The work in this series is from the time immediately following my MFA program at California College of the Arts.  Upon completing that program, I was awarded a grant from The Center for Art and Public Life at CCA to teach a special workshop to youth artists at the Casa de Cultura (House of Culture) in Tlacolula, Oaxaca, Mexico. While living outside of Oaxaca City, I documented my immediate surroundings. I was particularly interested in the rural families who created bricks and tiles from the soil on their property.  I was fascinated to see families living with their land, and creating products from the soil at their feet. It was a true privilege to witness as a visitor.

Peppered throughout this series are also works inspired by my environs in Southwest Michigan near where I grew up and the odd little garden behind my first apartment with my now husband Shamont Hussey in Oakland. Shamont and I lived in a tiny studio in Downtown Oakland, and my “studio” was a small IKEA table in our kitchen.  Despite the cramped quarters, it was a time of great artistic growth for me.  Being constrained to only working with watercolor made my mark-making and understanding of transparency improve in leaps and bounds. This work also forced me to plan my paintings in a way I don’t have to when working in acrylic.  I remember spending several days mapping out the shapes in pencil before introducing color. 

Click on any image to view full screen with the title. All paintings on this page are for sale. Email [email protected] to inquire.