No one asks the deer or the squirrels or the ants to explain where they have come from and why they should be taken into consideration. But humans beings seem obsessed with trying to pin-point the location of origin and the educational and cultural conditioning of their acquaintances and colleagues. The uncertain truth is that we have to be somewhere physically, and most of the time psychologically we inhabit the territory of the past or the projected pleasures and anxieties of the future. My story seems so commonplace that I hesitate to even state it, and almost wish to apologize for its lack of exciting revelations. I am like so many other people in that I have followed a path of interest, been educated in order to hone my expertise, practiced my craft, and worked in my field and now find that at middle-age I am finally abandoning the idealized future in which I proved myself to be extraordinary. Please don't run to the cupboard for that extra dose of self-esteem that I seem to be lacking. I am just stating my new awareness, that I may have missed the all-encompassing importance of Life itself by insisting that human worth (my worth) is defined by exceptional talent exhibited through a successful career.

Having said that, I am still as curious as you are about other people's stories and so I will let you in on a few details. I grew up in the 60's with all of the cultural turmoil of that period, in a small town and on a small farm in central Kansas. My parents and grandparents were farmers, gardeners, educators, and housewives. They all imparted to me a strong conviction of the importance of religion in their lives, having come from a Mennonite tradition. Of course I took this on as well, not rebelling against it so much as putting it in the cultural perspective of the times I was living in. In the exuberance of my youth there were many other things happening that were much more interesting to me than this way of life. I felt that my life could be so much bigger. My first step out was to the University of Kansas to study art, specifically painting and drawing. I left KU with a BFA and went east to New York where I was sure the real Art scene was. I spent a year in NYC, and then arrived at Cornell University in 1981 for my MFA.

Almost 30 years later I am still living in the Ithaca area and producing art. During these years I have raised a daughter who is now graduating from college with a degree in illustration. I have taught Design and Drawing at Tompkins Cortland Community College, since 1994. I have also been teaching art to children at Immaculate Conception School for 22 years. For the last twelve years I have been blessed to share the path of art and inquiry into life with my partner, Fernando Llosa.

I am sure that it is common for people who are in their 50's to sense that the world is moving past them. Some people embrace new innovations, but I imagine there are others like me who are not so interested in keeping up with the newest technology or media. Sometimes I feel that this preference for dirt under my fingernails over computer screens is a dangerous position and I am putting my professional life at risk, but other times I think that this skepticism and rejection of the accepted definition of human progress is the door to another way of being within life. This other way of being human, that wants to be aware of the everyday world that is taken for granted, that asks what Life is, that asks What Are We Separate From?, is what is interesting to me now. It may be a desire on my part to acknowledge a simple, less ambitious life. It may be a desire to return to nature and a religious way of seeing the world that was never adequately conveyed to me as a child. As you look at my artwork, maybe you will be able to see this transformation coming through.                                                                                                                                                Trumansburg, New York   IV/2009

NOTES ON THE ARTWORK