Pomegranate Bonsai

Backyard Fog

A dense fog descended on our backyard; it was a haunting yet peaceful scene.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

A friend recently reminded me of this photograph, Slowly Sinking Twin Pines, and it has me wondering about the state of these trees. I had the intention of revisiting this site on a recent trip to western NY, but I didn’t make there. I plan get back to this site in 2024 to see if these trees have sunk.

The challenging thing about revisiting a site it is that it’s often a matter of luck and showing up at the right time to capture the light at an opportune moment. The brief moment of sunlight that filters down through the clouds and illuminates the foreground and trees is what makes this photo great to me.

There’s something about marking time that I find interesting about this image; eventually the trees will be gone.

Hard Frost, Fallen Leaves

After the first hard frost of November, any remaining leaves dropped from the trees all at once. These Ginkgo leaves had hung on until that point and then fallen into a golden ring surrounding the base of the Ginkgo tree. Viewed from above, the dense, yellow-green pattern of leaves is a tangled array of color and texture.

Magnificent Oak

The evening sun backlit this magnificent oak as I was picking late fall raspberries at a farm down the road from our house.

Northern White-cedar

Open Course

These photos were taken while exploring the trails through an overgrown, abandoned golf course at Peek N’ Peak Resort in Clymer, NY. There was a striking contrast between the human-influenced landscape and the wilderness, and it was fascinating to see how nature had reclaimed the land.

Cloud Over Horizon

I returned to this photograph recently when thinking about work to submit for a local exhibition. I love the way the cloud's outer edge mimics the tree line's silhouette.

I took this photo in September 2018 at Green Lakes State Park near Syracuse, NY.

Pruned Plume

Ten years ago, I made this print titled, Pruned Plume. It’s a woodblock and screenprint on 22” x 28” paper. I created the print from a photograph that I separated into seven color layers; two colors were printed from a woodblock using a press, and the other five colors were done in screenprint.

The inspiration photograph was taken at Cass Park in early spring in Ithaca, NY, looking across the inlet at a grouping of three weeping willows.

Looking Back: Pine Needle Polka Dot

I’ve been thinking back on this piece from six years ago. It’s hard to believe so much time has passed since creating it!

This piece came out of work on my book project, Choose With Love. It’s interesting to me that in my artistic practice, one project continually informs another. I came by this idea while working on a photograph for the book that reimagined pine needles as blades of grass. In the course of working, the needles fell off the branch, and I thought about shaping them into a pattern that would begin to disintegrate.

Pine Needle Polka Dot, 2017, Archival digital pigment print, 17.5 x 14.25 in.

Snowy Sea Oats

Northern sea oats painted to look like tall pines in the snow. I think all this image needs a little person on cross country skis for scale. :)

A Quiet Spot Inside to Go

This page in “Choose With Love” is all about finding a quiet spot inside yourself. I struggle with this at times. It’s a lifelong practice, I guess. This page was inspired by our avocado tree that we bring inside each year when the weather turns cold.

To create this page, I used a thimble to make a tiny pot. The dirt inside is an upturned piece of moss. The tree leaves are dried Hydrangea flower petals painted green. Painted paper and balsa wood were used to construct a small room with a window.

Fall

Roger Williams Park Botanical Center

Lou and I traveled to Providence, RI for his 40th birthday, and on our way out of the city, we stopped at the Roger Williams Park Botanical Center. It was a luminous place on this bright and sunny day.

Lou took this photo of me. Always inspiring to be around plants.

peninsula

A lone tree out on a peninsula of its own in Watkins Glen, NY.

Submerged

This house (yes, there’s a house there!) is located right near one of our favorite summer vacation spots located in northern region of New York state. It’s a spot along Lake Ontario with a natural sand beach. It’s a beautiful beach except for the plastic garbage that washes up on the shore. The area is surrounded by farm fields, and the closest city is Watertown. It must be desolate in the winter!

Regal

I’ve been teaching a summer class for high school students at Cornell University. It’s an intensive art course, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday for three weeks. I’m spent! It’s good to be back on campus, but I’ve been feeling distracted and unable to really take it in. This scene near the pillars of Goldwin Smith Hall were looking very regal in the evening sun as I walked to the bus today. Eight days down, five to go!

Grass Grows Quickly

This is a detail of a field of grass I created from pine needles for my picture book, Choose With Love.

The grass grows so quickly when you step away for a while. Before you know it, it’s overgrown and needs upkeep. That’s where I’m at with my project at the moment: needing some focused attention to move it to the next place. From the very start of this project, it has come in starts and stops, and upkeep is a real thing. Once I’ve let the grass grow long, it’s harder to get back to it.