The First Works of 2008

Well, we were supposed to go to San Francisco over the upcoming weekend for a quick getaway, but an impending snow and ice storm caused our airline to call our house tonight and cancel our flights. I am a bit bummed because I was really looking forward to exploring the city via some walking tours that I had booked. But I traveled a lot during the early portion of this month, including a great trip to Ithaca, New York to visit some good friends and a trip to Detroit, Michigan to visit my family, so it's not all bad. Despite a lot of interruptions as well as time devoted to some commission pieces that I'm still working on, I managed to finish a couple of new pieces this past month.

The first, "Reflections, Bear Meadows," is a landscape from the Bear Meadows Natural Area, a National Natural Landmark within the Rothrock State Forest of central Pennsylvania. I'm working on a panoramic commission of this same location for a couple of clients and I decided to tap the field studies and source photos that I'd captured in preparation for their piece in order to create this work. Bear Meadows is one of the largest fresh water bogs in the east. Unlike the bogs of Canada, the bog at Bear Meadows was not touched by the glaciers of the last ice age and it supports a variety of plants in its ecosystem. It sits atop a high plateau, and there are many remnants of wind-stripped trees that stand within the bog waters. Whether you visit during the first mists of morning or the last light of the day, the eerie quietness and the stark profiles of these now-defunct trees creates an other-worldly feeling.



The second piece, "Constitution Avenue, DC," emerged from my visit down to the city last month to soak up some great exhibitions at the Smithsonian Museum of American Art and at the National Portrait Gallery. I love to explore the play of lights and emphatic darks within urban nightscapes. For whatever reason, I'm in sort of a "dark" mood as I begin this year and it's leading me to focus upon more night scenes both in my cityscapes and in my landscapes. I'm currently working on what I think will be a fabulous piece from NYC's Times Square, so stay tuned....

From the City to the Country

Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC, at dusk

Happy 2008!

With this first post of the new year, I want to thank my collectors for making 2007 my most successful year yet. I'm very excited about some ideas that I have percolating for new landscapes and cityscapes in this new year, and I appreciate all of the support that I've received from my family, friends, and collectors.

The last month of 2007 flew by without a post here (sorry) because while in the midst of finishing up some commissions, I also visited a good friend in the Washington, DC area (where we viewed some fantastic art exhibitions of JMW Turner, Edward Hopper, and Asher Durand) and then my husband and I hosted my family for Christmas.

My trip to Washington, DC was huge because the opportunity to soak up the works on view during those exhibitions really recharged my creative batteries. Shortly thereafter, my family visited our home. The best thing about coming to central Pennsylvania during the heart of winter is the natural scenery, so -- of course -- we took everyone up to Black Moshannon State Park for a short hike following our Christmas dinner and cookies.

Some members of my family in Black Moshannon State Park. From left to right: My dog, Annie, my husband, Tim, my sister-in-law, Karen, my nephew, Max, me (in the green), my brother, Chris, my niece, Julia, and my brother, Stewart.

It's already two weeks into the new year and I feel as though I'm just catching my breath. But I'd like to use this inaugural post to announce a couple of forthcoming changes to this web site. First, look for more frequent postings to this blog, where I plan to discuss works recently completed as well as those in progress. Secondly, true e-commerce is on its way to this web site....I am a former web developer / designer, and I decided that it's time for me to put my geek skills to work for the betterment of my art. I have a lot on my plate right now, but look for this feature sometime during this spring.

I hope that your 2008 is off to a great start. Stay tuned for new works in the near future....