Working with found materials -- snippets of vintage maps, postcards, postage stamps, menus -- memorabilia from our travels, I've created a new series of work, "Old World Abstractions."  Most of the works, like "Miro's Barcelona," shown here, incorporate original elements -- snippets from my watercolors or other works such as the Miro-like character here, holding a Zagat guide.  Pure serendipity!

Anyone who has ever read Death Comes for the Archbishop, the 1927 novel by American author Willa Cather, will know of Jean-Baptiste Lamy, the Catholic bishop and priest who helped establish the New Mexico Territory. Bishop Lamy was also responsible for inspiring the construction of many of Santa Fe’s glorious structures including the Cathedral Basillica of St. Francis of Assissi, the Loretto Chapel, and the lesser-known Lamy’s Chapel, the latter built as his private retreat.  In response to a “Call for Artists” from the Historic Santa Fe Foundation, I’ve recently completed these three works, all watercolors, featuring paintings – both an outside and inside view -- of the famous Loretto Chapel as well as painting of Archibishop Lamy’s Chapel.  Shown here are “Celestial Chapel,” (Loretto Chapel), “Mysterious Staircase,” (Loretto Chapel) and “Lamy’s Chapel,” (Archibishop Lamy’s Chapel).  The works will be part of a summer exhibit -- May 29-June 26, 2015 -- sponsored by HSFF (Historic Santa Fe Foundation) intended “to encourage a broader knowledge and appreciation of the rich cultural and architectural heritage that is preserved in Santa Fe.”