Q&A discussing upcoming exhibition, Beyond Measure 
Does this exhibition have a working title?
The show is titled “Beyond Measure"

How do these works differ from, or progress from, your previous work?
The title itself, while multi-layered in it’s meaning,  suggests an evolution of the work that, while still nodding to musical influence, stretches beyond, into a new direction.  The paintings are in the same idiom of organic abstraction inspired by musical lyricism, but these paintings break from the musical line assembled of nature-based, identifiable, airborne forms and into fields of liquidity and luminosity that at once confront and undulate into retreat.    These pieces burst into the realm of female sensuality referencing empowerment and the source of creation (not so much physical birth-related fertility, but more so, generative and intelligent fertility of maturity), as nodded to in the titles “Anais” and “Sappho”.  
This body of work is more combustive and turbulent than previous work.  I live in two environments (Maine and Georgia) that are not within the high-culture mainstream, where I witness the friction of ideologies constantly at play.  In Georgia, I’m deeply aware of the edges of things, the edges of opposing factors creating static in the realms of race, religion, class, education, ideology.  While Georgia is a romantic and gentle place, all one needs to do is scratch the surface to find the depth of cultural tension.  In Maine, nature is the greatest teacher, and it is there that I am in continuum with the elements. 

I see that the titles refer to mythological and literary figures as well as astronomical objects. How do these titles reflect what is in the works?
Well, there is a micro/macro conversation present within this body.  I think we might all agree that literary figures and mythological heroes are beacons of a higher order (macro), intended to inspire the best in humanity (micro).  Our relationship to a painting shifts whether the painting is oriented vertically or horizontally.   “Burning Blue”, referencing Caetono Veloso’s Burn It Blue, nods to the blue flame used to create it, atmospheric sky, the reflective surface of the deep ocean.  “Sappho” and “Anais” both reference the poetry that links us to essence, a poetic perspective we must keep alive as we view the world through a human lens.  “Corona” speaks to the color of the top chakra, the crown chakra, which is connected to the universe and spirit realm.  All these pieces are vertical in orientation and engage as thresholds.   
I understand that music is a very important element in your practice. Can you discuss the creation of one or two that will be in the exhibit?
Music is something I practice every day, several hours a day. When something lives within you like that, in my case since I was five, it lives in the DNA of a person.  So yes, the work continues to come from a musical source.  The lyricism and cadence are apparent in all the work.  Some titles directly reference music:  “Sketches of Spain”, and “Saeta” - both Miles Davis.  “ Dance of the Seven Veils” references the ecstatic dance of Solome luring her half a kingdom, as depicted by Strauss.  Perhaps the music referenced in this body is more active.  I once had a friend tell me that my paintings are more a verb than a noun.  

Do you have a favorite piece? Why?
I’m too close to the work to have a favorite.  They’re like kids.
Agitation has been in the air and that agitation has heightened since the election.  It’s hard to view the temperament of these paintings as anything separate or distant from what’s been going on culturally. I don’t think an artist needs to work figuratively or politically to obviate the temper at hand.  That temper can be felt in a gesture, or in this case in the agitated surfaces reflective of a boiling point.