baring bones

spring arrived. swollen creeks. cricks as we say in my family. i spent as much of the spring and summer as i could muster in wilderness. climbing, breathing, smelling, scrambling. finding the utter focus that comes when you've surpassed your limits about five miles back. shooting endless photos for future works. works now emerging in pastel and as photos on silk, velum and acrylic skin.

this most recent body of work, BARING BONES, explores that which is left after all of the layers have been pealed back or have wasted away. i was surprised by the warmth of these pieces as they emerged on paper. i expected the body of work to feel, well, lifeless. instead, there is a warmth that insisted its way onto the paper.

this exploration was sourced by an urge to visit stillness. i longed for a retreat to the void, for a moment in emptiness. i found myself tracking the prints of winter, death and decay. i remained there for some time before spring burst and bulged her way onto the scene, enriched by the way we had come.

watercolor, graphite and a wee bit of pastel on paper

summer, 2009