Art has always been a way for mankind to connect with nature, an attempt to understand its mystery and beauty, to borrow its power. Artist’s earliest primal symbols show a desire to acknowledge the critical role animals played in human survival. I paint endangered species to call attention to this ancient connection. With the loss of each species, we become less human.
Some of the endangered species are oil on canvas, but most of them are created using traditional gilding techniques originating in ancient Egypt. A wooden panel is covered with several layers of gesso (a mixture of chalk and animal hyde glue) and then painted with bole (a naturally occurring clay mixed with glue) before sheets of gold leaf are applied and burnished with an agate stone to produce a reflective surface. To create the relief or “pastiglia”, warm gesso is carefully ladled on top of the gessoed wood before the bole layer.
Steel punches may be used to imprint the gilded surface or the gold may be covered with tempera paint and scratched through to expose the brilliance below, a technique called “sgraffito”.
Some of the endangered species are oil on canvas, but most of them are created using traditional gilding techniques originating in ancient Egypt. A wooden panel is covered with several layers of gesso (a mixture of chalk and animal hyde glue) and then painted with bole (a naturally occurring clay mixed with glue) before sheets of gold leaf are applied and burnished with an agate stone to produce a reflective surface. To create the relief or “pastiglia”, warm gesso is carefully ladled on top of the gessoed wood before the bole layer.
Steel punches may be used to imprint the gilded surface or the gold may be covered with tempera paint and scratched through to expose the brilliance below, a technique called “sgraffito”.
American Buffalo
23x18x4 gold leaf and tempera on gessoed wood 1996 
Constellation Tableau
5 h x 24 w x 3 ½ deep gold leaf and tempera on gessoed wood 2014 
Endangered Species Crocodile
17x11 gold leaf and oil on gessoed panel 2006 
Endangered Species Frog
15x13 gold leaf and tempera on gessoed panel 1998 
Endangered Species Grevy's Zebra
15x17 gold leaf and tempera on gessoed panel 2000 
Endangered Species Marvelous Spatuletail
20x8 in mahogany frame gold leaf on gessoed wood 2000 
Endangered Species Red Crown Cranes
24x30 gold leaf and tempera on gessoed panel 2004 Collection of the Corcoran Gallery 
Endangered Species Sea Turtle
15x13 gold leaf and tempera on gessoed panel 1998 
Endangered Species Wallace Bee
13x15 gold leaf and tempera on gessoed wood 2003 
Fishbone Giraffe
10x6x2 gold leaf on gessoed wood 2018 
On the Edge
32x32 oil on linen 2014 
Owl Oryx Ocelot
42x8 gold leaf and graphite on gilded oak and gessoed wood 2003 
Zebrafly Opus II
16x16 oil with gold leaf on linen 2018 |
Black and White Issues
16x16 graphite on gessoed wood 2011 
Endangered Species Crayfish
25x9 gold leaf and oil on gessoed panel in antique frame 2004 
Endangered Species Fijian Banded Iguana
17x15 gold leaf and multi colored bole on panel 2003 
Endangered Species Grizzly Bear
17x15 gold leaf and tempera on gessoed panel 1998 
Endangered Species Okapi
44x28 oil on linen 2010 
Endangered Species Sea Horse
15x13 gold leaf and tempera on gessoed panel 2000 Collection of the Muscarelle Museum of Art at the College of William and Mary 
Endangered Species Spotted Owl
15x13 gold leaf and tempera on gessoed panel 1998 
Fishbone Elephant in frame
12x14 gesso on panel 2018 
Fishbone Zebra
8x10x2 gold leaf on gessoed wood 2018 
Pelican Panda Penguin Panther
10x10 gold leaf and graphite on gessoed panel 2010 
Running Zebra
32x36 oil on linen 2017 
Zebra on Fire
36x48 gold and copper leaf on linen 2017 
Zebrafly Opus I
32x32 oil with copper leaf on linen 2016 
Zebrafly Opus III
32x32 oil with gold and copper leaf on linen 2018 |