When I decided to create artworks on the theme of global peace and dialogue for an exhibition in Turkey, I was launched from painting landscapes into a new world. After a month of sketchbook work and research, black and white seemed the obvious and only choice for these images, so I reluctantly gave up my sumptuous oil paints.

Two concerns with working in b/w presented themselves: firstly, I find b/w rather stark and cold; additionally, I don’t like framing that separates the viewer and the work, with glass. Drawing on unprimed canvas solved both of these issues as raw canvas was a warm-sepia in tone and didn’t require glass.
After years of oil painting, I can achieve a sense of form in my work. However, my drawing work has had a flat quality with which I wanted to experiment. The technical issue of achieving structure became my goal in what had now become a series in my mind. Books have a simple structure that can be manipulated and were the perfect objects to work while developing form.

As the days of thought and scribbled sketches passed, the next consideration grew: what message do I want to convey in this work? Humans begin imitating, hours after birth and are, thus, a mimetic species; what can I add to the issue that would be worthwhile? Although I am well-intended, this is a growing process for me and I truly am journeying into unknown territory.

Symbols and Their Meanings in My Work
1. Reading glasses – the desire to see, to understand, to know
2. Ankh – timeless, eternal
3. Globe – universal, planetary concerns
4. Pitcher – nourishment, resources
5. Cattails – peace and prosperity
6. Books – knowledge and understanding
7. Trees – life
8. Water – well-being
9. Distant hills – considering the 7th generation
10. River to cross – changing an attitude
11. Twin trees – union of inner opposites
12. Dark sky – awaiting illumination
...