Constellations...

I’m excited about a new series I’ve been working on for the past few months.


The work is a radical departure from previous efforts and combines my love of sculpture, photography, painting and drawing.

These posted images are of photo transfers and acrylic skins on steel plate. I’m working in copper, aluminum and brass, as well as dimensional formats. The “paintings” combine my current images of contemporary structures with my father, grandfather’s and great-grandfather’s photographic portraits.

The pieces give form to my interest in genetic memory and it’s impact on our beliefs and choices.

Friend and teacher, Corrine Loomis Diets, visited my studio recently. While she taught me the initial transfer techniques she remarked that she’s never seen anyone try color photo transfers or photo skins on larger metal supports. She was so enamored we took a field trip to my favorite suppliers so she could try a few for herself.

It’s always gratifying when explorative efforts spark creative dialogue.

Communion. Photo transfer and skins on steel, 18” x 12”.

The first larger effort and while technically this falls a bit short of my imaginitive mark, the communication of intent is satisfied. Communion combines my image of the Florence, Oregon bridge with a portrait my father took in the early 1950’s. 

No Clearance. Photo skins on steel, 18” x 12”.

Images of my father as a young boy (photographed by his father), and my father at the end of his life, illustrate the impact of self as observer in our lives. The structure is a railroad stop in Chewelah, Washington.

In the dark...

My spouse was already out cold. I’d almost completed the rituals in preparation for rest and stood at the side of the bed after a very long day. I flicked on the light, set the phone alarm, applied lip balm, fished the sleep mask from the top drawer and skimmed it into position across my eyes effectively blocking all visual information. I kicked off the slippers and slid into bed, pulled up the covers and the universal sigh of “I finally get to lie down” emanated from somewhere deep in my soul. Blissful deprivation with the relative quiet of evening in a suburb of twenty thousand people right over the back fence from 2 plus million. I’d curled into my favorite dream position and was dropping off when the voice came out of the dark, very close to my ear…


“So, Zorro, you gonna sleep with the light on all night long?”


I’ve mentioned before our bodies are the evolutionary product of thousands of millennia and physically our responses are slow to catch up and cope with the myriad of technological stimulations we’re subjected to. Back in the day, we slept in caves and didn’t have to deal with blinking cell phones, glow from alarm clocks, computers downloading at three a.m. and street lights seeping glare through the blinds. I’m told there are even those who sleep with the television on. In the bedroom.

The consequences of these exterior conditions are hard on the health of our still indigenous bodies. Melatonin is a hormone necessary for the regulation of numerous critical physiological functions. Melatonin doesn’t trigger and function properly in the presence of a light source, no matter how small. Recently, studies suggest women who sleep with lights on have a higher incidence of breast cancer. Yep. It’s serious.

One of the solutions, when we don’t have the option to regulate our environment, is a simple sleep mask.

So, turn off the lights and keep the sword handy, just in case.