I draw things because I want to examine them, and drawing slows my looking. I started drawing from imagination and moved to drawing from life at the Museum Art School in Portland, Oregon. Painting the Bainbridge series let me go back to some very happy times, but the work itself was quite challenging. People and landscapes are unfamiliar subjects, so I had to paint some images over and over to get even close to a good painting. The Island Summers series began in 2004, when I found a trove of photos my mom took during the summer of 1937, while she and her family took a summer cabin on Yeomalt. Across Murden Cove and a couple of decades, her summer blended into mine: boats, the bay, little driftwood structures, the beach. I found I wanted to paint my own island summer memories too: jumping off the Big Rock, rowing around in the Granny, swimming at night in the phosphorescent waters of Hood Canal. It's been a delightful visit to the past for me, and I hope you enjoy it too.
As a former patron of the Rolling Bay Library, I would like to offer my gratitude and congratulations to the Bainbridge Library, for 50 years of inspiring island kids to dream!
