Little Consolation Series 2022 –
Now upwards of one hundred and fifty pieces at the time of this writing, these 7 x 5 x 1 inch mixed media works on wood panel allow me to hover between abstraction and representation while addressing a free-floating range of subjects such as memories from personal history, love of nature and wilderness and animals as well as the endless cycle of catastrophic events, whether it be social, environmental and/or humanitarian, taking place at any given moment around the world. It depends on what’s in the air – literally and figuratively sometimes.

While the Series, begun in the early days of 2022, does little or nothing to alleviate the tragic global condition, in some small but significant way, it allows me to cope with the struggle of a meaningless existence and keeps me grounded and focused for the tasks at hand, namely, engaging in an increasingly confusing and highly-charged world. I tend my garden, I visit the nurseries, I dig in the mid-day sun, I plant the natives that will attract the pollinators and feed the birds, I recollect a past life with ponds and dogs who loved to swim and eat blueberries as much as we did, juxtaposed with tending declining parents through many long distance drives; cancelling trips because of wildfires and COVID-19 and so on and on. I struggle to reconcile famine, rape, torture, massacres with the charmed life of an artist who can go to the studio every day and can totally shut the world out with the closing of her door. It is that easy, if little consolation.

Beacon, NY
June 13, 2022