My art allows me to tell stories. I gravitate toward neutral palettes with splashes of color unless the work commands bolder. Some of my favorite storytelling materials include colored pencil, ink, oils, brewed coffee, wire, eco-friendly textiles, hot-press paper, and cradled wood panels. Oftentimes my pieces showcase imperfections...so I invite you to lean in for a closer look. Thank you for browsing my work.
Enthusiasm for this mixed-media trio came from my research and work on Adorned Boot for the World of Frida Juried Exhibition. I also drew inspiration from the striking imagery of personal belongings, wardrobe, and medical devices showcased in two critically-acclaimed exhibitions: Frida Kahlo: Making Her Self Up at the Victoria and Albert Museum and Frida Kahlo: Appearances Can Be Deceiving at the Brooklyn Museum.
I was particularly drawn to images of the orthopedic braces and plaster corsets Frida wore following that near-fatal bus crash at the age of 18. I found just as much beauty in the materials, faded colors, and contours of the apparatus as I did the plaster corsets she painted and decorated. To me, they represent the indomitable artist’s warrior strength.
Series completed in 2018 and 2019.
10” x 10” x 1.75” annealed wire (gauges 19, 26, 28 , 32 + 34), art paper, gesso, and coffee-stained gauze (US Army circa 1953)
This piece is based upon a plaster brace with cotton straps and metal sliders (see next photo). Along with other personal belongings and wardrobe, it was locked away for 50 years in the bathroom of Casa Azul following Frida Kahlo’s death.
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Plaster brace worn by Frida Kahlo © Collection of Museo Frida Kahlo/Frida Kahlo & Diego Rivera Archives/Bank of Mexico/Frida Kahlo Museum Trust/Javier Hinojosa/V&A Publishing
Detail showing deep frame with wire work “sewn” to gessoed gauze and matboard using 32 gauge wire.
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Detail of top edge of plaster brace and cotton strap with hardware. Hand formed and assembled using annealed steel wire.
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Detail of two cotton straps and plaster brace opening. Hand formed and assembled using annealed steel wire.
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Detail of the brace’s lower edge with frayed “thread” (intentionally placed). Hand formed and assembled using annealed steel wire.
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10” x 10” x 1.75” annealed wire (gauges 19, 22, 26, 28 + 32), art paper, gesso, and coffee-stained gauze (US Army circa 1953)
This piece is based upon one of Frida Kahlo’s plaster corsets she painted and decorated (see next photo). It showcases a red hammer and sickle, a large oval cutout in the center, several blue glass circles, and stickers among other things.
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Plaster corset, painted and decorated by Frida Kahlo © Collection of Museo Frida Kahlo/Frida Kahlo & Diego Rivera Archives/Bank of Mexico/Frida Kahlo Museum Trust/Javier Hinojosa/V&A Publishing
Detail showing deep frame with wire work “sewn” to gessoed gauze and matboard using 32 gauge wire.
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Detail of gauze strips along the top edge of the plaster cast, the red painted hammer and sickle, and blue glass circle secured with extra gauze. Hand formed and assembled using annealed steel wire.
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Detail of frayed “threads” that I intentionally added to the plaster corset’s edge. Hand formed and assembled using annealed steel wire.
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10” x 10” x 1.75” annealed steel wire (gauges 19, 26, 28 + 32), art paper, gesso, and coffee-stained US Army-regulation gauze circa 1953 in frame - 2018
This piece is based upon “The Broken Column” plaster corset Frida Kahlo decorated with oil paints in 1944 (see next photo). The adornments I have included are my interpretations of Frida’s paint strokes.
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Plaster corset, painted and decorated by Frida Kahlo © Collection of Museo Frida Kahlo/Frida Kahlo & Diego Rivera Archives/Bank of Mexico/Frida Kahlo Museum Trust/Javier Hinojosa/V&A Publishing
Detail showing deep frame with wire work “sewn” to gessoed gauze and matboard using 32 gauge wire.
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Detail of the more prominent imagery Frida painted using oils: an upside-down eye (I view it as an eye), a broken spinal column, and the stems of a flower (I see it as a flower). Extra wire (mostly 32 gauge) was wrapped in places to represent Frida’s broader paint strokes.
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More detail of the prominent imagery Frida painted using oils: a flower and bolder strokes of what could be ornamental grass, leaves, or petals. Hand formed and assembled using annealed steel wire. Bolder paint strokes were recreated by wrapping extra wire in strategic spots.
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During a thrifting outing in Berkeley, I stumbled upon a box of medical gauze and tourniquets originally issued to the US Government in 1953 by Johnson & Johnson. I immediately fell in love with the colors of the packaging (swooned over that blue) and began plotting art projects.
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I used brewed coffee to stain rolls of the salvaged US Army-regulation gauze. I kept some strips submerged longer in the coffee to achieve darker shades.
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For the backgrounds of each piece in the series I layered strips of gauze (some coffee-stained, some not) onto sheets of art paper. I then applied generous amounts of gesso to the gauze strips with a palette knife and allowed each sheet to air dry (about 24 hours).
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I played around with the placement of the matboard until I felt satisfied the strips best emulated the horizontal stripes of the plaster corset.
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I’m deeply honored that my work, “Adorned Boot”, was selected for The World of Frida juried exhibition at the Bedford Gallery in Walnut Creek, California July 8 - September 16, 2018. The show celebrated the culture, style, and persona of the highly-influential artist Frida Kahlo. Along with juried and invitational artists' works, the show featured a national, traveling photography exhibit titled Frida Kahlo: Through the Lens of Nickolas Muray that made a stop in Walnut Creek after traveling across North America. Jurors for the show: Lisa Congdon, fine artist, illustrator and author, and Rebecca Gomez, Curator of Exhibitions and Programs at the Mexic-Arte Museum in Austin, TX.
You can read more about my artist process for this work here.
20.5” x 20.5” x 1.75” canvas, acrylics, wire (varying gauges), and jingle bells in frame with acrylic glazing - 2018
My lengthy research for the project revealed this gem at The Berkeley Public Library: Frida by Ishiuchi, a collection of riveting, intimate photographs taken in 2011 by highly-acclaimed Japanese photographer Ishiuchi Miyako. The photographs were of Frida’s personal belongings, wardrobe, and medical apparatus hidden from the public for fifty years following her death. I was immediately hooked!
I used two different gauges of annealed wire to form the leather cuff and lace holes. I intentionally left “threads” of wire in the finished piece.
I shaped varying gauges of annealed wire into the leather boot’s overall shape, the Chinese embroidered silk applique, and lace holes. And just as Frida did, I adorned my boot with two tiny jingle bells.
I drew inspiration from Ishiuchi's photograph of Frida's red leather platform boot to create my color palette of the ribbon in the finished piece.
The ribbon of soft canvas color swatches represent the warm browns of the leather cuff, the pale fleshy colors of the prosthesis, the bright red hues of the boot, the brownish black of the sole, and the vivid threads of the Chinese crane and dragon embroidered silk applique.
I secured the soft canvas swatches to the background canvas with 34 gauge annealed wire.
Prosthetic leg with leather boot. Museo Frida Kahlo. Photograph Javier Hinojosa. © Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo Archives, Banco de México, Fiduciary of the Trust of the Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo Museums
The idea for this series came after reading John Steinbeck’s Pulitzer-prize winning novel, The Grapes of Wrath, and helping my mother digitize a photo collection of her ancestors who homesteaded on the prairies of Kansas and Colorado in the early 1900s.
You can read the full narrative that accompanies my paintings on ISSUU.
8" x 8" acrylic on cradled wood panel - 2011
They didn’t want to leave but they had no choice. Drought, dying livestock, foreclosures, and acres of topsoil blown into their homes and lungs drove them away from the only life they knew. California offered promises of steady work and fertile ground—a fresh start. They were taking the mother road.
8" x 8" acrylic on cradled wood panel - 2011
They’d driven as far as a dollar of gas could take them. Now they waited. Waited under the merciless sun with hungry bellies and soiled clothing. They waited for news of work in the fields as promised on government handbills distributed just weeks prior. They waited for a time when they were migrants no longer. Waiting was all they could do.
8" x 8" acrylic on cradled wood panel - 2011
A mattress, some dishes, a stove if you were lucky enough to own one, definitely the tarpaulins, and maybe a chair or two. That was all they had room for on the truck. When you are a migrant family, these become your worldly possessions.
8" x 8" acrylic on cradled wood panel - 2011
This morning brought a welcome respite. The family awoke to the clattering of pans and the comforting aroma of ma’s homemade corn pone. Were they still dreaming, they wondered. Yesterday the men earned nearly a dollar pickin’ so ma could splurge on cornmeal and bacon at the camp store. Fryin’ pone made her feel decent again.
8" x 8" acrylic on cradled wood panel - 2011
The colors of young Ruthie Joad’s world ranged from faded denims and soiled flesh to endless hues of brown. But that all changed when the rains finally came. The landscape was now littered with lush greens and vivid wildflowers. Ruthie grew particularly fond of red geraniums. They were now known as "Ruthie’s Red".
8" x 8" acrylic on cradled wood panel - 2011 SOLD
She never knew the likes of a store-bought dress. Neither did her three older sisters. Each migrant daughter wore clothes hand sewn by their mother, often times made from grain sacks. Her favorite was this clover-patterned number.
Close up of "Taking the Mother Road".
Close up of the painting's coffee-stained edges.
Close up of young boy in "Waiting".
Close up of the painting's coffee-stained edges.
Close up of "Worldly Possessions".
Close up of "Fryin' Pone".
Close up of Ruthie in "Ruthie's Red".
Close up of geranium in "Ruthie's Red".
Close up of "Faded Clover".
This is a small collection of original paintings I did in 2011 that pay homage to my maternal grandmother, Candelaria Archuleta, as well as the brilliant colors of the Colorado prairies.
8" x 8" acrylic on cradled wood panel - 2011
A tribute to my sweet Grandma Archuleta who was well known for her cooking. One of my all-time favorite snacks was her handmade flour tortillas. I recall countless weekends watching her measure ingredients using only her hands -- I was completely awe struck with this talent. I also marveled at the melodic movements of her gentle hands rolling out the dough. I think the best part of the whole experience was devouring those warm tortillas just as fast as grandma could make them.
Close up of panel edge with wash of titanium white.
Close up of "Candelaria's Gift".
8" x 6" acrylic on cradled wood panel - 2011
Original painting inspired by one of my all-time favorite pastimes: afternoon visits to my Grandma Archuleta's house for homemade tortillas and frijoles. It must have been quite a site to watch us kids devour bowl after bowl of her pinto beans using tortillas for spoons. It was the perfect ending to the school day.
Close up of panel edge stained with brewed coffee.
Close up of "Craving More".
5" x 5" acrylic on cradled wood panel (two) - 2011
Inspired by the vivid ochres and rich caramel colors of wheat fields under the Colorado summer skies. To think the wheat stalks were once just seeds in the cold slumber of winter deepens my appreciation for their strength and beauty.
Close up of panel edges stained with brewed coffee.
Paintings titled and signed on reverse.
When I came across a surplus of Mexican Chechen hardwood from a Seattle furniture maker, I was inspired to pair it with remnants from my stash of environmentally-friendly textiles. That's just how I do things.
I used museum-quality sizing, gesso, and adhesive to prep the painting surface and Tung oil for a natural wood protectant. Lastly, I intentionally frayed the edges of the fabric to create a contrasting, unexpected frame for each painting.
6-3/4"W x 5"H x 3/4"D oil on salvaged mexican hardwood with organic linen canvas - 2011
"Spring Snow, Melting" is an original oil painting of the tranquility following a surprise Spring snowstorm on the Colorado prairies. Having once lived there, I could always count on the warmth and light of the sun to restore harmony.
Close up of "Spring Snow, Melting".
Close up of "Spring Snow, Melting."
6-3/4"W x 4-1/2"H x 3/4"D oil on salvaged mexican hardwood with hemp organic cotton canvas - 2011
"Midday Wheat" is an original oil painting that reminds me of the spectacular panoramic views of the Colorado wheat fields at midday...when the sun is high and the clouds lazily cross the sky.
Close up of "Midday Wheat".
Close up of "Midday Wheat".
11-1/2"W x 6-5/8"H x 3/4"D oil on salvaged mexican hardwood with hemp organic cotton canvas - 2011
"Patterned Plains No. 1" is an original oil painting inspired by the captivating views above the eastern Colorado plains. My family and I are often treated to these "visual concerts" of color and subtly-varied topography.
Close up of "Patterned Plains No. 1".
Close up of "Patterned Plains No. 1".
9-1/2"W x 7-3/8"H x 3/4"D oil on salvaged mexican hardwood with hemp organic cotton canvas - 2011
"Someplace to Meander" is an original oil painting inspired by my longing for warmth and solitude following the requisite wet and chilly winters of Seattle.
* The edges of the fabric were stained with brewed coffee.
Close up of "Someplace to Meander".
Close up of "Someplace to Meander".
