A few years ago, in Seattle I saw my backyard squirrel friend stretched out on the top of my fence attempting to spread out flat enough, in an effort, to cool down.  It was a lost cause as temperatures were soaring.  It made me think of the luxuries afforded to myself, family, and my indoor cats.  This creature was feeling the effects of climate change in a place that I had come to know as usually having a mild climate.

I wanted to help and that’s where this work began.  A fast departure for a time from my abstract painting and into the personalities of animals we share our lives with. I want to capture their unique identities and celebrate them in my art.  I also want to honor the fact that for many of these animals that are undergoing stress their lives seem to be more and more intermingled with the lives of their human neighbors. Depending on humans for water, shade and food.

My first paintings were separate portraiture pieces attempting to catch a personality rather it be regal, fool hardy, quizzical or refined.  From there I have made paintings that depict crows living somewhat human existence and engaging in activities that are not a very far stretch of the imagination.  I have also started to question why I no longer see opossums, an animal that was very commonly seen when growing-up in Shoreline (not too far from Seattle) in the 1970s-1990s.

I hope my art reminds other humans of the amazing life that exists around us in our everyday lives.  To not take these contemporaries for granted and to honor them.  I have learned so much from non-human animals.  Having grown-up in a wooded neighborhood, I had grown accustomed to the nightly howling of coyotes and hooting of owls.  What would Seattle be without crows, squirrels, raccoons?  I hope my art encourages an empathetic comradery between all persons, human and non-human.