Oil and acrylic on canvas
24” x 30”
2020
In the months leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic, I’d started expanding from a focus on the ever-changing temperate rainforest climate in Portland to explore other kinds of fleeting moments—like floods, and the interaction between natural and artificial light. An unplanned motif of liminal spaces emerged, the most surprising pattern being near-empty parking lots, lending the new series a distinctively eerie sense of quiet even before the COVID-19 crisis began.
In March 2020, as the world changed and life shut down, I was invited to join the New York-based Socially Distant Artist Residency program, connecting virtually with other artists around the country (and a few outside the USA), making work and sharing thoughts related to solitude and social (dis)connection during the pandemic.
I completed some of the paintings in this ongoing series in the Before Times, others as part of this residency and beyond, fortunate to be able to continue painting at home in the garage under shelter-in-place orders and letting the work reflect the shuttered cityscapes around me. The common thread is still unexpected transitory moments. The term "fleeting" can be applied on different scales: a sunshower may last minutes, a flood weeks, a pandemic months—but each is unique, and temporary.
Image description: Painting of a flooded parking lot next to a building that is grey with red and orange stripes.
Oil, acrylic and graphite on canvas
24” x 18”
2023
Image description: Painting of a flooded parking lot at twilight, with trees and lights reflected on the water.
Oil and acrylic on canvas
18” x 24”
2019
Image description: Painting of a city street, with a parking lot in the foreground and a worn vintage arrow-shaped sign reading “PARK HERE.”
Oil, acrylic and graphite on canvas panel
9” x 12”
2023
Image description: Painting of a convenience store at twilight under an overcast blue-grey sky.
Oil and acrylic on canvas
20” x 16”
2024
Image description: Painting of a small market and parking lot seen through the window of a bus.
Oil and acrylic on canvas
16” x 20”
2020
Image description: Painting of a small blue house and mossy driveway, with a chain link fence and small magnolia tree in the foreground.
Oil and acrylic on canvas
18” x 14”
2022
Image description: Painting of a puddle on a city street, which features an oil slick in a rainbow of colors.
Oil and acrylic on canvas
20” x 16”
2022
Image description: Painting of a brightly colored oil slick on pavement.
Oil and acrylic on canvas
16” x 12”
2023
Image description: Painting of a colorful oil slick on a puddle next to a curb.
Oil, acrylic and Saral transfer on canvas
20” x 16”
2019
Image description: Painting of a tall building under construction, seen in low, purple-blue dawn light.
Oil and acrylic on canvas
2023
18” x 24”
Image description: Painting of a sidewalk corner. There is a large puddle at the curb cut, and a red chair sits near the curb edge.
Oil and acrylic on canvas
16” x 12”
2022
Image description: Painting of a city street in dim twilight, with three orange traffic cones arranged in a loose horizontal row on the street.
Oil and acrylic on canvas
20” x 16”
2019
Image description: Painting of a building lit orange in dark pre-dawn light, with trees and bushes in the foreground.
Oil and acrylic on canvas
24” x 30”
2020
Image description: Painting of a white house with dark trim on a neighborhood street, in low purple-blue twilight.
Oil, acrylic and graphite on canvas panel
9” x 12”
2023
Image description: Painting of a city street under a vibrant purple sunset.
Oil and acrylic on canvas
18” x 18”
2020
Image description: Painting of a small beige building on a gravelly city street, with a sign reading “LOVELY TIRE & WHEEL,” and three traffic cones.
Oil and acrylic on canvas
18” x 14
2022
Image description: Painting of a neighborhood street in fall, dominated by a tree with vivid red leaves at center left.
Oil and acrylic on canvas
18” x 14”
2022
Image description: Painting of an elementary school building, with a small tree in the foreground.
Oil, acrylic and graphite on canvas panel
9” x 12”
2023
Image description: Painting of a beige stucco building with small multicolored windows, a wide city street in the foreground.
Oil, acrylic and graphite on wood panel
15.75” x 11.25”
2022
Image description: Painting of signposts, streetlights, telephone poles and wires, at the top of a slope covered in foliage, under a grey sky.