This section is for the curious folks who would like to know more about the process of creating one of the historical still life paintings.

In the late 1500’s serious collectors gave great study to the still life paintings of their day. (Still Life, A History, by Sybille Ebert-Schifferer)

“…the more levels of meaning a painting revealed, the more attractive it was.”

With my love of history and art, I decided to represent three historical periods of the Sandoval County area in New Mexico by locating specific items that would tell the cultural stories. My choices, all of which have interesting individual stories, came from New Mexico Museums, private collections, and the Sandoval County Historical Society. Selection was influenced by relevancy to the period and locality, association with daily living, need to preserve skills that are being lost or forgotten, and being a fine or unique example of its type. As items were selected for each painting, photographs were taken with appropriate lighting, and using a measuring device to establish scale. Most of these items were never in my studio, nor saw each other in reality. The medium for the paintings is soft pastel on paper using a layered technique. They are presented in hand carved, crafted, and gilded frames created in the old world tradition by Greg Tindel of Art Enhancement. The paintings names were chosen to connect the images, give them action, and describe a sense of time. Three 30” x 38” paintings with the names, Honoring Centuries of Native Traditions, Carrying Old Traditions to a New World, and Blending Many Traditions to Form a Union now hang on permanent display in the rotunda of the Sandoval County Judicial Complex at Highway 528 and Idalia Road in Bernalillo, New Mexico. They were unveiled January 13, 2006.