Welcome
2005 finds me continuing to reflect on what an exciting and productive time the previous year has been for me. I was on sabbatical from Kendall College of Art and Design, and spent the year producing new work that incorporates digital technology. Much of this work was produced during fellowships awarded to me by The Ragdale Foundation, an artist's colony in Lake Forest, IL, and Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, an artist's colony in Amherst, VA near Sweet Briar College.
As is always the case at artist's colonies, I met some incredible people - visual artists, writers, composers - from all over the United States and from Trinidad, Brazil, and Hungary. New friendships emerged and many standing invitations to visit were extended. Now if I can just find the time to take advantage of these generous offers. I also had the pleasure of visiting Elon University in North Carolina and Herron School of Art and Design in Indianapolis as a visiting artist. Both Elon and Herron were extremely hospitable and I enjoyed the opportunity to interact with their students and faculty.
My new work, a series titled Losing Sleep, incorporates digital techniques and handmade sheets of acrylic medium as well as Lazertran transfer technology. I am still doing traditional drawings but am also drawing digitally using the mouse as my drawing tool, and creating digital photomontages. I have yet to work on a digital drawing pad, but I anticipate trying this in the near future. Losing Sleep continues to explore my long-standing concern with child neglect and abuse and the transgenerational nature of this phenomenon. While in the past I have investigated this social/cultural disease from a more metaphoric or symbolic perspective, my most recent work takes a much more direct route and is consequently more confrontational. I am currently looking for venues outside of the immediate area of west Michigan in which to exhibit this work.
In the past year I had a solo exhibition at UICA here in Grand Rapids, and participated in two drawing invitationals in the Midwest. I also participated in juried exhibitions in Michigan, winning a solo show at the Midland Museum of Science and Art for the fall of 2005, and was accepted into a National Biennial exhibition in Virginia where I received the Arts and Sciences Award. Additionally, I was invited to join an online gallery called visualpump. They sell beautiful giclee reproductions of art, and I am represented by a body of landscape work executed in oil pastels. If you'd like to check it out, go to www.visualpump.com.
Returning to teaching after a yearlong sabbatical is always a bit difficult, but I have been back in the classroom since August and seem to be fully re-immersed in "academentia", as Mary Daly would say. While I obviously have less time to devote to my work with a full-time teaching load, I am continuing to ride the wave of my sabbatical and hope that it will carry me for some time. Thanks for coming to my website. I hope it was a worthwhile experience and that you will direct others who may be interested in my work to the site. Until we meet again...
