From the "SUP in Fog" Series. The source image is a photo taken from stand-up paddle board in November 2020, in a soupy fog. Being out on Green Lake at that stage in the pandemic was such a blessing. The walking path was more crowded than ever in those days, but on the SUP, I usually had the lake to myself, with nothing but the sound of my paddle dipping into the water. This was especially the case on foggy mornings, when the damp air almost soaked up any ambient sound.

I took dozens of images that day, and they all ended up reminding me of a photo I'd made in college with a pinhole camera I'd assembled from a shoe box. It was about 3" x 8", an image simplified to mostly just blurry silhouettes of treetops, light and shadow. It felt mysterious but not in a threatening way. Poetic--but more haiku, less epic ballad. That is how I wanted this series to feel.

The collage material for this painting is from a handful of woodblock prints from 18th Century Japan; my best guess is that they are folios from a special book, but they were sold to me unbound as separate prints. If you look at the painting in side light, you can see the faint indentation left in the paper by the woodblock. The style of the writing is fluid and exquisite and clearly an artform. I appreciate the artistry of the craftspeople who did this work, and the depth and texture they add to my translucent layers.