This new body of work is a more developed version of an approach I developed to create and sell small-format mixed media studies during the Covid-19 Pandemic. I have only just begun creating these pieces in larger size for my galleries. I am now mounting the watercolor board to a wooden cradle and varnishing it, which allows the work to be hung without the protection of glass.

Though these new pieces are achieved with a different process than most of my work of the last 20 years, they still express my hallmark style, which is a contrast between stylization, abstraction, and realism, a deliberate tension between illusionism and flat decorative treatments. This new approach began as an experiment, answered an economic necessity, and has now matured from small, quick studies, into a mature artistic expression. My work has always been defined and driven by experimentation, and this is only the latest iteration. It is possible that these pieces will remain what they are now: fun pieces to do for a bit of relief and spontaneity between larger and more demanding projects. Or they may continue to evolve into my primary mode of expression. Or this new-found-freedom may find a foothold in all of my work in a way I can’t yet imagine. But art is always like that, a journey that one feels compelled to take quite without knowing the ultimate destination.

This particular piece focuses on a Great-Horned Owl. Few raptors are as impressive or charismatic as this one, and the intricate lacework pattern of browns, beiges, and creams in the feathers provide a fertile ground for an artist’s exploration of pattern and texture.