Vote

VOTE was sketched at the polls in 2008. Textured papers were added.
Somehow, I didn't finish this until 2021 when I added the "vote" letters
from an election year poster. 22x30 

Mara's Tree

Mara requested a painting of a tree.  So, when hiking on the family farm in Marshall, I sketched this picture of her.  There are several accent stamps of red flowers celebrating Israeli export. If you look closely, you see stamps of Israeli landscapes as well as Yellowstone National Park. Four versions of Herzl can be found and two references to Air France.  A stamp commemorates the opening of a post office in the city of Tul Karem, in the West Bank.  The city's name means "mount of vineyards."  Interestingly, Mara sits on a tree overlooking a field to be transformed to a vineyard.  In addition, part of an Israeli postcard depicting a shepherdess and her sheep is incorporated in the background.  After making this piece, I learned that biodynamic vineyards use sheep to graze between the vines.  

The Piano Player

On April 2nd, 2008, Lang Lang, the young, famed pianist from China, performed at Hill Auditorium. With binoculars in one hand and a pen in the other, a series of blind contours unfolded which I later recomposed in this painting.  Tickets and selections played by Lang Lang are worked into the collage as are two special Israeli stamps.  One commemorates the Hebrew alphabet and is reminiscent of a story where the letters rise up to find their meaning in heaven just as the powerful performance of this musician raises one's spirit. (15 x 21)

Tribute to A New Earth

Based on sketches from the webcast of "A New Earth", this painting captures the consciousness raising dialogue between Oprah, who sponsored the event, and Eckhart Tolle, who wrote the book.  (22 x 30)

The 50th

They gather around their gift, a book containing photographs from 50 years of marriage.  The stamps placed in this painting symbolically capture the light of marriage, via the candlesticks, the partnership of marriage via dual-mirrored sculpture, and a commemorative 50th anniversary. In honor of Frank and Ruth's 50th wedding anniversary. (15 x 18.5) nfs

Sand Castle

Various shades of brown stamps scattered through the sand include commemorations of Israeli architecture and museums, and a vintage postcard of the Old City wall in Jerusalem, befitting the young girl's handiwork.  There too are stamps of FDR, an architect of a different order. Stamps of martyrs loom in the sky.  And in the faintest upper left corner is the stamp of a lioness sculpture, posed identically to the girl.  Both emanate courage.  (22 x 30)

Behold

The multicolored stamps in this piece celebrate "Education" and include excerpts from scripture in both hebrew and english including: "But you shall meditate on it day and night" (Joshua), "  "The beginning of wisdom is this:  Get Wisdom,"  and "Train up a child in the way he should go."  The dark purple stamps in the middle honor Telecommunications.   The bottom right recognizes Apollo 15.  Others observe Youth Day and the upper right stamp pays tribute to the Gold Drinking Horn from 5th century Persia.  One stamp, in Hebrew only, refers to the three pilgrimage holidays of the Jewish year (Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot).  The Fencer wields gracefully through these stamp's messages-- biblical, cultural, and modern, delivered throughout life.  (22 x 30)