winter birds

I was so thankful to find time during the holidays to create some new pieces using the photos, shells and driftwood I collected on my two trips to Plum Island. Here is 'Winter Birds No. 1' and 'A Shell I Found' as they were being created.

Originally I began painting these on canvas. Eventually I decided I wanted more of a layered look that better echoed the beauty of the winter shore, and all the bits and pieces of sea and storm washed up by its tide. (In general, I want all of my paintings to have this layered look and more importantly, the feeling of all these layers of paper and images and colors and histories that contribute to the story they tell.) So I ripped the paintings off their canvases and set to piecing them together with glue and thread. 

There was a lot of lumber driftwood on Plum Island, some ancient pieces worn smooth and soft by time and others obviously ripped from piers or wrecked boats or homes in recent storms, and that inspired me to frame two of my paintings within these old chipped white drawers I found at a thrift store last week.

If you live in the Boston area, you can see this painting and three more brand new ones at Flour in Fort Point (12 Farnsworth Street) until the end of the month.