DUSKING on Halloween

I was thrilled to participate in the second annual DUSKING event, an invention by English artist / scholar Lucy Wright. DUSKING is a new tradition that is sort of a solo Morris Dancing event…but very open and free to interpretation. I first encountered English traditional Morris Dancing when I participated in the Jack-In-The-Green celebration in Hastings, England. I see faint traditions in the folk dancing I grew up with in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. You can see me in motion on my instagram page (heavily edited because I don’t know what I’m doing!)

Los Angeles and Joshua Tree 2024

Last week I attended the closing reception for FORAGE: OCEAN at Dorado 806 Projects in Los Angeles. It was an amazing experience because the gallery also hosted a chanoyu (traditional Japanese tea ceremony). Tea practitioner Kaoru Kuribayashi from UCLA prepared matcha in a gallery tea house built by Tea Pacific with Pacific Plastics (TCwPP)…an initiative aimed to address the environmental issues of sustainability and oceanic plastic pollution. I’m also happy to say that my Albatross mask in the show sold!

I was also able to spend a few days in Joshua Tree National Park and talk about my mask-making and outfit design with Joshua Tree Dark Skies. I included a demo on low-light HDSLR photography. Dark Skies is a club that promotes star gazing and night photography. Dark sky initiatives are so important in places like Joshua Tree, where nearby towns like 29 Palms and Palm Springs are an encroaching source of ambient light pollution. There are not a lot of dark sky certified spots left in California so this is a special place that needs to be protected.

Fall Gallery Shows

I have art in two shows at the moment. My infrared silver print landscape photo is in the show ‘Light of the West’ at Central Wyoming College’s Art Gallery. The show was curated by photographers Lonnie Slack, Nita Kehoe. and George Karhl. The show is on display until October 10th. I am also thrilled to have my albatross mask on display at Dorado 806 Gallery in Los Angeles. The show, titled FORAGE, is curated by Amelie Laurice and Meghan DeRoma and on display until October 12th. I will be visiting the gallery on the last weekend.

FORAGE poster featuring Albatross Mask

Infrared photo in the 'Light of the West exhibit. I took the photo in Wyoming.

Colorado Summer

I had an inspiring trip to the Colorado Rockies this month. Rocky Mountain National Park was the first ‘out west’ place I ever visited. I’ve been back several times and always enjoy making art and modeling at high altitudes. A highlight for this trip was an evening astronomy program…where I looked thru a few monster telescopes and saw a close-up moon and a nebula. A friendly park ranger taught me about ‘The Summer Triangle’, an asterism made up of three constellations (two of them are bird themed: Aquila & Cygnus). Expect some upcoming art about those two constellations.

Astronomy night at Rocky Mountain National Park. Checking out the moon and waiting for nightfall.

Alberta Falls

Saint Catherine's Chapel on the Rock

Albatross (Seabird)

My new Albatross skull mask is made of 100% found and / or recycled materials. The base is paper mâché and all the decorative ornamentation (sea shells, beads, fishing cork, keys, jewelry, animal teeth, sand dollars, etc.) were all collected second-hand objects. The piece is inspired by the 18th century poem ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. In the poem, an albatross appears and leads a ship out of an ice jam where it is stuck, but even as the albatross is fed and praised by the ship's crew, the mariner shoots the bird. The killing brings doom upon the ship and the mariner, driven by the agony of his guilt, is later forced to wander the earth, telling his story over and over. I repurpose the tale as an environmental omen about the way humans treat and abuse mother nature.

The Voice of Death book release!

My first compilation of folk and fairytales is available for purchase! I delved into a couple of hundred old tales to find the darkest and strangest (and funniest) ones I could find. I was inspired to publish The Voice of Death after reading hilariously negative reviews of Brothers Grimm books online ("not suitable for children!", etc.). I included 22 pen and ink illustrations for the stories I selected. A lot of the stories are not just dark but also poignant. For instance, the longest story I included, entitled "The Fisherman and His Soul" by Oscar Wilde is very moving. In my research, I was also shocked at how comically dark the Hans Christian Anderson fairytales are. I included a couple of those including the title story, The Voice of Death about a phantom voice that calls villagers to their doom.

Most of the stories are from, as you would guess, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. I attempted to find the earliest versions of the Grimm stories because they are less sanitized and a little more frightening. For instance, the original "Red Riding Hood" does not have a happy ending. The Brothers Grimm put out seven additions of their stories, each with heavy edits, making the tales more palatable for a younger audience. I prefer the originals, which are more true to the original German oral traditions. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the book and stay tuned. I have another English Fairy Tales edition I'm working on about Giants and Witches. The Voice of Death is available in my web store and on Amazon.

Sabbatical Art Tour - California

After my Florida residency, I visited California for my Fall sabbatical tour. I stopped by The Wildling Museum of Art and Nature in Solvag, California where my art is included in the show California National Parks: Stories of Water. Each artist represents a CA National Park and am displaying a photograph from Death Valley National Park. After that, I drove up to Big Sur along the stunning Highway 1 coastline. A beautiful place to make and model artwork. After that I stayed at Pinnacles National Park near Hollister. One of the last couple California National Parks I had yet to visit. I particularly enjoyed modeling my masks in the cave system at Pinnacles. For the final stop, I drove to Basin Redwoods State Park near San Jose. To see all my modeled art from the trip, visit my Instagram!

The Wildling Museum of Art and Nature

Big Sur, California

Pinnacles National Park

Sabbatical Art Tour - Florida

I was awarded a sabbatical from my University to complete a Fall art tour. I’m making art, modeling the outfits, and giving impromptu demonstrations. I’m currently finishing up a road trip along the Florida gulf state parks. I’ve made masks and modeled them in four coastal state parks: St. George Island State Park, St. Joseph Peninsula State Park, Grayton Beach State Park, and Topsail Hill State Park. The next destination will be across the country to a few California State & National Parks. I’ll also be visiting The Wildling Museum of Art and Nature in Solvag, California where my art is included in the show California National Parks: Stories of Water.

Working at Topsail Hill State Park.

Art Defends Nature show in Hastings, England

I just finished this 'Protector' mask and shipped it to Hastings, England for a seaside art show entitled ART DEFENDS NATURE (opening August 26, Bat Cave Gallery at Rock-A-Nore). This mask includes trinkets and trash, collected during my recent Hastings / South England road trip. The objects included: bottled 'spoiled' beach & soil samples, discarded items like cork and keys, capiz and other shells, bells, rags, wood and glass beads, and (appropriately) an old paint brush. I'm donating 100% of sale profits to Extinction Rebellion Hastings, the sponsor of the show. The ART DEFENDS NATURE show asks the question, 'how can artists respond to the madness of the climate crisis? Not only to protest but to really see and truly celebrate the mystery and beauty that surrounds us. Can art help to change our relationship and connection to the natural world?'  In my concept (based on a dream), the mask is for a protector figure who absorbs the detritus and debris that humans carelessly toss out. The piece symbolizes the burden of materialistic excess, which ultimately results in the despoiling of the natural world

Swan Coach House 'Summer Invitational' 2023

Four of my masks are currently in the Swan Coach House gallery’s 'Summer Invitational' show (in Buckhead, Atlanta) Beautifully curated by Jacob O’Kelley and Maria Bruckman.  I love sharing gallery wall space with so many talented area artists.  The show is up until July 27th, with work also available for purchase in their online store - link to my work in their online store.

Jack-In-The-Green, May Day in England 🇬🇧

I had a brilliant time being in Hastings, England’s Jack-In-The-Green parade, wearing my best Green Man outfit. It was wonderful to march amongst the Morris Dancers, Giants, May Queen, Sweeps, the Bogies, the Animal musicians, the Mushroom Ladies, the Straw Man and so many more.  England in Spring is so vibrant and it was the 40th anniversary of the Hastings event! #jackinthegreen #hastings #mayday

Me (on the left) with another ‘Green Man’

Morris Dancers

Spring Studio 🌷

New studio work! I am currently gearing up for some exciting art showings and creating a lot of new masks. I'm working on bats, birds, flower faces, and green men. I'm hoping to show off the latter at the 'Jack-in-the-Green' festival in Hastings, England on May Day. This is a day when dozens of 'Green Men' march down the streets and I hope to be amongst them. Want to join me? 

I'm also excited to announce I'll be showing work again at the Swan Coach House Gallery in Atlanta, one of the city's best art venues. I'll be participating in their annual Summer Invitational Show which runs from May to July.

Last but not least I will have several pieces in the Reinhardt University Faculty Show in March. I recently took over the Chair of the Department and it will be a fun way to celebrate my Faculty position at my school.  Stay tuned for more!

'Ornaments of Extinction' art series

This month I’m working on my series entitled 'Ornaments of Extinction', about the devastating eradication of animal life on our planet in my lifetime (specifically birds). I loosely based these masks on endangered or extinct avian life. In some cases the bird skull masks veer into fantasy...a nod to creatures lost that are outside of fossil documentation. My series began in 2018 at Big Cypress National Preserve in south Florida and I've continued the project at home in Atlanta. The finished masks are now in collections in California, Virginia, Atlanta, and Nashville.

The North American population is down by 2.9 billion breeding adult birds since 1970, with devastating losses among birds in every biome. Forests alone have lost 1 billion birds. Grassland bird populations collectively have declined by 53%, or another 720 million birds. In fact, humanity has wiped out 60% of mammals, birds, fish and reptiles since 1970, leading the world’s foremost experts to warn that the annihilation of wildlife is now an emergency that threatens civilization.

'Spirit of the Land' UNLV art show

I am happy to be apart of the exhibit ‘Spirit of the Land’ at The Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art at the University of Nevada Las Vegas (open until July). My participation in the art show is a result of my time in Nevada last summer at the Mystery Ranch. While I was there I made and modeled masks and outfits inspired by the surrounding mojave desert. Here is my statement that is included in the show alongside my coyote mask: "I’ve always been enchanted by the solitude and silence of the desert. That silence is something I rarely encountered growing up on the east coast. I found myself seeking this meditative inspiration in 2015 when I did an artist-in-residency in Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona. The desert became an important place of inspiration for me, and I sought out more western National Park Service artist-in-residencies in the following years. This creative quest led me to southern Nevada in the summer of 2021. Visiting the proposed Avi Kwa Ame monument was a beautiful experience, and I’ve been drawing from that creative well ever since. In fact, an entire series of animal masks and collages emerged from my time there. The creation of the coyote mask was inspired by the evening yip-howls I enjoyed listening to as the sun dropped below the mountains. For me, the coyote is emblematic of the desert landscape itself – very often misunderstood, sometimes villainized. As I’ve had time to reflect, I realized there is a connective thread between the six artist-in-residencies I’ve experienced. Each landscape, from the Everglades in South Florida to the deserts of southern Nevada, has originally been unappreciated before people realized their incredible beauty and importance. These wild places are worth protecting for future generations to explore and find a similar spiritual renewal."

From the website: “[the museum] is proud to present Spirit of the Land, a love letter to the plants, animals, geology, history, and people of the East Mojave landscape at the southernmost tip of Nevada.

The exhibition features work by more than forty artists and musicians who have chosen to celebrate the country around Spirit Mountain, the highest peak in the Spirit Mountain Wilderness. Known in the Mojave language as Avi Kwa Ame, the mountain is considered sacred by ten Yuman-speaking tribes as well as the Hopi and Chemehuevi Paiute.”

Spirt of the Land opening event



Nashville State Art Show (open until March 31st)

I have three pieces in a group art show at Nashville State in Tennessee. The art show is a collection of artists who work with recycled, reused, and found materials. For these three masks I incorporated a lot of found objects and ethically harvested animal parts: water buffalo teeth, bobcat bones, bells from India, bleached paint cleaning rags, South American beads, African-crested porcupine quills, hand-painted cloth flowers, etc.

Thanks to curator Jake Wells for putting together a great show. The work is all for sale if you are able to pick it up in Nashville. Reach out for prices.

SHAME FACES at Day & Night Projects - NOW OPEN

My art show SHAME FACES is now open at Day & Night Projects in Atlanta, Georgia. It includes 25 new works I’m excited to display. The opening reception was November 11th and the show will run thru mid-December. The gallery is located at 585 Wells St SW. Viewing hours are Fridays and Saturdays, 12–5pm, or by appointment. The show was listed by the Atlanta-Journal Constitution as one of the 2021 exhibits to be “excited about”.