the pig house

We purchased our second house in France, this one we intend to live in. Very excited about our adventure in western France in a town called Thouars in the Deux Sevres (79).

The Pig House

We looked in France for a house with character, in a small village, with full services and out buildings for studios. We discovered Thouars and this beautiful house, dating from the mid 1800s. Built across the street from the train station, this modestly fancy house was renovated in the 1920s by a pork broker who invested heavily in a beautiful facade.

In the 50s-60s, the house was turned into a hotel and tarted up further to include seven bedrooms and an out building dedicated to laundry. In the 80s-90s, the kitchen was remodeled, a shower was added, and the wainscoting and wall paper were installed.

The house is listed as a Båtiment remarquable, thus the envelope of the building is protected. We can’t make any changes to the exterior. This designation exists primarily because of the beautiful facade with the pig amidst the acorns. This means that any insulation work has to happen on the inside. We will make significant changes to the interior of this house to accommodate the use of heat pumps which require good air circulation. These changes will also open up the space with more light and range of sight.

Thouars

Thouars is in the Deux Sevres region just south of the Loire Valley. The population, 14, 797, is similar to Petersburg, VA where we live now.

Advertisement for the House

Floor Plan

The grey area is building, white is the yard which is fenced.

Interior Brochure

The house was charming, full of small rooms each with a fire place, festive wall paper, beautiful light. We fell in love.

Bedrooms

Beautiful light with double pane thermal windows.

Out Buildings

The buildings in back of the house and the fenced yard really closed the deal for us. There is a old laundry room I’ll use for painting, a barn we will convert into print and paper, and Alain will have an old garage to set up shop.

Floor Plan

The house feels narrow, broken up into small rooms with long hallways punctuated by doors.

House Inspection

The French have a very thorough process for reviewing houses prior to sale. We learned a lot about the house and the city through this process.

D Rating

Like many houses in France, this one had little to no insulation. The primary heat source, fire places, were also inefficient and undesirable for us.

Repurpose

We began planning what is would take to modernize this space and customize it to our use. We can add solar panels in the back, plant trees and flowers. I’m very excited about the yard.

Insufficient Insolation

Reconsider the Entrance

Lots of light comes into the front of the house. We’re going to remove some walls, widen entrances, and increase airflow between rooms.

Structural Reinforcement

Opening up the middle of the house required the addition of steel and concrete beams.

Door to the Left of Entrance, the Den

X marks the spot, taking down these walls separating the two rooms in the front of the house and a hallway will really simplify the space.

One Down

One wall down, entry on the left.

Boiler Room to become Bathroom

We’ll move the small bathroom from the middle of the house to this space in the den that used to house the boiler.

The Bones

We removed all the wallpaper, wainscoting, radiators, fixtures, and fireplaces so the insolation can be added from the inside. No modifications can be made to the exterior of the house.

Partway There

A front window and a side door, work in progress.

Side Door

There are three doors that lead to the yard. I just love that, the outdoors is close.

Next

Before we can take the living room wall, a support beam must be installed.

Living Room

The X is the same X wall from the previous picture. This fancy room had some imposing wall paper! A bathroom created walls for the front room and the back. Removing it opened the space up beautifully.

Beams

An engineer signed off on this part of the project. We’ve been very pleased with our contractors, Nessi Ceuta, and are glad to have them on board for the next phase of the work.

New Entrance

In addition to the benefits of more open spaces for increased light, this layout will allow our new heat pumps to work efficiently.

Supporting the Beam

You can see through the front of the house. Fire places cut off most of the corners in the house which I am anxious to reclaim.

Wide Open

From the entrance looking left, the hallway is gone.

Concrete Beams

Wallpaper Removal WIP

Stripping every surface of wallpaper. These walls will be between the outside of the house and the newly insulated interior walls. Wallpaper would mold under those circumstances so all of it had to be removed.

Fire Place #1

These fire places were beautiful, but they were eating my corners. I’m hungry for wall space and won’t compromise it for these beasts of sooty burden.

Front Room Down to the Plaster

This room looks naked, we’re down to the bones.

Corner Restoration

The fire place is gone, symmetry is returned.

View from Living Room to Den

Pre wallpaper removal.

The Well Under the Stairs

There is a well in the house under the stairs with the last vestiges of original floor, beautiful. Some stabilization is necessary here!

Moving the Door

We will close this space off, lengthening the wall in the den for bookshelves. The entrance to the stairs will be around to your left. We’ll build out a closet in this newly created space.

My New Sitting Room

The room behind the living room had great windows and a door to the outside. My painting studio is visible through back.

Sitting Room from Outside

The wall in the back comes out. To the left is the kitchen. Not excited about the tile or the wall paper . . .

New View from the Kitchen

The main floor of the house, rez-de-chaussée, will become one large U-shape with the stairs in the middle.

Front to Back

Tearing out the bathroom connected the two rooms on the left side of the house.

Bathroom

This small but very deep room in the middle of the house really broke up the space.

Behind the Bathroom Wall

A lot of room behind this wall for plumbing.

Extend the Kitchen

The doorway on the left will get walled up, adding to the kitchen and creating the other wall for the storage closet in the stairwell.

Reduce, Recycle

Taking down plumbing and wiring after wall and wall paper removal.

Fire Place #2

We carefully disassembled the fireplaces and saved all the marble.

Soot and Bones

Demolishing the fireplaces revealed branches and nests, seemed like a hundred years of coming and going.

Fire Brick

We also salvaged the fire bricks from the fireplaces, which encase the heat from the fire. We’ll use those to build a barbecue in the back yard.

Lived in the Chimney

This beautiful specimen was nested inside the chimney. A large bird, got in but coudn’t get back out.

Kitchen Door

Door to the stairs on the right and to the kitchen on the left. We will open up that wall, XXX!

Charming Little Kitchen

The kitchen is very cute, quite small for a hotel. The other side of the XXX, looking for a bit more space here.

Looking into the Kitchen

Lots of light when we connected these two rooms.

Kitchen Beam

This renovation required another support beam. The door in the kitchen opens to the garden.

Making Friends

We have friends and they have friends. Meeting locals helped us find a guy to help in the yard! It’s a jungle out there.

Removing the False Ceiling

I love the little pantry in the kitchen but we have to insulate that exterior wall so I think I’ll get a bit less of it when all I said and done.

Real Friends

Caroline helping remove wall paper. It took us about two days per room just for the wall paper.

A Sticky Mess

We made a big mess out of every room in the house.

Removing the Appliances

Getting the house down to the bare bones.

The Bare Bones

The kitchen fully denuded and ready for phase two: insulation, plumbing, and electrical.

Outside Kitchen Door

We’ll find a nicer light fixture but I love this door leading out of the kitchen.

The Cave

There is a cold storage under the laundry. We’ll use it for things that won’t be bothered by mice.

Russian Vodka

There were a few artifacts in the house suggesting someone had a relationship with mother Russia.

View of the Yard from the Second Floor

On the left are the laundry / painting studio. Behind it is the barn / print shop. At the end is the garage / shop. And the lean-tos on the right will be reduced in size and new structures built for solar panels.

Door to the Laundry

My studio will be three steps from the house.

An Awning

I love these blue stripes.

Studio looking at House

Northern light, perfect for painting.

Looking Toward the Barn.

We found some rubber tiles which will help soften this concrete floor and add some insulation as it sits above the cool cave.

The Studio Ready for Insulation

We will have to rebuild the wall on the left and put in new thermopile windows. The studio will have a heat pump.

La Porte

We’ll put in a door between the studio and the printshop.

Supporting the New Outline

The contractors did a nice job on this.

The Door

Connected!

The Door from the Printshop

We’ll build stairs which I can already imagine sitting on.

If Walls Could Talk

Sadly, we’ll cover this wall with insulation. Creature comforts over age old charm.

Light Floods the Barn

The barn had a dirt floor and no insulation.

Heavy Equipment

The gate to the back yard is big enough to drive equipment through which is handy.

Work in Progress

Sometimes the contractor sends us “proof of life” pics along the way.

Barn with New Floor

A concrete pad was added to the barn floor to hold the presses and type cabinets. We’ll add thermal windows but will probably have to replace the wall on the right to do that.

View to Studio and Barn Doors

A custom door will be built for the barn / printshop. This space will be insulated but not have it’s own heat pump.

Alain's Shop

This rickety garage is a bit of a downgrade from Alain’s current space.

Not as Tiny as it Looks

Alain is buying machines that will work with the voltage in France, a small tablesaw, a drill press, a jointer, a planer, and a lathe will fit in here.

from the Shop to the gate

The back forty as it were…

A Jungle

Not exactly sure what’s growing but the good news is that things grow in the garden, so the soil must be good enough to get started with my big plans.

Keep Oliver In

A gated yard is a dream for a dog owner and hopefully for a dog!

Looking for the Second Well

We dug around every likely location but never found the second well.

Looking for the Second Well

Symmetry in a Muted Palette

Doors

We are repurposing wood from the doors for floor molding and etc. Modern doors are sold with jams so reusing these doors should be difficult.

Marble and Fire Brick

We remained careful with the marble as it has a resale option.

Dirty, Rusty, Broken

Insides of the fire places were rotten, glad to be rid of them.

Back Wall

We’ve started taking down small trees that are growing out of drainage pipes, some under the out buildings.

Yard Rehab

Chop, chop, chop. You can see the fragile exterior wall of the barn here.

Reduce, Recycle

All of the garbage has to be sorted for recycling, which I love! Go France.

Flower for the Door

All the exterior doors in the yard had flower ornaments. We will make a cast and replace them, they’re so cute.

View of the Yard from the Third Floor

You can see the surrounding houses. We are nestled right in.

A Hawaiian Blessing

I sprinkled a little Maui Salt to spread some Aloha on our new home.

Seven Bedrooms

Each with a beautiful window, wood floors, and a fireplace.

Front Rooms Have Balconies

These spaces are lovely and will be even lovelier with white walls and art.

Fire Place #3

Second Floor

This will be our bedroom on the front of the house. We’ve cut a hole connecting it to another bedroom which will become a large closet.

Fewer Walls

After wallpaper, corner shower gone.

Reclaiming Our Corners

Looking from our bedroom into the new closet.

Funny Place to have a Shower

Finishing up in the Bedroom

The rooms are much simpler now, the house feels less cluttered.

View from the Closet to the Street

Dogs and dog walkers! We are across from the train station.

Closet

That fireplace eating up my corner!

Bye Bye

Moving a Door

This is a bedroom that becomes our closet with a large opening facing our bedroom.

Door to Bath

X marks the wall removed between the closet and our bedroom and the door looks into the bath. Heat pumps throughout the house require open air flow and we light the feel of open spaces.

Better View into Bath

Wallpaper Wallpaper Wallpaper

Walk-in Closet with Balcony

View from Closet

Big Bathroom

This bathroom will have a shower, the washer/dryer, and a bidet. The toilet will be in an adjacent room.

Bathroom

We’ll replace the tub with a show.

Selfie with a Sink

Reclaimed Bath

View from Bathroom into the House

View from Second Floor Bathroom

Last Room on the Second Floor

This room will be a sitting room. It’s quiet and overlooks the garden.

Beautiful Artifact

This is an image of the paste paper after the vinyl wallpaper was removed. It retains an impression of the pattern that was highlighted when we sprayed it with water.

Remnants of our Process

Radiators Too Heavy to Move

Sitting Room Sans Fire Place

Removing Doors and Hinges

Alain Rarely has Idle Hands

Third Floor, Four More Bedrooms

Move This Door

The third floor will have the same layout as the second, walls will be opened up to allow airflow for the heat pumps and the four bedrooms will switch roles and become one bedroom, a large walk-in closet, a large bath, and a sitting room.

New Door, New Bathroom

Support Beams

Looking from the guest bedroom to closet.

Wide View of Bed/Closet/Hallway

Closet into Bedroom WIP

Remove Wallpaper and Repeat

Make a Mess and Repeat

Remove a Fireplace and Repeat

Unearth a Wildlife Sanctuary and Repeat

Lots of Banging to Accomplish This Phase

View from Guest Room Closet

Reclaiming Another Corner

View from Closet to Back of the Third Floor

We will reintroduce doors in places where privacy matters.

Bringing Hawaii to France

This Becomes the Guest Bath

This rooms sits at the back of the house directly on top of the second floor bath. We’ll tile this room and use the wood from the floor to make repairs where the fire places have been removed.

Goodbye Fireplace #6

Looks Brighter Already!

Demolition

Corner Reclamation

View from the Guest Bathroom

Wait! More Wallpaper

Guest Bedroom Down to the Bones

Guest Bedroom Looking into Closet

More Hands On

View Across the Street from Guest Closet

Goodbye Fireplace #9

Rubble with a Side of Random Twigs and Old Newspaper

Last Corner Reclaimed

Castle of the Dukes de Trémoille

The backdrop of Thouars is this fortress. Built in the 17th c, it sits high on a steep promontory overlooking the Thouet river. It now houses the middle school. I can’t wait to get inside it!

The River, the Bridge, and the Castle

Another view of the Thouet and the Castle of the Dukes de Trémoille.

Jardins Familiaux

Plots of land on the river are rented to locals and they have their vegetable and flower gardens. it is spectacular.

Sunflowers

Fields and fields of flowers. The weather in Thouars is similar to Petersburg, Va without the humidity. Thouars is subject to increase in heat associated with climate change.

Saint-Médard Église

The expression depiction on the church façade really resonates with me . . . I love these beautiful churches and the idea of sacred these spaces create. It’s so deeply human.

Inside Saint-Médard Église

The Interior Light of Saint-Médard Église

Door Hinge Chapelle Jeanne d'Arc

The Chapelle Jeanne d'Arc in the center of town, houses a contemporary art space. Splendide! Getting an exhibition there is a goal.

Ceramic Tiles in the Church

Door Hinge Chapelle Jeanne d'Arc

Boat Launch on the Thouet

Bridge Over the Thouet

View of the Fields Across the River

Houses on the Edge of Town

We are making some lovely friends in our new home, some of whom live in beautiful houses overlooking the river and the vast fields in the distance. It is spectacular.

Café des Arts

Café des Arts serves delicious food in a friendly environment with great outdoor seating.

Future Home of a Kunsthalle?

I want to turn all buildings like this into Kunsthalles, big open spaces for revolving art exhibitions. Thouars doesn’t have one but it does have a few of these unoccupied buildings . . .

Beautiful House on a Narrow Street in an Old Town

City Hall

A Sagging House on a Hill

Building Styles Based on Available Materials and Technologies

Roof Structure

This house is hundreds of years old and the roof structure is in excellent condition. Stunning in design, materials, and longevity.

Poissonnier

From the Sea

Cerises

Steamy

Handmade

Thouars has a wonderful open market with fresh produce, seafood, food stands, and general goods. It’s beautiful and fun.

Chåteau d'Orion

The Chåteau d'Orion, built in the 15c. appears as a last drip of opulence from the edge of the Loire Vally just north of Thouars. It is now a museum showcasing a stunning interior speckled with contemporary art exhibitions. A real gem to have right down the road!

Overlooking the Moat, Chåteau d'Orion

Fireplace Detail, Chåteau d'Orion

Images on the Ceiling, Chåteau d'Orion

Roof Structure, Chåteau d'Orion

This reminds me of a whale skeleton.

Thouars or Bust

Alain near the end of our last trip.

Next Steps - a New Bathroom, First Floor

Make a larger Opening to the Stairwell

Door Becomes Wall

We are extending a wall from the kitchen which will create a closet in the stairwell and add more counter space.

Evidence of our Labor - Wallpaper Removal, Check

Already Buying Furniture

We have the cart in front of the horse a bit but found some nice stuff for a great price . . .

So Excited for this Dramatic View

Feeling Hopeful

I May Never Tire of this Lunch

all the feelings

These works on paper from 2021 (28” x 22”) visualize quick captures of the soundbites and the headlines and the guest speakers on the podcasts . . . spill over on my mind and in my head.

2021/22

Works on paper (42” x 39.5”)

Shellac, spray paint, charcoal, oil pastel, oil stick

Works on paper are designed to be drawings (not paintings) with a goal of quicker, simpler image making. I continue here exploring an expanded composition, pushing my imagery off the picture plane to create visual tension.

The bottom four images are paintings on canvas, same materials.

Black Chevron, (work on paper), 44" x 44"

work in progress

These images capture the process and the spaces I make. Photos are from 2011 - 2021.

2020

I am working larger than ever this year, trying to amplify my voice and stretch my limbs while I still can. Bright colors and a vocabulary of bold shapes pushed towards the edges of the frame create a visual tension and allude to a pressurized disorientation reflective off the state of the world.

Acrylic, shellac, oil pastel, oil paint, charcoal and oil stick on canvas.

Blue Cross

72” x 72”

Red Flag

45” x 37”

Pump

56” x 47.5”

Yellow Triangle

72” x 72”

Pink with Blue Box

54” x 70”

Joseph Beuys Goes to N.M.

64” x 64”

Yellow Bucket

64” x 64”

Sing, Sing, Pray, Pray, Sing, Pray, Sing

62” x 56”

Blue Bottle

70” x 54”

Yellow Capsule

54” x 42”

Orange Shot

70” x 54”

Christopher Columbus Goes to Jail

54.5” x 84”

Red Mask

54.5” x 84”

Top Soil

54.5” x 84”

covid-19

This work was created as part of a week-long micro-residency at Studio Two Three and the ICA at VCU entitled Solidarity is Essential. I created a mixed media panel 6’ x 4’, 60 screen printed and letterpress posters, 28” x 22”, and a RISO book in an edition of 60. Images of some of the work is included here.

red rover red rover

The world is heating up. These works on canvas explore an exaggerated visual response to the combative and imposing rhetoric blasting from all sides. My thoughts here explode on the page like rolling dice that hit the wall. Bright colors and graphic shapes crash into the picture plane. Half glasses of water, the shells of building, and shape shifting folds are drawn to characterize a sense of displacement like a reactionary free fall in a tumultuous time.

Square paintings are 31” x 31”, pink rectangles are 30” x 36”, white rectangle is 31” x 25”.

Acrylic, oil, shellac, oil sticks, pastels, pencil on canvas. 2017-18

City Lots

City Lots

There is a particular collective memory in the South, one haunted by God. A stubborn pride controls a narrative of cultural patrimony in a visible process where an enduring white memory and black resistance to it clash with renewed vengeance heightened by social media.

This work borrows from that vernacular to challenge notions of race and privilege. City Lots is the second in a group of mixed media drawing projects using found objects to explore the political struggle for power and identity that favors whites over blacks.

Taunts to “speak for yourself”, “practice sorting faces”, and “#UB2” challenge the viewer to reconcile disparate truths. Pitting slave songs “call & response” against children’s games “finders keepers” illuminates power and privilege.

Bright colors and graphic shapes crash into the picture plane. Turned over cars, the shells of building, half glasses of water, and scattered chess pieces are drawn to characterize a sense of displacement, a reactionary free fall in a tumultuous time.

The color line of today is as apparent as it ever was. Unfortunately, it is expanding. A more inclusive swath of“otherness” encroaches on ideals of white supremacy and warns that everybody’s troubles are coming by threes and by twos.

I am very pleased to have this work discussed on the Look See art blog .

City Lots was made in 2016/17 and measure 18" x 24" each. Materials include shellac, colored pencil, oil stick, oil pastel, conte crayon. and pencil.

risography

Hashtag activism, Fox News, and Waiting for Godot . . . These riso zines explore the way language continues to oppress either because it is used to threaten or because it is denied. Social justice and individual rights can seem hopelessly out of reach as we discuss the value of Confederate statues (a lost cause indeed) and reproduction rights (my body, my choice). The ground is shifting and the tremor of the fault lines has everyone off-kilter. The only path forward is through.

Amazing Grace focusses on finding voice through a lens of intersectionality. The Mason jar is used as a stand-in for the body as vessel. It is utilitarian, cross-cultural and has a foundational agricultural reference. Shoes with wings belong to Hermes, god of thieves and travelers, transgressor of boundaries.

In Stop & Frisk, the jar is the holder of language, bias, and atmosphere. The black hood image is c/o the amazing David Hammons. Constantine the Great appears in Don’t Tread on Me early in the narrative to trigger ideas of Western decline. I am conflating illness, addiction, and despair with racism in Amerika. Other references include the image of torture in Abu Ghraib, Marlene Dumas Measuring Her Grave and David Wojnarowicz reminding us that we are still experiencing Brushfires in the Social Landscape.

Miss Me explores the rage I feel from being silenced and the on-going dread of the power a minority political force with outsized desire to control my body can define what it means to be a women. In this atmosphere of repression, my refrain to stay away from the water demonizes a most elemental source of life. Courbet’s Origin of the World references a complicated relationship to the gaze. The personal is personal; I am a fallen angel.

Winner Take All is a critique of capitalism and the new “gig economy”. Everyone in America, it seems, needs a side hustle to make it in the early 21st c. Corporate tax breaks and record profits, mechanical advantage - the system IS rigged! The economy is changing faster than we can adapt. I sympathize with the Yellow Vests of France - #Occupee #RESIST

Mercy Mercy Me, where did all the blues skies go? Marvin Gaye inspires me to carry on the fight to save the planet and bemoan our culpability in its demise. In the last 45 years, we have killed 60% of the Earth’s wildlife. Constantine is my stand in (again) for (white) power and ego driven reckless behavior. Accidentally on purpose, we will gift our children a sick planet.

Some of us are pawns in this game but most of us can strategize a better outcome for most of us if we pay attention and participate in the process.

Zines were printed at Studio Two Three in Richmond, VA the summer of 2019. Each has 16 pages (including covers). Editions vary in size from 30 - 40.

The Box Project

The Box Project

The Box Project uses chipboard boxes, the color of paper bags, to explore the narrative surrounding African American skin color. It draws intentionally from the story of Henry “Box” Brown, a 19th-century Virginia slave who escaped to freedom at the age of 33 by arranging to have himself mailed in a wooden crate to abolitionists in Philadelphia.

Also implied in the work is the paper bag test, a type of racial discrimination practiced in the United States. A brown paper bag was used as a way to determine whether or not an individual could have certain privileges; only individuals with a skin color that is the same color or lighter than a brown paper bag were allowed the advantages of their light skinned brethren. The test was used in the 20th century within many social institutions such as African-American sororities, fraternities, and churches. In addition, brown paper bags were used in multi-racial social events. The term is also used in reference to larger issues of class and social stratification within the African-American population.

Issues of race and color are further complicated with the immigration debate as we expand ideas of other and a populist rage with overt edges of white supremacy and renewed interest in re/segregation are taking hold of the public consciousness. Designed as an installation and performance about power and those without it, The Box Project confronts the viewer and the maker with questions about complicity and the walls with which we surround ourselves.

The Box Project, performance + installation, 2015

sketches

These mixed media works from 2018 are part of my process for working out ideas, colors and shapes for larger paintings. They are made on mat board scraps using shellac, oil stick, conte crayons, and colored pencils. Square images are 12” x 12” and rectangles are 15” x 11.5”.

I can't breathe

Eric Garner made this statement famous in 2014 with his last gasping statement to police who were choking him based on a perceived threat. The threat, it seemed or the source of fear for the officers, was his blackness. The hashtag has gone on to mean many things.

In this group of posters, I’ve printed the statement over and over again on a set of paper colored in the mix of the rainbow. Gasping, choking, withholding, panic, fear and despair can keep us frozen, unable to breathe for countless reasons - asthma, poisonous air, anxiety, or in Eric Garner’s case, and since then George Floyd, because someone is literally and physically choking you.

Letterpress on paper, 28” x 22, 2019

the homestead act

I continue to be baffled by the white nationalist agenda which positions people of color as separate but not equal. The Mason jar stands in as a black body here as I explore the diaspora. Shellac, oil stick, conte crayon, oil pastel, colored pencil on mat board. Squares 12” x 12”, rectangles 15” x 11.5”, 2018

curriculum lab & sketchbook project

The Curriculum Lab was a collaboration spearheaded by JLee in 2017. Ten artist were each given 20 discarded library cards with which to work. The only rule - we couldn't make our final pieces larger than the original card (these images were taken before I cropped and completed my cards). One pice from each artist went into a larger grid - grids are for sale and all proceeds go to the Early Literacy through the Arts program. I was able to get cards related to my current inquiry around race in America, the roots of slavery, the dark middle passage, and genocide.

The sketchbook project is a "thing". It's like the Monster Drawing Rally - a performance / event / exhibition. You buy an empty book, fill it, send it back to Brooklyn and they keep it in a travelling library. They also digitize the books.

My book was in response to the Sandy Hook School shooting in 2012. There were just enough pages to "memorialize" all 27 victims, whom I have identified by name and age here.

737015_4546934364678_1261558305_o[1].jpg

736622_4546934724687_1867994402_o[1].jpg

736168_4546935764713_1722807204_o[1].jpg

735922_4546937244750_1804983060_o[1].jpg

740149_4546939004794_1605749457_o[1].jpg

739963_4546939724812_1736141948_o[2].jpg

736231_4546940604834_1261616754_o[1].jpg

740122_4546939964818_1811893843_o[1].jpg

701922_4546943604909_2042110044_o[1].jpg

740073_4546943924917_1185794412_o[1].jpg

736232_4546944684936_1974521889_o[1].jpg

737659_4546945484956_1660963442_o[1].jpg

tarpaperpress

“Winner Take All”, “Why Can’t We” act more presidential, “Lady Liberty in Distress”

Triggered by the increasing polarity of the political discourse and inspired by the Women’s March on Washington, I began a series of protest posters shortly after the election. My jumping off point was the Statue of Liberty.

A universal symbol of freedom and an emblem of friendship between two nations, Lady Liberty was conceived and designed to enlighten the world. She is considered the Mother of Exiles, greeting millions of immigrants and embodying hope and opportunity for those seeking a better life in America.

Times have changed. This work borrows the notion of upside down flags as symbols of distress or protest against the government. Here, Lady Liberty crashes into the picture plane from multiple angles and is frequently inverted. Scattered text and image is designed to characterize a sense of displacement, a reactionary free fall in a tumultuous time.

I have also taken on late stage capitalism with a series of posters focussed on the dangers of a contingent workforce, the ratification of the ERA, school shootings, and abuse of power in broad, sweeping visual gestures and pointed text.

The graphic qualities and aesthetic range of printmaking lend this work a visual cohesion within the vernacular of traditional poster design. Freedom of the press has been a benchmark of our democracy and I use that freedom here to express confusion and concern about issues of cultural patrimony, equity, and human rights.

Why Can't We Act Presidential

letterpress on hand screened wall paper 36" x 40", 2018

Inspired by games, reflecting the learning that happens on the streets, seeped in conflict and competition, the race wars rage on.

I can't bring myself to say #neveragain

Friendly reminder

Stubborn Pride, letterpress on hand printed paper, 23" x 28", 2014

Money Talks

painting + drawing

Much of my current work is a response to a heightened sense of impermanence and the associated anxiety stemming from displacements and the looming threat of extinction and erasure.

Drawing is the fastest way for me to pursue an individual critical inquiry and to address a communal culpability. Marks are like self-portraits or reflections of a personal, internal state, a way of bearing witness to the conversations that dare to suggest we are complicit in the effects of industry and human behavior on habitat.

Sticky Bombs, mixed media on paper, 30" x 24", 2014

Permeable, Porous, Inside/Out

from the series, Red Rover (Red Rover), shellac, oil stick, oil pastel on rag paper, 48" x 48", 2017

One Ton Prop

from the series, Red Rover (Red Rover), shellac, oil stick, oil pastel on rag paper, 48" x 48", 2017

Train Stations, Cemeteries, Stadiums

from the series, Red Rover (Red Rover), shellac, oil stick, oil pastel on rag paper, 48" x 48", 2017

Half Empty

from the series, Red Rover (Red Rover), shellac, oil stick, oil pastel on rag paper, 48" x 48", 2017

Planes, Boats & Buildings

from the series, Red Rover (Red Rover), shellac, oil stick, oil pastel on rag paper, 48" x 48", 2017

Shells & Fragments

from the series, Red Rover (Red Rover), shellac, oil stick, oil pastel on rag paper, 48" x 48", 2017

from the series Red Rover (Red Rover)

shellac, oil stick, oil pastel on rag paper, 48" x 48", 2017

green jar

oil stick, crayon, pencil on paper, 30" x 24", 2016

Black Box

30” x 24” oil stick, colored pencil, crayon on paper, 2016

Water Tower

30” x 24” oil stick, colored pencil, crayon on paper, 2016

Comets, mixed media on paper, 30" x 24", 2015

Mercury

30” x 24” oil stick, colored pencil, crayon on paper, 2016

Brown Book

oil stick, crayon, pencil on paper, 30" x 24", 2016

yellow jar

oil stick, crayon, pencil on paper, 30" x 24", 2016

Red Hourglass

30” x 24” oil stick, colored pencil, crayon on paper, 2016

Comet

17.5 x 15.5”, oil stick, colored pencil, crayon on paper, 2016

The King Died

17.5 x 15.5”, oil stick, colored pencil, crayon on paper, 2016

Pearl

17.5 x 15.5”, oil stick, colored pencil, crayon on paper, 2016

Head Stand

17.5 x 15.5”, oil stick, colored pencil, crayon on paper, 2016

Passers By

17.5 x 15.5”, oil stick, colored pencil, crayon on paper, 2016

green, grey, red, mixed media on canvas, 42" x 54", 2015

yellow, yellow, green, red, mixed media on canvas, 42" x 54", 2015

red, green, red, mixed media on canvas, 42" x 54", 2015

orange, orange, green, mixed media on canvas, 42" x 54", 2015

blue, 42" x 54", mixed media on canvas, 2015

Mind/Mined, ink, oil, encaustic on paper, 15.5" x 7.25", 2015

Mind Racing, ink, oil, encaustic on paper, 15.5" x 7.25", 2015

Head Stand, ink, oil, encaustic on paper, 15.5" x 7.25", 2015

The Melting Point of Ice, oil on canvas, 31" x 25", 2015

West Side

mixed media on paper, 40" x 40", 2014

East Side

mixed media on paper, 40" x 40", 2014

Knock Kneed

mixed media on paper, 46" x 36", 2013

Bones, Blood, Butter

mixed media on paper, 30" x 24", 2014

Gag Law

mixed media on paper, 30" x 24", 2014

Natural Disasters, a partial list

mixed media on paper, 30" x 24", 2014

Por favor

mixed media on paper, 30" x 24", 2014

Orphans

mixed media on paper, 30" x 24", 2014

mixed media on tar paper, 16" x 16", 2015

Test Tubes

mixed media on tar paper, 16" x 16", 2014

Startled, Starteld, Starteled

mixed media on tar paper, 16" x 16", 2014

Rising Tides

mixed media on tar paper, 16" x 16", 2014

Landlock

mixed media on tar paper, 16" x 16", 2014

Stand Your Ground

mixed media on tar paper, 16" x 16", 2014

Floats and Bueys

mixed media on tar paper, 16" x 16", 2014

Molecules (hot and cold)

mixed media on tar paper, 16" x 16", 2014

Natural Disasters

mixed media on tar paper, 16" x 16", 2014

Uprooted

mixed media on paper, 6' x 3', 2013

American Experience

mixed media on paper, 6' x 3', 2013

Air Lock

house paint, tar paper, 36" x 14", 2000

Insights

house paint, tar paper, 36" x 16", 2000

Drift / Float / Draw / Swim

house paint, tar paper, 34" x 18", 2000

Balloons

mixed media, tar paper, 36" x 16", 2000

Garden

mixed media, tar paper, 36" x 16", 2000

Glass Ceiling

mixed media on tar paper, 36" x 24", 2002

Blind Love

oil on panel, 30" x 30" x 4", 2000

burning bridges

This group of work was made between 2007 and 2008. All paintings are oil on canvas and are in response to environmental and political pinch points including increased surveillance / decreased personal privacy, climate change, and on-going military conflict throughout the world. Formally, I am pushing color and space in this work in new ways. I had been without a studio for five years at this point, so I dug right in.

No Single Raindrop (Believes it is to Blame for the Flood), oil on canvas, 34" x 45", 2008

Event Horizon, oil on canvas, 45" x 34", 2008

Incidental Implications, oil on canvas, 34" x 45", 2008

Internal Combustion, oil on canvas, 34" x 45", 2008

Shifting Sights / Sites / Cites, oil on canvas, 34" x 45", 2008

On Polemics and Speculation (Transfer and Exchange), oil on canvas, 45" x 34", 2008

Arrested Movement (Trap Plays), oil on canvas, 45" x 34", 2008

Half Lives and Half Truths (Overtones and Undertows), oil on canvas, 45" x 34", 2008

Hot Plate, a Parable of Speed, oil on canvas, 45" x 34", 2008

(Sipping at) 1000 Straws, oil on canvas, 34" x 45", 2008

My Mind = King Kong (I Keep it Locked Up Most of the Time and Bite My Nails), oil on canvas, 45" x 34", 2008

Shadow of a Doubt (Le Supplice / La Question), oil on canvas, 34" x 45", 2008

Motive and Opportunity (The Nail That Sticks Out Gets Hammered In),oil on canvas, 34" x 45", 2008

Echo to Echo (Silent Alarm), oil on canvas, 34" x 45", 2008

Shanty Towns

oil on canvas, 40" x 24", 2013

objects found + made

I am a collector. DIY culture has had a positive influence on the way I think about process and product. The prototype culture of today suits my visual and conceptual sensibilities.

Life boats and blocks, church ladies - things I see. Birds (the canaries in the coal mine). Water, the currency of the 21st c., and wonky buildings, capitalism in tattered repose. Wrapping and stacking, objects found and made.

Waves (ocean), pine, milk paint, 2012-13, installation dimensions vary (each wave approx. 36" - 42" x 6")

Waves (river), pine, milk paint, 2012-13, installation dimensions vary (each wave approx. 36" - 42" x 6")

Prop, pine, dimensions vary, 2010

Assisted Living, pine, dimensions vary, 2010

Birds of North America, fabric, steel, copper, (2 of 8), 4' x 12" x 2.5', 2012

Shore Birds, fabric, wire, steel, wood, approx. 20" x 16" x 6", 2011-13

Botonist, dried plants, antique paper, lead, 2.5" x 4", 2005-2010

Botonist (list), dried plants, antique paper, lead, 2.5" x 4", 2005-2010

World Banks, (installation Gallery 5, Richmond, VA), papier mache, wire, wood, steel, sizes vary, 2010

World Banks, Installation Quirk Gallery, Richmond, VA 2011

World Banks, papier mache, wire, wood, steel, sizes vary, 2010

Installation Quirk Gallery, Richmond, VA 2011

Wall mounted block, mixed media on wood, 18.5" x 18.5" x 18.5", http://www.artspacegallery.org/artroulette/

This Belongs to You and Me, wooden blocks, 3"x3"x3", mixed media, 2007

decorative blocks, dimensions vary 2014

decorative blocks (set of nine), 3" x 3" X 3", 2012

decorative blocks, 3" x 3" X 3", 2014

Church Lady, wood, fabric, found objects, 10" x 4" x 2", 2012

Life Boats, high fire / wood fire stoneware, 4" x 8" x 2", 2014

The Ski is Blue and so is the Sea, Quirk Gallery, Richmond, VA

Life Boat, high fire / wood fire stoneware, 6" x 8" x 12", 2014

The Ski is Blue and so is the Sea, Quirk Gallery, Richmond, VA

Life Boats, high fire / wood fire stoneware, 4" x 8" x 2", 2014

The Ski is Blue and so is the Sea, Quirk Gallery, Richmond, VA

Life Boats, high fire / wood fire stoneware, 6" x 9" x 3", 2014

The Ski is Blue and so is the Sea, Quirk Gallery, Richmond, VA

Trees and Tops, toned silver print, steel, wood, found objects, 2002

Tower, Tops, flowers and prop, copper, wood, found objects, 2000

Mitchell Place Gallery, Muncie, IN

Loose Ends, Silver prints, sculpture, drawing, 2001

Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts, Grand Rapids, MI

narrative forms

I love stories and I love to work with my hands, so making books felt like a perfect fit immediately. I can sew, fold, cut, paste, draw, print, paint, build. I can be tidy and precise or sloppy. It's the perfect art form.

Bookmaking is like a quilting bee - it can be a very social activity, but is also deeply personal. I have told some secrets in these books.

By The Time You Reach a Certain Age

An Alphabet Book, 1996 - 98

digital, collage, letterpress, bound in ledger

The Uncertainty Principle

accordion fold book -etchings, aquatints, steel covers, 11" x 9", 2000

Hindsight

cast glass, gold leaf, 10" x 22" each, 1999

Partially Buried

Artist book, letterpress, silver gelatin contact prints, edition of 11, 6" x 4", 1999

Said / Unsaid

artist book, letterpress, drypoint, zinc covers, 9" x 11", edition of 4, 1999

Priceless Pearls

A Thrilling Game | A Wreck, altered book, 6" x 10", 1998

Two Words

Loaded Dice, altered books, 6" x 14", 1998

When the Tide Turned

altered book (all text except stage directions whited out), 9" x 7", 1998

Good & Bad Days

mixed media on paper, 8" x 20", 2005

Papercut

mixed media on paper, 8" x 20", 2005

Instead of a Forward

artist book, letterpress, drypoint, zinc covers, 9" x 11", edition of 4, 1999

japan

In May of 2018 I had a wonderful adventure visiting my friend Quynh in Japan. She was finishing a project at Kamiyama A.I.R., an artist residency program in Kamiyama on the island of Shikoku. We spent a week there among the farmers and their rice fields and then enjoyed a safari of shrines and temples in Kyoto before finishing the trip in the bustling town of Tokyo.

At every juncture I was awed by the craft culture, food, and attention to the seasonal bounty and nuance of the land. I hope to return and am applying to the Awagami Factory as an AIR to make large scale pulp paper paintings, wish me luck!.

I have made a series of drawings inspired from the shapes and colors from my trip - seen at the end of this feed. The multi-purpose cloths seen all over Japan, the tenugui, really struck a cord with me. Tenugui has many uses and comes in an astounding variety of fun and beautiful designs. I made thank you gifts for my hosts at Kamiyama by collaging book pages decorated with woodcuts (made with a laser cutter) and letterpress from my home studio in a nod to the tenugui.

Of course i also enjoyed visiting flea markets and thrift stores to score textiles, paper and ceramics from the region.

my dear darling

Sometimes pictures are better than words. I make postcards and small books for friends and family to celebrate or acknowledge a difficult situation or spread some love. I also write fan letters.

My mother was in the convent before she got married (and had 7 kids). My catholic upbringing continues to . . . influence me. collage on book cover, 1999

13 Notes

liquid light, collage, letterpress, 11" x 15", 1995

digital illustration, 8" x 10", 1998

Collage on book cover, 1999

Birthday book, collage. 2012

Birthday book, 2012

Edition postcard project, 1/30. Letterpress, encaustic, mixed media, 2001

Edition postcard project, 1/10. Polaroid, letterpress, 2002

Birthday book, mixed media, collage - 2011

Birthday book, mixed media, collage - 2012

Birthday book, mixed media, collage - 2013

Swarms

mixed media on paper, 6" x 12", 2013

vanishing petersburg

These images were taken between 2006-07. Wandering the neighborhoods around my new town, I was struck by the beauty and loneliness of these empty houses. One house in particular moved me, 333 Mistletoe St., and I returned several times to photograph it. One day, it was gone. I felt a palpable loss and photographed the now empty lot, which led to other empty lots and the images changed. Some of these houses have been reclaimed, some are falling further into disrepair and many have been demolished. Entire neighborhoods are beginning to disappear.

I shoot short videos of these same places now. I’m working in color and with time. And with time more of the houses are crumbling and the number of empty lots is growing and I’m still struck by the loneliness and the beauty.

328 Hurt St.

213/215 Henry St.

S. Dunlop / W. Washington

601/603 Greslett St.

602 Harrison St.

605/607 Plum St.

624/626 Harding St.

827 W. High St.

841 Rome St.

923 Diamond St.

933 W. High St.

935 Hinton St.

1026 Bolling St.

1115/1117 W. High St.

Pocahontas Island

S. Crater Rd. (PG Co. line)

3 Centre Hill

5 Centre Hill

22 Corling St.

26 Liberty St.

30 Liberty St.

31 West St.

34 Filmore St.

114 Chappell St.

124 West St.

125 N. Jefferson St.

126 Jefferson St.

137 N. Jefferson St.

150 Virginia Ave.

208 West St.

213 Wittens St.

221/223 Jones St.

228/230 Mercer St.

237 Mercer St.

301 Jefferson St.

302/304 West St.

308/310 West St.

309/311 Hinton St.

323 Hinton St.

327 Porterville St.

329 St. Andrews St.

333 Farmers St.

403 St. Andrews St.

421 Grove Ave.

403/405 Harding St.

431 Adams St.

423 Grove Ave.

531 Grove Ave.

434 Cross St.

455 Harrison St.

Harrison / Porterville Sts.

541/543 W. Washington St.

531 St. Mark St.

333 Mistletoe St.

418 Harrison St.

558 Hinton St.

609 Hinton St.

699 Hinton St.

710 Stark St.

833/835 W. Washington St.

1408 Ferndale St.

memento mori

Photography is a potent form of bearing witness. The fleeting nature of life can be captured by the camera and expressed in the print. I push the boundaries between the fact of the photograph as object and the way process can reimagine the image and subvert the subject.

The postmodern disruption of representation and new technologies further splinter the role of the photograph. I'm fascinated with this philosophical debate as it unfolds in front of us.

Pere La Chaise

C-Print, 19" x 19", 2000

Habitat (series)

toned silver print, 11" x 14", 2001

Habitat (series)

toned silver print, 11" x 14", 2001

Habitat (series)

toned silver print, 11" x 14", 2001

Habitat (series)

toned silver print, 11" x 14", 2001

Habitat (series)

toned silver print, 11" x 14", 2001

Habitat (series)

toned silver print, 11" x 14", 2001

Habitat (series)

toned silver print, 11" x 14", 2001

Habitat (series)

toned silver print, 11" x 14", 2001

Bundle

silver print, 11" x 14", 1996

Gathering Dust

toned silver print, 11" x 14" (unframed), 1995

Gather

toned silver print, 11" x 14" (unframed), 1995

Brancusi's Studio

toned silver print, 16" x 20", 2000

Brancusi's Studio 2

toned silver print, 16" x 20", 2000

Brancusi's Studio

toned silver print, 16" x 20", 2000

Totem 2

toned silver print, 16" x 20", 2000

Totem 1

toned silver print, 16" x 20", 2000

Totem 3

toned silver print, 16" x 20", 2000

Wire 2

toned silver print, 16" x 20", 2000

Wire 3

toned silver print, 16" x 20", 2000

Wire 1

toned silver print, 16" x 20", 2000

empty house videos

I continue to wander my neighborhoods and documents the houses I began photographing in 2006. I have moved on from a view camera to my iPhone and am working with video. These shorts exist somewhere between photography, painting and a moving picture for me. Subtle movements and the surrounding sounds really draw me into the scene. I would like to pursue this work with more depth. Visit https://vimeo.com/aimeejoyaux to see the videos. Images are stills from the shorts.

house parts

I learned digital photography when I moved to Petersburg kind of by force, I needed a job. One of the many I got was working for our local newspaper, The Progress Index. I used every bit of knowledge I had about the camera, the subject, and light to capture and deliver in a timely manner - city council meetings, sporting events, carnivals, school plays, graduation ceremonies, car accidents - you name it. We would shoot as many as 900 pictures a day. It was a great way to learn the layout of the Tri-Cities and take a deep dive into this new photography. It was grueling and rewarding work.

In the meantime, the iphone was introduced and has proven an incredible tool for photo documentation as part of the digital ecosystem. It has been a significant contribution to my creative process. A mobile art studio that fits in my pocket and connects me to the entire globe, crazy.

dye sublimation print, 3.5" x 3.5", 2012

Public Art Petersburg

Petersburg is a special place with an amazing history. We are committed to this community and were really pleased to be able to bring the fantastic project started by Candy Chang - Before I Die, to our town.

I also beg, borrow, and steal other cool projects from the incredible talent in Richmond, so we were fortunate to get some of their extra LOVE letters recently!

I See Myself

As a grad student studying photography in the 90's, nude self portraits seemed to be de rigueur. As a young feminist, reclaiming my body as subject and object was an intellectual exercise as well as an artistic statement. As a person, it felt risky.

Earth / Bound, 7" x 5" silver print, Polaroid negative, 1994

American Beauty, 7" x 5" silver print, Polaroid negative, 1993, courtesy The Museum of Fine Arts Houston

American Beauty, 7" x 5" silver print, Polaroid negative, 1994

American Beauty, 5" x 7" silver print, Polaroid negative, 1993

Strip / Uncover, 5" x 7" silver print, Polaroid negative, 1994

Stand Your Ground, 7" x 5" silver print, Polaroid negative, 2000

Wave After Wave, 7" x 5" silver print, Polaroid negative, 2000

Run, 5" x 7" silver print, Polaroid negative, 2000

Woman As (Bridge), silver print, paint, 11" x 14", 1993

Woman As (Bust), silver print, paint, 14" x 11", 1993

Flash, dye sublimation print, 5" x 3.5", 2012

monster drawing rally

The monster drawing rally is an awesome community event / fundraiser put on by 1708 Gallery in Richmond. One part performance, ± 20 artists working in hour-long shifts (3-4 shifts); one part sweat-shop - all work made is sold for a fixed price ($60) and there is an admission fee - so, two parts fundraiser. It brings a lot of folks out, families wander back and forth, it's engaging for everyone. It brings the process of art alive and makes a little money for the gallery - win, win, win.

MDR is a unique way to think about "drawing"; an hour in front of a flock of flaneurs. So, I always plan ahead and come prepared to create a series; quick notes or nods to something.

MDR 2019, mixed media on mat board, 16" x 16"

#citylots#fake

#citylots#tobigtofail

#citylots#halffull

#citylots #isaymyname

#citylots #lies

the box project, monster drawing rally, 2014

the box project, 11.5 x 7.5 x 4.75, 2014

the box project, monster drawing rally, 2014

Ochre

12" x 15", mixed media on paper, 2011

Startled

12" x 15", mixed media on paper, 2011

Early Enlightenment

12" x 15", mixed media on paper, 2011

Arrowheads

12" x 15", mixed media on paper, 2011

Tom, Dick, and Harry

12" x 15", mixed media on paper, 2011

Art First Aid

collage, pastel, 8" x 10", 2013

Mad as a Brush

collage, pastel, 8" x 10", 2013

Art & Artifact

collage, pastel, 8" x 10", 2013

Tough Guy Stuff

collage, pastel, 8" x 10", 2013

Orange Cross

collage, pastel, 8" x 10", 2013

Paprika

collage, pastel, 8" x 10", 2013

Whiplash

collage, pastel, 8" x 10", 2013

Equal

collage, pastel, 8" x 10", 2013

The Truth of the Text

1/6, oil pencils, 12" x 15", 2012

The Truth of the Text

2/6, oil pencils, 12" x 15", 2012

The Truth of the Text

3/6, oil pencils, 12" x 15", 2012

The Truth of the Text

4/6, oil pencils, 12" x 15", 2012

The Truth of the Text

5/6, oil pencils, 12" x 15", 2012

The Truth of the Text

6/6, oil pencils, 12" x 15", 2012

Non-Representational

12" x 15", mixed media on paper, 2011

cornmeal press

I fell in love with letterpress because I fell in love with book making. I fell in love with printmaking in the process.

My letterpress production got a huge infusion when we salvaged hundreds of printing plates from a seed and feed bag company in Richmond in 2011. I also got a proofing press and a few dozen drawers of type. I have more plates than I can ever print - so I started a co-op called cornmealpress, a community print factory.

I'm very interested in small scale, local production (grown close to home) posters and broadsides that explore language and have begun a series on southern pride or stubborn pride (I use them interchangeably) under the name tarpaperpress.

Penland School of Craft workshop results

Press On Propoganda - VCUarts Bowe House Press

Thrilled to have Bowe House Press take advantage of these great plates for tickets and posters for the premiere of the letterpress movie - Press On!

Had a great time printing with the Comm Art students at VCU!

The Itinerant Printer came to the shop and made some great work!

The Itinerant Printer, Chris Fritton, creates beautiful washes by running the paper through the press rollers as part of t=the clean-up process.

Chris works with type shops across the country making imagery from regional collections. Here he adds some CMP iconography to a sheet printed weeks earlier from French cuts.

Students studying graphic design at Longwood had a great day printing!

Cornmeal Press plates stored at home.

Posh RVA, letterpress, rubber stamps, ledger paper, 16 x 20, 2014

Musical Christmas, letterpress, rubber stamps, 9" x 11", 2014

Musical Christmas, letterpress, rubber stamps, 9" x 11", 2014

Shop RVA, letterpress, rubber stamps, ledger paper, 16 x 20, 2014

5 O'Clock Somewhere, letterpress on Atlas Sheets, 11" x 15", 2014

Cornmeal Press one-day workshop at the Visual Arts Center of Richmond - Posters & Broadsides, 2012

A Chicken in Every Plot - Exhibition Poster

A collaboration with Alyssa Salomon.

Printing chicken posters en masse

Dairy Feed, unique print, 16" x 20", 2012

Virginia Clover, unique print, 11" x 14", 2014

Imprint 104, unique print, 9"x12", 2014

tarpaperpress chop, 4"x5", 2014

Half Horse, unique print, 10" x 14", 2014

Superior, unique print, 11" x 14", 2013

Dairy Feed with Triangle, unique print, 20" x 20", 2013

Maria with poster for Old Tavern Kiln Collective - I traded some space in the wood kiln for these posters.

Old Tavern Kiln Collective, unique print, letterpress, 18" x 30", 2014

Grown Close to Home, unique print, letterpress, 18" x 30", 2014

Don't Postpone Joy, letterpress on hand printed wall paper, 24" x 30" (1 of 15), 2014

Joyeux Noel, party invitation, edition of 50, 2011

A Print Harvest - three print shops in two blocks, each venue printed part of the poster - free event with Studio 23, VisArts, and Power & Light Press, 2012

Printing book covers for SOHO - a Space of Her Own, youth mentoring program, 2013

Saucy's Walk-Up, letterpress, 11" x 18", edition of 32, 2012

Bizarre Market, letterpress, 15" x 12", edition of 30, 2013

Free Range Creativity, letterpress, 15" x 12", edition of 60, 2013

Free Range Creativity RVA, Art-O-Mat tokens, 3" x 4" x .5, edition of 45, 2012

all y'all

In an effort to not immerse myself solely in a warming climate of discord, a recent series about inclusion uses letterpress on wall paper samples scrounged from a dumpster, one love.

posters & cards

I work on both ends of the spectrum here. Handset type is as slow and hands-on as you can get. I love making cards to share with the world. Digital design offers a different plethora of options. I often do pro bono work for local agencies or friends just to have an excuse to play with software. So many ways to solve problems and no messy clean-up.

Appomattox River Clean-Up, event poster, digital design, 32" x 40", 2006

Appomattox River Clean-Up, event poster, digital design, 32" x 40", 2007

Art:24, event poster, digital design, 2010

Working Places / Living Spaces , event poster, digital design, 2008

Work Places, Living Spaces, event poster, digital design, 16" x 20, 2008

Logo, 2000

Logo, store sign, 2001

Clay Bird, product tag, 1998

You Are Beautiful, letterpress cards. Thousands distributed randomly.

#thesmileproject (and its precursor)

I don’t do much portraiture but I got a great new video app that is inspiring me. Cinematic makes beautiful 6 second videos. I’m asking people to look away from the camera and slowly count to 3 and then slowly smile and look at me. The videos are lovely but there is a moment, a decisive moment, when that smile cracks that I’m lovin’!

Practicing gratitude #thesmileproject

The bottom images were made at Appomattox Regional Governors School in Petersburg, where I taught for four years. I kept a large format camera set up in the classroom as a fun distraction. The kids were always happy to pose. These images were made with outdated Polaroid film, I scanned the "throw-away" side and we used the digital files to explore new media tools.