Urban Landscapes: Beauty in the Mundane

Colorful Abstracts: Mixing Colors with Clay

This “Play” series nods to the fun of childhood, employing play-doh and polymer clay to create abstracted landscapes of urban and suburban scenes. I mix colors precisely, whether in paint or play-doh. Color evokes our sense of place, memory, and mood. My work begins and ends with color. These pieces highlight the everyday, the scenes we rush past, the colors we take for granted. I also see this work as advocating for the importance of play, of slowing down, of taking time to mush clay in your hands and notice the particular grays of the sidewalk and road.

Born of my Artist Residency in Motherhood (2015-2019), this series is inspired by the way my daughter bravely mixes play-doh colors. It is a connection to her, a playful way back in to artmaking after motherhood, and has brought surprises. The way the play-doh dries and cracks reminds me of crevasses, waterways, branches. It forces me to forfeit some control, just as ice has done in my past work.

These pieces are small studies in color and material.

Here is a glimpse behind the scenes at my process: