08/19/2025
Thrilled to announce my upcoming snow with Mono Arts Council! Read more below about the meaning of this new work. The Painted Lady is a peak poised majestically above the Rae Lakes, along the edge of Glen Pass in Kings Canyon National Park. When I first met her on a trip I was guiding in 2010, I was so awe-struck I could only muster a photograph to remember the depth of the color and the wisdom in the face she wears. Since then I’ve carried around that photograph, and last year I started working on the title painting in this show.
Six months later however, I was at a standstill because I couldn’t remember why I wanted to paint this piece, or at all anymore. So I decided to let the Painted Lady guide me. I went back and spent three days camping with her and a friend of many years so we could spend time together. So I could learn how to listen more deeply into the silence.
Mountains have a way of revealing themselves over time. It is the same for how long it takes to hear ourselves amidst the clamor for more. Watching the depth of her contour lines shift with the sun throughout the day, I witnessed my own mind soften so I could see her more clearly. Sometimes the details our brains think are important - elevation, rock composition, density, weather - bear little weight on the soul. Statement continued in comments…
