Creatively Thinking

  Featured image: Valentine Valentine’s Day feels like a gentle invitation to celebrate beauty. In the studio, I am always chasing it — the hush of winter light, the lift of a wing, the fragile bloom that will not last long. To paint is to linger with what moves us. Perhaps that is one quiet form of love: to translate wonder into color, line, and form… and to offer it back to the world. Today, I’m grateful for those who make space for art in their lives — and for the simple, enduring power of beauty. Wishing you a day touched by something that stirs your heart. 💛

Featured image: Rosie Robot I just sort of fell into creating some assemblage works of art for my exhibition at the Campanile. I started doing one, discovered I loved it and was having fun doing it, so I did another one. And another. Then I began to think I was receiving a message and started to listen, to take the message seriously, and to research the concept of assemblage. Naturally, the idea of assemblage took hold in the 60’s with Duchamp and the rest of the abstract group, as I will call them for simplicity’s sake. But I really shouldn’t—they are all some of my very favorite artists, and they did so very much for art history, both good and bad. Today I began to wonder differently about them. I used to think they were the ones who opened our minds to new ways of thinking about art. I have always thought that this was good. But today I began to wonder if it wasn’t also bad, because look at what we have for art today: nothing precious, nothing unique, nothing original. Look at assem...

  Featured image: Hawk III I’m truly honored—and deeply grateful—to share that my painting Hawk has been accepted into the 17th Annual Signature Watermedia Exhibition, on view March 21 through April 18, 2026. To be included among fellow Signature artists in a show that celebrates both mastery and fresh perspective feels especially meaningful to me. Exhibitions like this are not simply about displaying work; they are about entering into a larger conversation—one shaped by years of dedication to the medium, by risk, by growth, and by imagination. For as long as I can remember, birds have carried symbolic weight in my art. Hawks, in particular, embody vision, strength, and independence. In this piece, I wanted to honor that watchful presence—the ability to rise, to see clearly, and to trust the currents beneath the wings. These ideas have shaped my life and my art, and I return to them again and again. The opening reception will be held Saturday, March 21, from 4–6 PM. I’m thankful to...

  Featured image: Intersections II I have begun working with found objects. They are often very different in their usage from their prior life—like rusted metal gears, old parts and gears, screws and washers that I have found in boxes that were abandoned long ago. A real treasure I found once—and I didn’t even know it at the time—was a wooden gear about 4” in diameter. I haven’t found a use for it yet, but I will. It just needs to be imagined. That’s the hard part. The other day, during my opening reception, someone asked me where I got all my birds, and I told him I bought them. Most of the things I am working with sell themselves to me. They know I think they are treasures and that I will make something special out of them. Some of the small birds I don’t do anything to, and others I cover with different materials, like plaster of Paris, concrete, and papier-mâché. I try not to use anything toxic, as I used a lot of materials like that in my earlier years as an artist, and I thou...

  Wings Sculpture,  10'x7' My exhibition, Opposites, is currently on view at the Campanile Center for the Arts, Campanile Gallery in Minocqua, Wisconsin, and will remain open through March. The exhibition is available by appointment only. To schedule a visit, please contact the Campanile Center for the Arts Monday through Thursday at (715) 356-9700 and ask for Laurie or Sandy. You are also very welcome to contact me directly at (715) 588-7115 or on my cell at (715) 401-9585 (within reason, of course) to arrange a personal tour. I would be glad to walk the exhibition with you and talk together about the work. The idea of opposites has long fascinated me. Without black and white, there would be no gray. One does not exist without the other. This simple truth opens up a much larger way of thinking about balance, contrast, and transformation. Much of my current work explores this idea through music and color. Red and yellow move toward one another and, in their meeting, become ora...

  Be Different I’m honored and grateful to share that two of my paintings, Be Different and Inner Compass, have been invited into Covered & Kept, an online Virtual Reality exhibition presented by Adonai Global Arts Fund. This exhibition centers on ideas of being covered, guided, and held—sometimes visibly, often quietly. These are themes I return to in my work again and again, explored through inner landscapes and symbolic spaces rather than literal narratives. Both Be Different and Inner Compass reflect that inward listening—the place where direction, faith, and resilience begin to emerge. I’m thankful for the invitation and for the care behind this exhibition. It feels meaningful to place these works within a space that treats art as a form of shelter, reflection, and shared experience. 💛 Your Inner Compass