A place is also determined by the micro or macro perspective, not just by our own myopic views of it. I've mentioned previously that I would like to work on aerial views of a place, having spent a lot of time flying in and out of Missoula in the past two years. Aerial views are the counterpoint to both my interest in minute details and my reality here on the ground. They help me to see that I am both small and insignificant, yet simultaneously a contribution to the life force on this planet. This is my first attempt at combining the macro and micro world. This piece is titled Lichen on the Valley. It's quite literal. The Missoula valley is surrounded by the Northern Rockies, and I've covered it with lichen. This piece consists of two layers. The bottom layer is a line drawing in ink on cotton rag paper. The top layer is a dots drawing in ink on vellum. The vellum does not rest snugly against the bottom layer, which then gives this piece an ethereal feel (perhaps not clear in this image). A dots drawing means that I have created my image with thousands and thousands of tiny ink dots. To me this piece looks like an old worn tapestry. And can you see the thread of highway 90 cutting diagonally through it?

The image of a pleasant place. It's often the idea of something that appeals to me more than the reality of it. Admittedly, I spend more time looking at this pleasant spot than sitting in it. The colors are what attract me. The bright red of my neighbor's barn as seen behind my apricot tree. That red glows through my studio window, better than any oil painting I could create, at the brightest times of day. The cool pistachio of the plastic Adirondack chair is a great compliment to the red. And then the blue skies of Missoula. Ahh. . . those skies. This is a happy place!!