PATTERNS AND TONES

"Water Refractions No. 3" Studying light and how we perceive it has held a life long fascination for me. Much like my Sun Shadow series , I have recently been looking at how lines bend in nature, this time through the flattening of perspective in water refractions. Removing color often flattens an image and helps me to explore the interior of the image more quickly. So in this set of images, I decided to remove the color from the original photograph and then added a single color back in. These recent photographs taken at the Gerrish Swim and Tennis Club helped me to explore the undulating lines refracting in the water. I was captivated by the light rays penetrating the water which bent the objects, in this case the darker line tiles below. The constantly moving water was creating new patterns every time I looked down. Since the angle changed every time the water moved, the refracting light made the lines look different every time. My boss David Hockney has spent ye...

"Agua Dulce No. 3" from The Detritus Series Continuing my exploration of light and form, I have created several more images based on items from the basin of the Sierra Pelona Valley to the top of Tejon Pass and Mt. Diablo. Each individual piece informed me on how to approach their portrait. For the dried up yucca plant, I emphasized the base, filling it in with plaster of paris to round out what would have naturally been there. The dried flowers at the top were lightly brushed with the compound to highlight their now brittle structure.  In contrast to the prickly and dried detritus that I found in the hot and dry High Desert, items I found at the top of the Tejon Pass in Southern California and Mt. Diablo in Northern California are typical dry grasses and reads. Their graceful forms appear to have evolved with their perpetual dance with wind,  flexibly  bending and waving on top of great heights. I chose to give them a "vase" to sprout from,...