An Unkindness with Sunflowers and a Coat Hanger (July), 2022
24" x 48" acrylic on panel

The artist was still trying to process the Dobbs ruling the month before. A process started that might take a generation to fix. A generation of reproductive trauma lay ahead of us.

Caprice with Whimsical Trifles (December), 2021
42" x 48" acrylic on panel

The newly discovered Omicron variant had just begun to take off.

Still Life for the Lefties (June), 2020
20" x 17.75" acrylic, ink, and graphite on panel

The painting takes the plinth of the Jefferson Davis statue in Richmond Virginia as the stage set for the still life. A series on items arranged mostly in the order of the rainbow stands in for the rainbow flag. The setting illustrates the more inclusive and somber nature of Pride Month in 2020. The model of the coronavirus depicted in each painting, which is actually a dryer ball purchased at the drug store, lurks about like an ever-present specter haunting us.

Still Life with Canned Dictators and Bumpy Cucurbits (November), 2022
48" x 42" acrylic on panel

The war in Ukraine was several months old. Napoleon's failed invasion of the same region comes to mind.

A Midsummer Night's Still Life (August), 2020
48" x 24" acrylic on panel

The artist had long wanted to feature his pet in the paintings. Instead of inserting her in another composition, which failed repeatedly, he designed the entire composition around her. The artist employed a Midsummer Night’s Dream theme to the piece. The picture was made in a month of relative calm despite a massive explosion taking place in Beirut, as well as the beginning of wildfire season in California. An ancient ruin of Thanatos appears in the center under a COVID moon reminding us that the ever-present specter of the pandemic was always hovering close by.

Still Life Under an Orange Sky (September), 2020
48" x 48" acrylic and ink on panel

An old Macintosh computer and a chicken dominate the composition of an autumn bounty still life. Dead game appeared frequently in still life paintings of the 17th century. They often were employed to themes of bounty or to demonstrate the owner's hunting prowess or success in providing for his family. They were also always effused with the vanitas theme. Here the vanitas theme dominates and is a sensuous display of the flesh just after life. With the election fast approaching, the political tensions were escalating. In a bit of shocking political theater, Trump spoke directly to a hate group on live television and gave them direct orders. The contrast of his treatment of them is all the more hypocritical considering he designated certain Democratically controlled areas "anarchic jurisdictions."

Still Life with Skeleton and Candy Corn (October), 2020
24" x 48" acrylic and ink on panel

The political climate of October could be described as white hot. The month saw the president contract COVID-19, an attempted kidnapping of the governor of Michigan, and the White House Chief of Staff admitting that they were not even trying to stop the pandemic. Halloween was just days from Election Day and the nerves of an entire country were frazzled. The president was becoming increasingly more unhinged, adding fuel to the national anxiety over the coming election results. Watching the news made us all feel like the mythological Cassandra, dreading the Autumn surge which had already begun.

A Still Life for Four Seasons (November), 2020
52" x 30" acrylic and ink on panel

The presidential election was decided in Joe Biden’s favor. The artist was originally planning on painting a piece that was an explosion in his anticipation of widespread civil unrest. Considering the expectations it was relatively calm. Instead the artist chose to make a still life with Cerberus overseeing a pumpkin and some dead gourds from the still lives of previous months. The piece is set among the Fantasy Island Adult Book Store and the Delaware Valley Cremation Center that flanked the Four Seasons Total Landscaping business. It was the site of an infamous press conference peddling lies about widespread election fraud. The imitation name, and its proximity to a vulgar sex shop and a crematorium was considered by the artist to be a perfectly fitting depiction of the Trump administration. The country was stalled between a vulgar fantasy and death all while Sidney Powell’s “Kraken” lawsuit was unleashed. As if by a miracle, there was an announcement that not one, but two effect vaccines would be available in the next few weeks.

Still Life with Large Styrofoam Cube (December), 2020
40" x 48" acrylic on panel

December brought the deadliest month to date for America during the pandemic. The vaccine rollout was dwarfed by the constant surge in cases especially in California. The backdrop depicts the USS Arizona sinking in Pearl Harbor in 1941 which took place exactly 79 years before. In a gesture that was both eerily similar and completely out of step with the current year President Trump declared December 7th National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. The last three days of the year each brought more deaths than Pearl Harbor. He barely mentioned the dead and dying, instead focused on the lie that the election was stolen from him. There was no memorial from the White House to the dead from COVID. The scene shows a cache of toys and candy canes and frosted treats. The total count for 2020 was just shy of 20 million cases and 350 thousand deaths.

White Still Life (January), 2021
40" x 30" acrylic and ink on panel

Nothing else in the month could compare to the insurrection of January 6th. The tradition of a peaceful transition of power was broken as thousands of insurgents stormed the Capitol. Spurred on by lies of a stolen election, and the demented ramblings of an entity known as Q, the most striking aspect of the insurrection was what it said about race. The Capitol was not prepared and in many cases left wide open for the rebels to take. In a society that uses the excuse of law and order to justify excessive force on people of color, there was an alarming restraint in the use of force to suppress the deadly siege. Everything was striking, from the racial make-up of the rebels to the complete insouciance in their attitude. Many were caught on camera leisurely strolling the Capital, even pausing to look up at the Apotheosis of Washington like a tourist. The bloody statue of Zachary Taylor is set amongst white things against a backdrop of the Apotheosis of Washington and the Challenger explosion which took place on January 28, 1986.

Still Life with Pills and Heart-Shaped Cakes (February), 2021
24" x 48" acrylic and ink on panel

Valentine’s Day 2021 was marked by loneliness for many. Just shy of a year sheltering in place, pandemic fatigue was prevalent. The painting depicts the various trappings of Valentine’s Day festooned with alcohol, marijuana, and pills. In the absence of companionship, many turned to substance abuse. The ongoing opioid epidemic claimed lives at a higher rate during the plague. The still life is set against a backdrop of a scene from The Progression of Love by Fragonard, which incidentally was on display at the Met Bruer Building while its permanent home was undergoing renovations.

Still Life with Key Limes and Key Lime Pie M&M's (March), 2021
39" x 48" acrylic on panel

St. Patrick's Day was a holiday the artist's late grandmother used to celebrate with the entire family. She always decorated the house and served corned beef, cabbage, and key lime pie. Her glassware appears in almost every single painting in the series. Here it holds some key lime pie flavored M&M's. While the vaccine rollout had been stellar that month, the ever-present threat from the virus was still looming over the populace. The rise of the B.1.1.7 variant caused the UK to have one of the highest overall death rates in the world when it surged in the autumn and winter. The same variant was on the rise in the US and about to take over. The month marked the one year anniversary of the contagion being labeled a pandemic by the World Health Organization and the artist reused some of the items from his first still life in this piece to mark the passage of the year

Still Life with Melted Peeps (April), 2021
48" x 48" acrylic on panel

The second painting in the series to feature April marks the occasion by invoking the same title. Reinforcing the idea that a year had passed and the contagion was worse than ever. India was experiencing a devastating surge after relaxing what had been a very effective resistance strategy to the virus. Set among the backdrop of the clock from the grand staircase of the Titanic, the tone was dire even as millions of Americans were being vaccinated. The emergence of new variants added a new chapter to the story of this deadly scourge.

Still Life with Indecorous Novelties (June), 2021
24" x 24" x 48" acrylic on panel

With the vaccination rollout leading to a slight majority of Americans vaccinated, there was cause for some optimism during Pride Month. Many singles were planning on having a “Slutty Summer” to celebrate their newfound freedom. While America was looking like an island of good fortune, there were reasons to be cautious. The virus was raging in countries with low vaccination rates, and preliminary data from Israel showed many fully vaccinated people became seriously ill from the newly named Delta Variant. Vaccination rates in the US had slowed and about a third of Americans were not planning on getting the vaccine at all. The cocktail of elements in the mix offered a preview of the next deadly chapter in the story of the pandemic. The still life is set among The Great Flood by Joachim Wtewael, adding to the risqué mood of the piece.

Death Smiles at Us All (July), 2021
24" x 24" acrylic on panel

Self explanatory

Still Life Under an Orange Sky (September), 2021
72" x 48" acrylic on panel

Fire season brought memories with it memories from the previous year. The sky turned orange over the Bay Area. It was an eerie, magnificent, and unholy sight. This September saw my husband in the hospital having his pancreas surgically reattached to his small instestine for the second time. Each year seems to bring a little more pain. The fires get worse, the smoke thicker, the cost of living more expensive. Delta was proving to be deadly with the autumn weather certain to start another deadly wave.

Still Life with Cerberus and Pumpkins (October), 2021
42" x 42" acrylic on panel

An inevitable winter surge was beginning as the pandemic entered October. Delta was poised to lead the way as it had during the summer. Those watchign closely couldn't help a feeling of dread as the cold weather was setting in.