Nostalgia For a Place Unknown But Much Frequented in My Mind

Archival Pen and Ink on Watercolor

Whitewater (18x24” rendition of a Larger Painting)

Archival Pen and Ink on Paper

Paper Birch Grove

Archival Pen and Ink on Paper

Cabin Study from a Series on Off the Grid Cabins

Archival Pen and Ink on Paper

The Anatomy of a Horse

Archival Pen, Ink, and Gesso on Paper

Image Lake

Archival Pen and Ink on Paper

 Tastes of Americana: Issues of Lumber

Archival pen and Ink on Paper

This drawing presents the notion of nostalgia for Americana.

It is difficult to measure how deeply embedded our attachments to capitalism are. For instance, an image of a logging truck may bring back fond memories of one’s childhood trip through the Pacific Northwest. Perhaps, too, our ancestors took pride in working for the American Dream in factories, post industrial revolution. But numerous aspects of the logging system have lasting negative effects on our environment, from disruption of forest soils which in turn reduce oxygen and water available to surrounding vegetation, to the impacts of road building effecting neighboring ecosystems. Somehow we must picture a large shift: we can still love a country if it doesn’t fail us. We can still love a country, but conditionally: if deeply rooted values of big industry are replaced by greener modes of operating rather than perpetuating the bleeding of our resources dry.

Oh But the Youth (Idleness Playground)

Archival Pen and Ink on Paper

In spite of our underlying present anchor of despair, American communities must find a path to happiness. But what are the adolescents of these communities to make of the path they were given? Here in the park, the components of the structure are deceptive; ascension on the ladder comes with a risk of falling, thus representing a loss of innocence. Forcing children into an accelerated maturity, the youth are now attentive to how they have been misled by authorities down a dark road.

Detail of Village, Less Corrupted

Archival pen and Ink on Paper

To heavily rely on the old proverb, “It Takes a Village”, linking up with fellow community members to take constructive action is our greatest chance of winning the fight for a cleaner world.

Salvaging what remains intact in this featured village, infrastructure stays unaffected by harsh weathers but the town lacks proper water sources. To endure constant heat threats and flooding, buildings of this town are fire retardant and energy efficient. The townspeople now live like sloths; expending very little energy to preserve the future of their children and of their natural world.

Like in the work After the Flood, though the visuals appear bleak (a cop car ditched after an illegal joy ride) the message still is to learn to live with our hardships and remain proactive.

Everyone’s On Vacation But Vacation’s Not For Me

Archival Pen and Ink on Paper

Perhaps a self-portrait, The Warrior of the Future (bottom left) rides a solitary journey. Urgently marching to a different beat, she rides against the current of societal pressures to consume the world’s last resources. Voices echo across the land: ‘Refrain From Acting Out’.

To live a noble life in the Age of Limited Resources requires much constraint and diligence.

Despite the dominance of sunlight that tempts us towards picnicking and other leisure activities, there is much work to be done by way of environmental conservation.

It is general knowledge that the sun is an antidepressant, but what are the adverse effects of the sun? And, how, too are we affected by clouds in the sky?

Detail of After the Flood

Archival Pen and Ink on Watercolor Paper

My aim in this particular work was to render our frequent cataclysmic disasters almost photo journalistically, but with hopes for a better future embedded within. The drawing is an amalgamation of several scenes post Hurricane Maria. Optimistic visual forecasts are implanted in this work amid the aftermath depictions, to leave the viewer with a fixation on regrowth. On the left of the flooded terrain is a lush and thriving grassy area where old vehicles have been abandoned. Flora and fauna flourish and bloom around the cars: as forces of good are revealed in times of chaos, now they prevail.

Here, through this visual affirmation for a better future, we return to a life that existed hundreds of years ago; we are forced to stick to our immediate surroundings, and find enough to cherish within a moderate radius of our own homes. Along the way, perhaps we could protect portions of the ocean and land that still remain sacred.

We Are All Going to the Same Place

Archival Pen and Ink on Watercolor Paper

The illness of our planet is a fact that is hard to digest for some. Some are still on the path of denial, while others have accepted the facts of human influence on our natural world. Looking through the inescapable lens of karma, it is hard not to wonder whether the fate of our species relies on all members working together. Small good deeds may not amount to much, then.

And so, the title in this work poses a question that may be on many of our minds: If some members of our species have afflicted countless assaults on the environment, does that mean we all go down with the ship?

Safe (In My Room), Archival Pen and Ink on Watercolor Paper