A large, contemporary painting of a summer garden organized and presented as realistic objects in a grid format on white, impasto backdrops.

Inspired by a photograph from a project spanning forty years, which began 1984 while photographing artifacts in museums. I started seeing collections everywhere, in mud flats, closets, yard sales, gardens and more. Everyday things revealed a story that could be told within the format of museum object photography.  Isolating garden objects in this format strips the garden of its unpredictability. The squirrel, traditionally a frantic agent of chaos, is safely contained within painterly lines and the objects are presented as the same size.

I aim to reimagine the boundary between the photographic source and the realistically painted surface, to animate what the camera lens flattens. The resulting work strives to capture the mysterious quality that paint bestows in a light-hearted way that is playful and also a call for order.

Review from the exhibit of paintings from the series, The Language of Things at Wired Gallery in High Falls, 2025-2026

The original photograph shot on one roll of film in 1985 and contact printed, long before digital photography. I left the original film edges out of the painting because I’m not mad about painting tiny unnecessary detail. The original photograph is 8×10″ and the painting is 42×52″, although when reduced the painting almost appears photographic.