Artist Statements:

Black water series

The Black Water series is in sculptural relief, using twigs as a metaphor for humanity. As we float through this vast cosmic existence we impact the lives, positions and situations of all those around us, just as pieces of wood drifting along in the currents of a river. Twigs of Chinese Elm are gathered, dried and adhered to the surface of hollow core doors using modeling paste. The process is quite laborious as the twigs are like lines in a drawing, each placed with consideration of its angle and thickness.

Pumice Gel is applied to open areas for the gravelly textural effect and then several coats of black acrylic paint are brushed over the entire surface. Chance and the unknown are represented in the intriguing and mysterious Black Water.

Double Minded Man series

The Bible says a double minded man is unstable in all his ways. These images are emotional self-portraits that speak about my daily inward battle. Not necessarily displaying good against evil but more about the struggle of making choices and sticking to the decisions. Creating art proves to be a very therapeutic process for me. It helps bring clarity, focus and fulfillment to my life.

This work is produced in oil or acrylic on canvas or panel.

Dream series

These images are emotional self-portraits that illustrate how I often feel trapped in an ongoing dream existence. I am lying helplessly with the covers pulled up tight, sometimes I wish the dreams were real and other times that I could only wake up!

The sensation of being awake or asleep seems to blur for me at times. Often when I am working in my studio, my mind drifts into what I call the zone, where everything ceases to exist except the interaction with my art. Now that is a good dream!

The Dream Series is created using a wide variety of materials such as, oil or acrylic on canvas and watercolor, colored pencil or ink on paper.
(shhhhh... I’m sleeping)

Floral Images

I love everything about flowers! The images I produce are not usually meant to portray a certain genus but are representational abstract forms. Often I use rich impasto marks applied with palette knives to have the flowers pop off the surface, makes me want to take a sniff and see if they have supernaturally gained fragrance! The world is such a better place because of flowers!

To create my floral images I work in a wide range of mediums including oil and acrylic on canvas or panel, textile collage, sheet metal and ceramics.
Enjoy!

Illustrated Words series

Excitement wells up inside as I think about words and writing and the power of communication. I thank God for the ability to read and write! My dear Grandfather, Ernest Chandler, was never taught to read or write and just as I have a keen awareness, that I wear hats because Grandpa wore hats, I also am driven to write because he could not. Incorporating abstract imagery with text is a natural process for me. I have been writing since my early teen years and feel words comprise a large part of who I am as an artist.
Communication is a multitasking creature that we all live with or fight against.

In the process of creating the Illustrated Words series oil and acrylic paint, watercolors, ink, colored pencil, graphite, canvas, paper, panel or hollow core wood doors are utilized to explore my poems and ponderings.

Key Series

Keys lock us in, others out, start our car or lock a diary, can be shared or protected, be lost or found. Keys are symbolic of power, safety, success, hearts, minds and of changing times. This body of work explores many story lines that are at times extremely personal, while others, like the key itself, are more universal in application.

The work is comprised of mixed media collage with found objects on varying hard grounds such as wood panel, cement board or canvas board. Each piece is playful and loose in construction yet relies heavily on the juxtaposition of compositional elements for the message to be conveyed.

Scream series

Sometimes I just want to scream! So I allow my art to be the voice that manifests those cries. These images exhibit my frustration with the process we call living.

Acrylic paint, watercolors and ink on canvas.

Self Inflicted Wounds series

I believe we hurt ourselves far more than anyone else possibly could. These works reflect a mixture of experiences that have brought pain into my own life. It is not that I enjoy suffering, but more that I have just been foolish. Creating the art helps me realize how much more I desire and prefer healing. Yet the learning process continues.

Oil, acrylics, mixed media collage with found objects, glitter, thread, yarn and textiles on hollow core doors, board, canvas and paper are all utilized to explore the wounds.

Stigmata series

Christ was marked with our sin. You could say he was stigmatized or that he endured the stigmata. The Stigmata series is passionate imagery in abstract form portraying the crucifixion of Christ.
Acrylic on canvas with sgraffito technique.

Verbal Abuse series

Verbal abuse is a worldwide plague affecting the core of society. This series brings attention to that plight and speaks out on behalf of others who cannot or will not.

These are social statements created using acrylics and mixed media collage with found objects. Like the act of verbal abuse, there are many dual messages and hidden meanings in the voices that cry out from the art. Will these voices be heard before it is too late? Only time will tell.

Windows series 1 & 2

This work is symbolic of humanity and the portals of our hearts and minds.
Each image is an expression of a poem I wrote concerning these windows of our lives. In that writing the answer to the stated dilemma is that God will come, no matter what, and rescue any and all that cry out to him! Our windows will always be there yet how we look at or through them is continually changing.

In the Windows 1 series, the marks are layered together using watercolor pencil, watercolor crayon and acrylic paint on canvas or oil pastels and oil paint on board. In the Windows 2 series there is a single window in which modeling paste or sgraffito technique is employed to convey the personal and political turbulence within our society.