of us must depend upon as we enter the world. (Phoenix, AZ 2006) |
Mother Rising
oil on canvas: 18 x 20 Second in the Emergence series. Developed in three stages. The first was a blood red spiral. The second covered the spiral in blue/purple. The third stage began by sitting still and watching the shadings of color and movement within the painted canvas until an image emerged. Mother Rising is symbolic for me and denotes my great-grandmother, Isabelle Phoenix, who died in childbirth but left a legacy of creativity. The technical stages of this painting foreshadow The Thread, A Sense of Gratitude and several other layered paintings . (Bethany Beach, DE 2003) |
Emergence watercolor The watercolor sketch of the first oil painting which was the beginning of the conscious journey toward understanding myself as woman, myth and image. Instructed by my mentor to begin to paint not what I saw but what I knew, Emergence, was the sense of self when doing Tai Chi exercises. (Bethany Beach, DE 2003) |
Legend oil on canvas: 30 x 36 Completion of the Emergence series, Legend represents the transformational stage of Woman/Bird Goddess into Woman/woman. The infinity sign still distinguishes her but is now a halo rather than a physical attachment. Her cloak of feathers is pure as she rises from the rocks and sea. (Ionia , MI 2004) |
Dancer of Red oil on canvas: 15 x 20 The study of Middle-Eastern dance at the age of 66, listening to Islamic music for the first time, and the many hues of red (symbols of life, woman’s blood, passion) brought this painting into being. It expresses the experience of the joy of self I found in learning to dance. (Tucson, AZ 2008) |
The Thread
oil on canvas: triptych: 12 x 36 each
The First level of this triptych is the rainbow of color which creates the
energy fields that surround us in each stage of life.
The Second level is the thread that binds us together. It is created by the Hebrew letter Yud,
considered in Jewish Mysticism as the messenger of movement and change. It is the smallest
letter of the Hebrew letters. I spent one whole summer, while my husband healed from
life-altering surgery, creating the Yud thread. It's purpose was not known
but there was an acute desire to get on with another painting.
One early morning, the inspirational light bulb went off and the Three Stages of Woman
was superimposed over The Thread, completing the Third level of the painting in one day.
Each stage of woman's life speaks to the other as the thread travels back and forth over
and through their bodies assisting with the changes that always come as we move through life.
(Ionia, MI 2006)
oil on canvas: triptych: 12 x 36 each
The First level of this triptych is the rainbow of color which creates the
energy fields that surround us in each stage of life.
The Second level is the thread that binds us together. It is created by the Hebrew letter Yud,
considered in Jewish Mysticism as the messenger of movement and change. It is the smallest
letter of the Hebrew letters. I spent one whole summer, while my husband healed from
life-altering surgery, creating the Yud thread. It's purpose was not known
but there was an acute desire to get on with another painting.
One early morning, the inspirational light bulb went off and the Three Stages of Woman
was superimposed over The Thread, completing the Third level of the painting in one day.
Each stage of woman's life speaks to the other as the thread travels back and forth over
and through their bodies assisting with the changes that always come as we move through life.
(Ionia, MI 2006)