Altered Landscapes
The Altered Landscapes series depicts familiar settings in ways we haven’t seen them before. They challenge us to reevaluate how we see our surroundings and remind us to see, not just look. The familiar becomes strange, somewhat fanciful, juxtaposing like with unlike, becoming metaphors.
The collages are not meant to convey a particular message - they are what you make of them. They were fun to produce and somewhat challenging to work with until the images made sense in themselves.
The collages are composed primarily of my photographs and I’ve noted where I took the images. In some, however, I’ve used images from vintage fruit and vegetable crate labels.
The collages are on paper but can be printed on canvas also.
ALIEN ARCHES: The background image is Canyonlands National Park, with Landscape Arch at Arches National Park in Utah inset towards the back as a window. Flower petals from a plant at a visitor center in Utah float out of a "mouth" which is part of the Amorphophalluus Titanium plant at Huntington Gardens; they are heading towards Landscape Arch, and the green in the lower right is a pond in Vancouver B.C.
PIGEONS IN THE SNOW : 8"x10"; The base photograph is Sequoia National Park, where pigeons from the Pismo Beach pier are investigating a jellyfish from the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Meanwhile, a seagull from the Pismo Pier is turning his back on an Oystercatcher from Cambria, while he dwarfs him in size. Nothing is as it should be.
BLUE MOON: 10"x13". The background is Arches National Park. The moon is an antique victrola speaker, the hats are a plant at Huntington Gardens, the capes are the Amorphophallus Titanum plant, the lantern is from China and the goat is from my brother's yard.
SPIRITS OF THE DESERT 8"x12" Background- Amorphophallus Titanum, the stinky corpse plant at Huntington Gardens; girl spirits- students in Costa Rica; Blue flower centers- old victrola speakers; Flowers- a visitor center in Utah; bud- Butchart Gardens, Victoria.
DON'T WORRY II 11"X14" Background, Canadian Snowbirds from Fleet Week in San Francisco; other images are from vintage fruit and vegetable crate labels
IF COWS COULD FLY 11x14 Cows- Granite Road, Kern County; Running cows - Highway 155, Kern County; Seagulls, Pismo Beach; Cactus Blossom, garden of the artist; Lily pads, Japanese Gardens, Butchard Gardens, Victoria.
CACTUS FLOWER 8x10 SOLD Cactus flower from garden of artist; lotus from Norton Simon Gallery garden in Pasadena CA; Night heron from artist's yard; color strips from Watt's Towers, Los Angeles; Crested Butte, CO; peacocks at Hart Park, Kern County CA; wildflowers in Gorman CAA.
POPPY EXPLOSION 8"X10" California poppies from hills around Gorman, CA; peacock feathers from Hart Park, Kern County CA
NOW SOLD Statue from a front yard in Caliente, CA; peacock feathers from Hart Park, Kern County CA; other images and stripes from vintage fruit and vegetable crate labels
ARABESQUE 8"x12" Background image on Highway I-70 San Rafael Swell; Giraffe from San Diego Wild Animal Park; craft papers
OVER IN THE MEADOW 11"X14" Background, a log in Crescent Meadow, Sequoia National Park; Daisy - Redstone, CO; Squash Blossom - Edna Valley, CA; Tulips are dyed Easter eggs; Tulip stems are vineyards in Tuscany, Italy; snow is in Sequoia National Park; Chair is from Jeff Johnson's cherry ranch; wildflowers are from hills near Gorman, CA; birch trees from CO
PELIDACTYLS 11"X14" Background- pelicans at Pismo Beach, CA; ocean, Pismo shore; Monster wave - Pismo shore; tendrils- Bird rock, Pt. Lobos CA; Peacock feathers, Hart Park, Kern County CA.
ROAD ENCOUNTERS 11"X14" Background Highway 58 California Valley, CA; Jellyfish, Monterey Bay Aquarium; Sunset, ocean off Big Sur; tendrils, back feathers from Peacock, Hart Park, Kern County CA.
SEE 8"X12" Background - submarine rids, Disneyland; Belugas - Vancouver aquarium; seal, wind-up toy collection of artist's father; cats Tiger and Lily, the artist's cats; Letters from vintage crate labels.
ORANGE MOON 11"X14" Background image Hart Park, Kern County CA; Swan, Lake Lugano, Lugano Switzerland; brown feathers and tail feathers, peacocks at Hart Park; colored "feathers," craft papers, elephant and orange, vintage fruit and vegetable crate labels.
THURSDAY 16"X20" SOLD Background photo - ocean at Cambria, CA; whales, Vancouver Aquarium; Elephant seals, Cambria, CA; Iris, Descanso Gardens, La Canada, CA.