"Sanctuary" show opens Sept. 11

For the month of September rather than showing a visiting artist, I am having a special show of my new body of work from the John Burroughs Sanctuary. These paintings and drawings are all based on the rock formations and their reflections at the pond on the preserve. Though using the visual reality of the site, they are edited and clarified by my own responses to the material. In my artist's statement concerning my work in general, I quote Wilde - "The mystery of the world is in the visible, rather than the invisible", and this is certainly the case in this body of work. The intricate geometry and delicate balances between the structures themselves and the reflected images were a revelation to me. I spent time on location doing small studies and photos, which I then used in the studio to create the larger works.

During one of my visits to the preserve, I was disrupted from my quiet work by a group of lively teenagers. I was particularly annoyed when one started loudly speaking into his cellphone. He was trying to explain where he was and was saying the word "sanc-tu-ar-y" very slowly and loudly,as though it might be a new word to either him or his listener. I now feel it was some sort of providential interference, as it led me to think of the word and all its

many meanings and how aptly they applied to my feelings about these images. The contrast of the immense heavy boulders looking about to fall but remaining balanced and still, and the solidity of the rock against the liquid moving water both speak of the paradoxes in life and the point of balance between these opposites. It seems particularly apt that the opening of this show has fallen on September 11, when we are reminded of the need for sanctuary and balance.

The opening will be Saturday, Sept. 11, from 3-5 (I'll be around for awhile if you want to come late) and the show will be up until Oct. 4.

Look for the next posting about the upcoming visiting artist, Greg Arnett, in October!