SOLO SHOWS
Figuratively Speaking, SFArtsED, San Francisco, CA, November 2025
Bronze and Silk, Kenlynn, San Francisco, CA, November 2023
Bolinas Museum, Bolinas, CA, April 2023
Royal Drawing School, London, UK, September 2022
SFArtsED, San Francisco, CA, October 2021
Hulburd Design, San Francisco, CA, November 2020
GROUP SHOWS
Fall Show, Fort Mason, San Francisco, October 2018
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“The Quickening: Figure on the Verge”
Notes from an exhibit at the The Royal Drawing School, London, September 2022
The title is both metaphor and descriptive. ‘Quicken’ originally meant to make alive. It referred to the first instant a pregnant woman felt fluttering in her womb. In my work, I want a feeling of motion, of energy emanating from within. Something is unsettled and vulnerable.
The common meaning is also apt—quickening is speeding up. Consider the act of running. Running is a controlled fall. Without deliberately leaning forward, off-balance, you cannot run. In all creative work, whether making art or a garden, you run the risk of falling. Nor is the work ever finished. I want now to focus on larger works, stripped to the essence of form and motion.
Process I begin not knowing what I want. Although the muddle makes me anxious, sooner or later, an idea bobs to the surface. I draw. Quick and rudimentary sketches help connect head and hands. For me drawing is difficult. I cannot wait to get my hands on clay or wax. They are tactile and three dimensional. In this inert stuff lies all possibilities. It’s thrilling to start with an idea and a lump of clay. Kneading clay is play. A few pushes and pulls, a lump starts to take on life. If it doesn’t, squeeze it into a ball and begin again.
Materials Whether clay or wax, every material has attributes and limitations. The qualities I adored at the outset become frustrating. Water-based clay is lusciously pliable. When dry, it shrinks and cracks. Plastilina softens in the hands and never hardens completely. Overworking is easy and risks killing the spark the work had at the start. Wax likewise softens with warmth. If it becomes too warm, it’s like modeling chewing gum. But cold wax is a rock. A hair dryer or heat gun are always in reach.
Focus How do I know when the work is finished? I don’t. How I see my own work reflects only the mood of the moment and brain chatter. At a certain point, I lose all perspective—a problem of forest and trees. But while at work, once the inner cacophony quiets down, I am completely immersed in the process. I am free of Time and the Prison of the Self. Now, heading toward 80, instead of feeling time running out, I feel liberated from time. Joy is reason enough to get on with it.
Photo by Greg Wode