Building the Next Generation

 My new series, “Building the Next Generation” is inspired by a burst of fertility in my family. Admiring our children’s bold step into parenthood at a seemingly precarious time reminds me of the insistent power of procreation. Every life form is constantly in the act of building its next generation, moving life forward. Clearly and beautifully visible in plants, the cycle of flower, fruit, and seed makes visible nature’s powerful drive to perpetuate life and is the focus of these paintings.

Acorns to Oaks, 30x24 oil on canvas

I’ve loved acorns since childhood. They littered the shady spots where my family spent some of it’s happiest days. The acorn’s smooth surface nestled perfectly in my palm and I marveled at how such a small perfect thing could create such big beautifully tangled trees. I wondered how many animals would make meals of all the scattered nuts and was entranced by the nut’s cup shaped cap that fit perfectly on the tip of my finger - weren’t they just perfect elf caps?

The oak remains one of my favorite trees and acorns can be found in bowls and on window sills around my house and they appear frequently in sketch books, prints and paintings I’ve made over the decades, this being the most recent. 

 Arbutus in Winter, 24x36 oil on canvas

I love Arbutus Undo, also known as the Strawberry Tree, so much that I have planted 4 on my property. They have a beautiful brick red trunk and bright red branches, glossy green leaves and seasonally produce delicate bunches of cascading bell shaped white flowers. To me the real treat is that it produces fruit in red, orange and yellow that remain on the tree for months and months and look for all the world like artfully hung ornaments!

 Dog Rose Hips, 14x18 oil on panel

Following my daughter down a wooded path on a drippy afternoon in Denmark I was stopped by these gorgeous rose hips. They shone like apples in the tangle of their canes and called out to me to touch them or perhaps eat them. It turns out I wouldn’t have suffered any Alice in Wonderland consequences, native cultures have included the hips of the Dog Rose in their cuisine for centuries. Tea, jams, breads, wines and a favored Swedish soup all deliver the high level of vitamin C and antioxidants found in the beautiful fruit of the Dog Rose. 

 Coastal Pittosporum, 36x24 oil on canvas

The Pittosporum is a decorative plant used extensively in landscaping in Southern California. It has small white flowers that are sweetly scented and fruit that bursts open on ripening to release it’s sticky seeds. It is primarily planted for its attractive long lance shaped leaves that have lovely wavy edges. Recently many of our coastal Pittosporum have turned a bright yellow.

 Baja Fairy Duster, 16x20 oil on panel

I came across this plant while walking with a friend in the Coachella Valley in Southern California. The twiggy plant had scarlet tufted flowers which were beginning to droop. The long red stamens had gone a little rusty and and looked like a long used powder puff looking forward to retirement. What drew my eye were the seed pods looping into and around one another seemingly enjoying one another’s company before they crack open and release their seeds. 

 Eucalyptus Seed Husks, 20x18 oil on panel

I love eucalyptus trees. Their distinctive silhouette has always punctuated my favorite vistas, their fragrance moves through my home and their uniquely muscled branches supporting ribbons of swaying blue green leaves offer a vision of strength and grace that I wish the rest of the world would strive for. 

Eucalyptus are  a necessary part of my series “Building the Next Generation” not only because I’ve lived my life under them but because they are an amazing expression of nature’s powerful intent to propagate. Eucalyptus often bear flower buds in formation, blooming flowers, pollinated but still immature seed capsules and fruit reaching maturity in addition to older, empty seed capsules from previous seasons. That’s every phase of reproduction happening at once. You have to love that the grandmothers, the husks that have released their seeds, just hang around to enjoy it all once they’re done!

 Artichokes, 16x20 oil on panel

Artichokes grow wild on the plateaus I have walked my whole life. 4 to 6 feet tall, they are majestic plants and place bursts of purple above the scrub when they flower. The plant is a variety of thistle and has been cultivated regionally as a food since the 8th century BC. I remember my mother teaching our relatives visiting from New England how to pluck a leaf off a cooked artichoke, dip it a lemony Hollandaise Sauce she made, pull it through their teeth and toss what remained into the quickly filling bowl in the middle of the table. Wild, beautiful and delicious - who doesn’t love the artichoke?

 Eucalyptus Starburst, 12x16 oil on panel

Returning from evening walks I'm offered countless versions of this beautiful 

multilayered sight.

 Fierce Offering II,  24x30 oil on canvas

Some 200 species of Agaves grow in the arid regions of the Americas and they easily create hybrids between species. The secret to their survival is their shallow root system that makes the most of scant rain as well as condensation and dew. 

I love not only the plant’s adaptability, but the countless sculptural and colorful forms it takes. Thriving in harsh settings, it tells me that beauty can happen anywhere and that hardship can lead to beauty. This fierce skyward thrust of a ball of seeds expresses to me the power of adaptability. 

 From Ancient Rootstock, 16x20 oil on panel

 

The practice of grafting new varieties of apples to older rootstock is a longstanding practice. Newly desirable varieties are spliced into older plants and will will become one with the rootstock within 2 weeks. The trunk and roots of older trees that have proved their ability to effectively extract water and minerals from the soil and resist pests, diseases and drought nourish and protect branches bearing a new variety of fruit. Isn’t that just the best analogy for a good family you’ve ever heard? 

 Hope and Endurance, 24x18 oil on panel

I associate the uniquely sculptural prickly pear with the dry and rugged hills and deserts I have spent my whole life exploring. What we used to simply called cactus rises majestically above the low grasses and scrub with paddle growing out of paddle haphazardly, as if a toddler popped together the disks.  

In late spring the plant produces its flowers of yellow, red or purple. The juxtaposition of the delicate brilliant flower and its generous fruit with the leathery and often spined paddles is remarkable and no doubt why the plant is seen as a symbol of hope and endurance.

 Red Gum, 24x36 oil on canvas

Like me the Red Gum, a variety of eucalyptus, prefers temperate coastal conditions and does well with salt spray. It’s dense glossy leaves, dark above with a pale underside offer deep and welcome shade. It flowers several times a year in spectacular fashion, putting out large sprays of fluffy red, pink and yellow flowers in sprawling clusters that float on a field of rich green leaves. The urn shaped seed pods are beautifully and move from green to purple to brown as they remain on the tree. 

Springtime Natal Plum, 10x20 oil on canvas

In the area I grew up it was important to learn to identify this plant early in life. Natal plum was a popular accent plant in the yards where we played hide and seek at dusk diving into bushes with abandon. Beneath the glossy green leaves of the Natal Plum are some wicked thorns that you needed to encounter only once to leave a lasting impression. It took me years and a much more civilized interaction with gardens to forgive the plant for its barbs and notice the beautiful fruit and the star shaped flowers that smell as sweet as the orange groves that once defined our region of Southern California. 

 

Covid 19 Series

As the pandemic took hold of the world I began recording the visuals that it brought that were new to me and to many others. Stuck at home this was to be a way for me and my family to  remember the extraordinary time we were living through. I relied on photographs from the newspapers that I routinely read, so most all of the paintings in the series began as a photojournalists' capture. Because of this I have not shown this series publicly.

The first painting in the series appears at the bottom of the blog and works forward in time ending with the painting below. 

 The Beginning of the End

16x12 oil on panel

To address the misery that Covid-19 inflicted on individuals and economies, labs around the world swung into gear. Formerly the fastest development of a vaccine had taken 4 years and the average timeline stretched between 10 and 15 years. In the spring of 2020, as quarantine orders were issued by one country after another around the world the hope of having a vaccine anytime soon seemed ridiculous. 

Operation Warp Speed was announced in mid-May by the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The federal government offered hefty funding, built infrastructure needed for the effort and guaranteed the manufacture of any successful vaccine developed. HHS, in effect, purchased serum prior to knowing it’s degree of success. This funding allowed pharmaceutical companies to run preclinical and phase I, II and III clinical trials and develop manufacturing capability all at the same time rather in the formerly mandated sequence.

HHS’s bold move was a game changer. Multiple vaccinations were developed with head-spinning speed. The federal government cut red tape and expedited processes with no deviation in the required research, investigation or review board approvals. Building on epidemiological research that had been conducted for years, the first fully tested immunization was approved for emergency use in December of 2020. Three vaccines had been created in a record-crushing 9 months. 

As the manufacture and distribution of the inoculations kicked into gear, Americans began to emerge from a year like no other. “I’m Fully Vaccinated” stickers were worn with wonder and relief. Masks came off and family and friends fell into one another’s arms. Businesses and schools cautiously reopened and a new era began to take shape.

______________

This is the last painting in my Covid series. Recording the images I never would have imagined I’d see helped me get through the long, lonely year. My former subjects lost all color in light of the global drama playing out, and I decided to look straight at the historic event and record the visuals with a brush and oil paint in order to create a historical document. 

Looking at the arresting vision of a huge and utterly empty urban intersection, the otherworldly vision of a workman disinfecting city streets at night, the dark vision of a medical team enshrouded in PPE intubating a patient and 18 wheeled morgues chock full of body bags helped me understand what was happening outside the walls of my house. The mournful vision of an empty diner, a closed playground and a grandmother placing her palms against a window told me about how many layers of pain and suffering people were enduring. The sweet drive of women all across the country to sit at long-forgotten sewing machines and create stacks of masks at their kitchen tables, and the mysterious fever to bake bread gave me reason to smile. Still inexplicable - the hoarding of toilet paper!

I hope you enjoyed the series and that it perhaps helped you reflect on the unusual times we lived through. With the vaccine setting life back on a more familiar path, I find myself, like so many others, eager to focus on something else. I look forward to again focusing on the beauty of nature and people and finding the moments and visions that connect us to the magic and majesty of life. 

Stay tuned - I’ll share as I explore!

Touchless

 

Touchless

16x12 oil on panel 

Physical distancing was mandated by governments around the world in order to protect people from both contracting and sharing the Covid-19 virus. This public health strategy was key in stemming the spread of the deadly disease. However, the isolation created by the stay at home orders took a toll mentally and emotionally on many. 

Elders proved to be at greater risk of getting very sick, requiring hospitalization and possibly losing their life to the virus. Consequently they were encouraged to be especially cautious. No group suffered more chronic loneliness. Many seniors living alone or in care facilities were confined to their rooms or apartments for approximately a year. 

Electronic methods of working, socializing and ordering goods, which became a lifeline for younger people, were closed to many of the elderly. Unfamiliar with or resistant to technology, seniors remained isolated from friends, neighbors and family. Social isolation frequently leads to depression and other mental health issues which are linked to worsening memory loss and higher mortality rates in older individuals.

The forms that love was expressed were wrenching to witness, but so sweet. Birthdays were celebrated by parades of cars with honking horns and banners, face-to-face visits were conducted through closed windows and hugs could only happen through sheets of plastic. We are social animals and connection is fundamental, which was proven by the countless innovative methods that loving friends and family devised to bridge the gap and express their love to one another.

Be the Change

Be the Change

12x16 oil on panel

Covid 19 series

In the twenty two days after May 25, the day that George Floyd was killed, there were 868 recorded protests in 326 counties attended by some 757,000 people. In the midst of a pandemic, large protests about racism and police brutality were attended by people of all ethnic backgrounds and skin colors. The use of excessive force by the police was the catalyst, but the growing understanding that black and brown people were suffering far more due to the virus had thrown light on the systemic racism in our country. 

The burden of essential work falls unevenly among racial and ethnic groups. In New York City people of color comprise three quarters of the city’s essential workers. Latino and black communities suffered higher percentages of hospitalizations and deaths due to Covid.

Essential workers are unable to telecommute, consequently didn’t have the luxury of distancing. Every day they pulled on masks and ventured out to cook, clean, deliver food, carry mail, drive buses, stock shelves, patrol the streets and tend to the ill. Essential workers were unable to afford to take time off or told by their bosses that they were not allowed time off. Many workers have no paid sick leave and fewer than 10% can take 2 weeks off, the recommended Covid 19 quarantine period. Many paid with their lives. 

The stark inequities in treatment by the police and the the disproportionate loss within certain types of workers in the economy fueled a wide recognition that we all have to be the change. We need to read the books that point the way, institute changes in your own life and be receptive to thinking and living in new ways. 

Why TP?

Why TP?

coronavirus series

8x10 oil on panel

 When the pandemic made its way to the US it was understandable that hand sanitizer, cleaning products, thermometers and masks were snapped up from stores. However, when the "stay at home" orders were issued certain isles in stores seemed to empty immediately. Most notably missing was toilet paper. If you didn't already have a supply on hand you were up the proverbial creek. 

The mixed messages from State and National officials created anxiety and psychologists say that when people feel anxious and threatened behaving irrationally is common. Articles describe that the stockpiling of toilet paper wasn’t necessarily a selfish act of hoarding, it was an attempt to create order in a disordered situation. The cautious and anxious began a stampede panic buying is contagious. Being social animals we take cues from others, and when we see panic buying it causes fear and we tend to do the same. 

Stockpiling became a national past time. Some companies reported a 700% increase in their sales of toilet tissue. To appease dissatisfied customers retail companies restricted the amount that could be purchased at one time. The day you could put a few rolls in your shopping cart you felt victorious.

When worries of the second wave of infections built, it happened all over again! The run on cleaning supplies and pantry staples makes sense, but I still don’t get it, why TP?

Distanced

Distanced

12x16 oil on panel

Coronavirus series

What is it like to be young and have no playmates, no time at a park or school? Though social distancing is hard for everyone, children especially suffer and are affected both psychologically and developmentally by the isolation.

Routines, social interactions and friendships are some of the most important factors of a child’s psychological development. Much of early learning comes from watching, listening and mimicking others. Similarly, the development of co-ordination and physical skill takes trial, error and practice. In quarantine social and physical activity is in large part being replaced with more passive screen time. Psychological, social and physical mastery and confidence are not being built while kids are watching life rather than participating in it.

How will today’s change in the traditional childhood forms of stimulation, challenge and social contact effect the overall development of this generation? Running, climbing, singing, swinging and goofing around with other kids isn’t just fun, it’s important!

 

Gratitude

Gratitude

12x16 oil on panel

coronavirus series

We tend to focus on things that worry us or need changing. By giving attention to problems we can decide how best to make improvements. However sometimes this drive to root out problems makes us less aware of what is good or even great in our lives and in the world.

In the midst of the fearful rollercoaster ride that the pandemic has forced the whole world on we have seen kindness, selflessness and caring on levels that bring me to tears.  When quarantine orders drove most people home, there were legions of “essential workers” who ensured that we had the care, supplies and services we needed. Healthcare professionals, grocery, retail and food service workers, janitors and maids, transportation workers, gas station attendants and mechanics, postal employees, delivery drivers, grocery store employees and countless more put themselves at risk by interacting with large numbers of people daily. Essential workers, often not granted the privilege to isolate, made social distancing possible for the majority.

Expressions of gratitude bubbled up around the globe. Red Cross volunteers picked thousands of flowers to give to healthcare workers in Italy, The US Air Force Thunderbirds conducted flyovers in many US cities, the statue of Christ the Redeemer who overlooks Rio de Janeiro was illuminated with a stethoscope draped around his neck, and the Eiffel Tower bore “MERCI” in lights while Michelin starred chefs made meals for employees of Parisian hospitals. 

Between 6:00 and 7:00 PM, the most common period for a change of shifts, New York City rang with applause as people opened their windows, stepped onto balconies or fire escapes and clapped, banged pots and pans and chanted their thanks. People in Italy, India and Spain offered similar tributes.

Unable to directly thank all those willing to sacrifice their own safety and well being in this global crisis, people found other ways to express themselves. Home made signs appeared in windows and on lawns, chalk spelled out thanks on sidewalks, and chain link fences became galleries of grateful messages.  Throughout the country and around the world groups of people stood on random corners or in parks and simply held a message of appreciation and gratitude over their head.

Yup, I’m crying again. 

The Staff of Life

The Staff of Life

12x16 oil on panel

A few weeks into quarantine when the days had begun to feel indistinguishable people began to bake. Social media began to look like the window of a giant bakery - full of muffins, scones, banana bread and lots of sourdough. 

The baking section of markets emptied just after the paper goods aisle emptied of toilet tissue. Those packets of yeast that sat undisturbed on the top shelf since your grandmother’s time became a hot commodity. Flour mills couldn’t keep up with the demand. 

Yes, everyone was trapped at home and had nothing but time on their hands, and yes, every trip out the door was viewed as a health risk, but really, what was going on?

Social scientists say that baking offers comfort and is nurturing of others. The sudden passion for kneading grew out of a survival instinct not only to feed but to control. We were realizing that our entire world could be tipped over by a tiny virus and that we weren’t the masters of all we see after all. But if we kept our dough warm and timed the rise, punched it down and let it rise again we could create an ancient food considered essential.

Home cooking had become a bit of a rarity in the last decade as markets sold more prepared food and dinner could easily be delivered. We spent lots of time and money enjoying more and more elaborate food while eating out. When all restaurants closed what we could produce in our kitchens was all there was. The impulse to do it well, and go deeper than ever before is so sweet. I mean if you can create the staff of life in your own kitchen, isn’t that the perfect way to push back a pandemic?

You’ve just got to love the resilient nature of the human spirit!