Canvas On Canvas
Paintings that explore methods of combining text and canvas in a somewhat “sculptural” manner as “Text-tures”… and/or the use of raw canvas to create texture and depth on a painting’s surface.
16” x 20” x 3/4”
Original mixed media painting with acrylic, cloth, papers, threads, cord, and pencil on canvas.
TEXT BOOK is filled with text. The focal point of the painting is a 3 layered cloth book covered with decorative paper and text, in English, Sanskrit, and a bit of ancient Phoenician. The book along with 2 other elements (text strip and cloth square) are sewn onto the painted and textured background canvas.
The painting primarily displays the words of the Dalai Lama along with the mantra, Om Mani Padme Hum, in Sanskrit and its English transliteration. I began this painting with the intention of focusing on text, keeping the color palette simple, and playing with the title, Text Book, as a play on words.
The sides of the canvas are painted to match the painting. It is signed and dated on the side of the canvas and inside the book.
NOTE: SEE SHIPPING DETAILS AND RETURN POLICY HERE.
18” x 18” x 1-1/2”
Original mixed media paintings with acrylic, cloth, papers, threads, and strings on canvas.
Santa Cruz Love Note is filled with many of the places and things I love about living in Santa Cruz County, California. There is so much to love about this area: There’s the redwoods, the hiking trails, the trees, the coast, the beaches, the arts, the people, the natural beauty, and so much more. In the lower right hand corner of the painting I’ve attached something of a love note to Santa Cruz. These words are somewhat visible under the paint. The three cut and frayed layers of cloth are the main focus of this painting. They’ve been individually painted and sewn together before stitching the trio onto the back canvas. Once all the pieces were attached, the text was added.
As I worked on this painting, my appreciation for the area increased even more than when I began.
The sides of this gallery wrapped canvas are painted to match the painting. It is signed and dated on the side of the canvas.
NOTE: SEE SHIPPING DETAILS AND RETURN POLICY HERE.
16” x 20” x 3/4”
Original mixed media paintings with acrylic, cloth, papers, threads, cord, and pencil on canvas.
BOOK MARKS became a fun opportunity to play with mark making. Ink and acrylic paint were used to mark up the prepared 3 layered cloth book. Marks were added to look like lines of text on the lower right quadrant of the painting. On the left side I filled the space with pencil marks before adding the layers of paint. The idea for the title of this painting inspired me to play with marks on canvas. And I experienced much joy in the process.
The book layers and two cloth squares have been sewn onto the textured canvas background.
The sides of this canvas are painted to match the painting. It is signed and dated on the side of the canvas and within the cloth book.
NOTE: SEE SHIPPING DETAILS AND RETURN POLICY HERE.
18” x 18” x 1-1/2”
Original acrylic and raw canvas painting, with threads, paper, and pencil on canvas
The concept for “Calling Back the Pieces" is the energetic reconnection to the parts of ourselves that have been lost or left behind at different points in life. Gathering up those pieces enables us to experience greater wholeness and an inner experience of unity.
Puzzle pieces seemed like an ideal fit for expressing the concept. I created paper templates for each of the pieces and then used them to cut out the cloth puzzle pieces that appear in the painting. All but three were sewn onto the two layers of prepared cloth. And the remaining three were connected by threads to the empty spaces where they would fit within the puzzle as a whole.
The text that shows through beneath the pieces is my writing on the painting’s concept.
The sides of this gallery wrapped canvas are painted to match the painting. It is signed and dated on the side of the canvas.
NOTE: SEE SHIPPING DETAILS AND RETURN POLICY HERE.
18” x 24” x 1-1/2”
Original acrylic and raw canvas painting with threads, paper, pencil, and text on canvas
Although we think of ourselves as individuals, separate from one another, we are all connected through an intricate web of energetic threads. We are like single cells that come together to form the whole organism. Our actions, reactions, thoughts, and beliefs are not isolated within our small piece of the world but emanate out in unseen ripples to all.
In “Threads of Connection,” the cloth cut-outs on the top layer have been connected like a web, with each of the holes tied to all of its adjacent cut-outs. There are two quotes that reference our connections. One is by Martin Luther King and the second is from Mitch Albom.
“Threads of Connection” was created side by side with “Illusion of Disconnection”.
The sides of this gallery wrapped canvas are painted to match the painting. It is signed and dated on the side of the canvas.
NOTE: SEE SHIPPING DETAILS AND RETURN POLICY HERE.
18” x 24” x 1-1/2”
Original acrylic and raw canvas painting with threads, paper, and text on canvas
“Illusion of Disconnection” was inspired by the concept of our connection to one another and the illusion of separateness we see and experience in our world. The cut-out squares from the upper layers of painted cloth seem to hang in their separate spaces yet they are still connected to the whole, by the red threads. I’ve placed the words of Albert Einstein in the painting, present but barely seen under the paint.
“Illusion of Disconnection” was created side by side with “Threads of Connection”.
The sides of this gallery wrapped canvas are painted to match the painting. It is signed and dated on the side of the canvas.
NOTE: SEE SHIPPING DETAILS AND RETURN POLICY HERE.
18” x 18” x 1.5”
Original acrylic and canvas cloth painting on canvas
beyond Beyond was a joy to work on from the start. I wanted to create lots of rips in the raw canvas, openings to the background of the stretched canvas, and hanging threads. A large section of the cloth is folded back… opening to the beyond.
The quote that appears on the painting is by Kabir, a 15th century poet and mystic. "I offer myself to an image: the great being beyond boundaries and beyond Beyond."
The sides of the stretched gallery wrapped canvas are painted to match the painting. It is signed and dated on the side of the canvas.
NOTE: SEE SHIPPING DETAILS AND RETURN POLICY HERE.
24” x 24” x 1.5”
Original painting on canvas with acrylic, papers, raw canvas, and
pencil.
Our Whole is Sum-thing Greater was originally created as a variation on the Portals of JOY series. After completing the 6th painting in the series, I decided to switch things up while continuing with the concepts of that series. So with this painting I added the textures and threads of the raw canvas.
Before painting, I covered a good portion of the canvas in a variety of textured papers and then added the beginning of the grid with pieces of raw canvas. The grid represents us as individuals but part of the whole. And the presence of the circular shape represents the wholeness, oneness, and unity that we all share. (Did you catch the essence of a Fibonacci spiral?)
There is a handwritten poem about joy incorporated within the painting yet somewhat hidden from view. These beautiful words were written by Rabindranath Tagore, a late 19th century/early 20th century Bengali poet: “The same stream of Life that runs through my veins night and day runs through the world and dances in rhythmic measures. It is the same life that shoots in JOY through the dust of the earth in numberless blades of grass and breaks into tumultuous waves of leaves and flowers.”
The gallery wrapped canvas is painted and textured on the sides to coordinate with the image that appears on the front. The painting is signed and dated on the side.
NOTE: SEE SHIPPING DETAILS AND RETURN POLICY HERE.
12” x 12” x 1-1/2”
Original mixed media paintings with acrylic, cloth, paper, and threads on canvas.
Connected Threads began with a cloth piece I had prepared for another painting. When I realized it would fit within this 12” x 12” canvas, I decided to play with it and give it a home of its own. And, like the painting it was originally created for, the concept of this painting is the threads that connect all of us to one another. Each of the cutouts in the cloth are connected with threads to their adjacent openings.
Here are my written words that appear above the cloth: “We are like the drops of water that form the sea. We all come together to form the whole. Each connected to the others in an unseen and mostly unimaginable oneness. Yet, no one drop is independent of the totality of the collective energies.”
The sides of this canvas are painted to match the painting. It is signed and dated on the side of the canvas.
NOTE: SEE SHIPPING DETAILS AND RETURN POLICY HERE.
20” x 20” x 1.5”
Original acrylic mixed media painting on canvas
Stream of Life is a mixed media painting with loads of texture created with the use of cloth, paper, gauze, string, and acrylic mediums on canvas. It was developed through a slow process of exploration and play.
The handwritten text on the painting is a poem from Rabindranath Tagore, a poet from India. Here are his beautiful words:
“The same stream of life that runs through my veins night and day runs through the world and dances in rhythmic measures. It is the same life that shoots in joy through the dust of the earth in numberless blades of grass and breaks into tumultuous waves of leaves and flowers. It is the same life that is rocked in the ocean-cradle of birth and of death, in ebb and in flow. I feel my limbs are made glorious by the touch of this world of life. And my pride is from the life-throb of ages dancing in my blood this moment.”
The gallery wrapped canvas is painted on the sides to coordinate with the colors that appear on the front. The painting is signed and dated on the side.
NOTE: SEE SHIPPING DETAILS AND RETURN POLICY HERE.
24” x 24” x 1-1/2”
Original acrylic and raw canvas painting with threads, paper, and text on canvas
2020 was no ordinary year… It was filled with layers of challenges unlike any we’ve experienced. Early that year, I began to notice an unusual presence of RE-WORDS showing up in my life and in the world around me. I am referring to an abundance of words beginning with the letters RE. (Retreat, rediscover, recreate, reinvent, recover...) It was a year in which we all had reasons to RE-vise our plans, RE-assess our priorities, and RE-define our lives. We waited for businesses to RE-open and wondered if and when we might RE-turn to “normal.” Maybe in some ways, we are still waiting.
Prior to this painting, I had created a RE-WORDS concertina sketchbook, an eight page book built to highlight these words. Once it was completed, I felt a strong need to continue working on this project, but in a larger format. So I printed my collection of re-words in different fonts and sizes and began constructing this painting.
“2020 Reframed” is loaded with words appearing on layers and strips of raw canvas. The prepared layers have been stitched together and are sewn onto a 24” x 24” stretched canvas. The loose threads and textures further represent a time in which our personal and societal threads have been laid bare.
The sides of this gallery wrapped canvas are painted to match the painting. It is signed and dated on the side of the canvas.
NOTE: SEE SHIPPING DETAILS AND RETURN POLICY HERE.
20” x 20” x 1.5”
Original acrylic mixed media painting on canvas
Love and Compassion is a mixed media painting in a series of “Text-tures.” I chose to feature Om Mani Padme Hum, a Tibetan mantra, in Sanskrit and the English transliteration. Although the mantra is rich with meaning, I have chosen to highlight its reference to love and compassion, which we could always use more of in our world.
Each of the 15 painted pieces of canvas cloth are sewn onto the background canvas along the top. Much of the text can be found on the thin strips of cloth woven in and out of those hanging squares. And the final element is the small “prayer pocket,” a folded and painted piece of, canvas.
The gallery wrapped canvas is painted on the sides as in the front. The painting is signed and dated on the side.
NOTE: SEE SHIPPING DETAILS AND RETURN POLICY HERE.
24” x 30” x 1-1/2”
Original acrylic and raw canvas painting with threads and text on canvas
For years I have wanted to create a painting with a focus on Lewis Carroll’s, Jabberwocky. I have loved it since high school.
Twas Brillig was designed with the goal of incorporating Carroll’s unique and wonderful words into the constructed book I’ve attached to the background canvas. The words of the poem spill out from the pages, as if the book’s boundaries could not contain them. The stretched canvas becomes the setting for the “book.”
This painting is part of a series I call Text-tures and this was another opportunity to play with the structure of the text. The strips of text and the book are made from raw canvas, which I cut and frayed before painting and stitching the pieces together.
Here are the words of the first and last stanzas of the poem for those of you unfamiliar with Jabberwocky, by Lewis Carroll and for those who would enjoy a reread:
’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.”
The sides of this gallery wrapped canvas are painted to match the painting. It is signed and dated on the side of the canvas.
NOTE: SEE SHIPPING DETAILS AND RETURN POLICY HERE.
12” x 12” x 1.5”
Original acrylic, threads, paper, and raw canvas painting on canvas
Open Spaces was a fun opportunity to play with canvas cloth and color. I cut and shaped the canvas cloth and attached it to the stretched canvas before I began painting. The row of three cloth squares, attached with glue and stitching, highlight the following words:
Open the spaces within so the light can shine through.
Open Spaces is on a gallery wrapped canvas with the sides painted to match the colors of the painting. It is signed and dated on the side of the canvas.
NOTE: SEE SHIPPING DETAILS AND RETURN POLICY HERE.
12” x 12” x 3/4”
Original acrylic and canvas cloth painting on canvas
Planting Seeds of Light is a visual affirmation. Imagine if we could sprinkle seeds of love and light around the planet, touching communities and individuals everywhere.
The stretched canvas is stapled in the back and the sides are painted to match the painting. It is signed and dated on the side of the canvas.
NOTE: SEE SHIPPING DETAILS AND RETURN POLICY HERE.
12” x 12” x 3/4”
Original acrylic and canvas cloth painting with thread on canvas
One Door or Another is one of the first paintings in a series I am calling“Text-tures.” It has been painted on a piece of canvas cloth with the edges frayed and then attached to a textured but unpainted stretched canvas. Strips of the cloth have been cut and folded down to reveal both the color painted on the reverse side and the back canvas which is seen through the openings. The folds of painted canvas display the words to a quote by the Indian poet, Rabindranath Tagore.
“If I can’t make it through one door, I’ll go through another door - or I’ll make a door. Something terrific will come no matter how dark the present.”
The stretched canvas is stapled in the back and it has been signed and dated on the side of the canvas.
NOTE: SEE SHIPPING DETAILS AND RETURN POLICY HERE.
12” x 12” x 3/4”
Original mixed media painting on canvas
Let Us Unite is one of the first paintings in a new series I’m calling “Text-tures.” It has been painted on a piece of canvas cloth with the edges frayed and then attached to a textured but unpainted stretched canvas. Strips of the cloth have been cut and folded down to reveal both the color painted on the reverse side and the back canvas seen through the openings. The folds of painted canvas display the words to a quote by the Indian poet, Rabindranath Tagore.
“Let us unite, not in spite of our differences, but through them. For differences can never be wiped away and life would be so much the poorer without them. Let all human races keep their own personalities, and yet come together, not in a uniformity that is dead, but in a Unity that is living.”
The stretched canvas is stapled in the back. It has been signed and dated on the side of the canvas.