This group of paintings that I call “peoplescapes” is a biographical series of paintings that tell narratives of the everyday lived experiences that shape our lives in both big and small ways.

    Sometimes these are light moments full of joy or quiet reflection. “Poolside” shows children playing on diving boards at a public pool, while “Poe Springs Swimmers” shows people enjoying one of Florida’s many beautiful natural fresh-water springs on the Santa Fe River.

     But some of the paintings are less joyous. “The Empty Chair” paintings tell a story of someone whose absence is still profoundly felt by the remaining family and community members. This was inspired by a family photograph of a church picnic taken a few years after the death of my parents’ only son and the subsequent birth of their youngest child (me). The empty chair in the photo represents how that loss loomed over the family and that child’s formative years influencing everything that came after it. Nearly everyone has a story like this –a story of an influential absence—and that’s why I call this painting biographical, rather than autobiographical. These are common human experiences.

     Future paintings planned in this series will depict universal themes such as moments of human connection and loss, disconnection and dissolution, resolution and resilience. I hope viewers will find in these paintings a visual connection to some of life’s most poignant experiences: the stuff that makes us human.