In the summer of 2015 I was invited to show at Spokane Falls Community College (SFCC) by my friend Cyndy Wilson. No problem, it's summer now... spring of 2016 is miles away... (months really).
I received a phone call from Tom O'day at SFCC letting me know that the show had been moved up for their Winter session. Unfortunately this meant having to create new work in about half of the time I had planned on.
I cleared out half of our garage and setup a mini drawing studio and commenced putting pencil to paper and making some new work.
Ever since being invited to show I had started making some sketches and taking reference photos over the summer. The new works I submitted to the show were made up of four of these sketches and work together as a suite. These new drawings were all creating using old USGS maps, similar to work I had created in the past.
The first image was created by referencing a tree photograph I took while hiking at Liberty Lake in the Spokane Valley. The image of the raven was based on an idea more than observation. The third image is of a wild Mullein plant. Mullein may be a weed to some but it is also medicinal herb and useful plant to others in the know. The final image is of a square knot. This body of work represents a return to making art and the connection I have to nature.
