To be alight is to be illuminated or burning. Alight can also mean to land or settle, after flight. In “Alight” the yellow, orange, and brown overlapping angels hang suspended in space, floating. These spirits burn with the light of knowledge; some burn brighter than others. In their ethereal state, the angels have not landed, for they do not yet know their final destination.

“Aphrodite” combines ethereal and natural beauty. “Aphrodite” blends the godlike perfection of the Greek temptress with the natural beauty of speyeria aphrodite, the butterfly. Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, lust and beauty symbolizes a perfect ideal that does not exist. The speyeria aphrodite, a beautiful, speckled brown butterfly, represents natural beauty. In “Aphrodite” the goddess appears as a female torso, surrounded by speyeria aphrodite as the overlapping patchwork of browns, yellows and creams.

Focus is a clear vision.Focus can describe when a person keys in on their internal awareness. By concentrating and articulating their thought process, people discover new knowledge from within themselves. The mixture of indistinct shapes in “Focus” represent my internal search for creativity.My desire to abandon “old thoughts” and create new, unique images from my own mind.

The full moon symbolizes birth and renewal. The lunar cycle is the “yin” (MingLiU) half of yin yang, Yin represents femininity, darkness/night, calmness, and water compared to Yang’s masculinity, light/day, activeness and fire. Here, the moon floats in a cloudy haze. The golden symbol in the lower left of the painting is the Chinese character for moon, (pronounced “you-eh”). “Moon” is the first in a four part “moon series”.

Genesis is the beginning, the origin, the way in which something comes to be. From inception, hundreds of millions of years ago, life has transformed itself into countless forms. “Genesis” is a representation of early life, of cells forming, dividing and building. “Genesis” was initially inspired by a sandstone formation on the northeastern coast of Taiwan

The stream beds in Glacier National Park are a kaleidoscope of colorful pebbles. The background colors of this work sprang from my memories of those mountain streams with their moss covered banks and rainbow beds of stone. The secondary layer of the Man and Fish draws from Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea, in which the hero, Santiago, represents the courage, strength and endurance of the human race. The fish symbolizes Santiago’s struggle with his faith.

“Maze” is a puzzle, a labyrinth, a network of pathways. Natural “mazes” occur in the symmetry found in nature. Patterns found in bark, striations of sedimentary rock and the reticulating patterns of leaves are like a maze. “Maze,” with its earth tone hues representing earth, soil and minerals, creates a pattern of swirling organic forms that loop back on themselves. “Maze” relates to Geomorphology, the study of the origin and evolution of landforms and the processes that shape them. All things, no matter how large and seemingly indestructible, change over time.

Moonlight is reflected sunlight that comes to the earth from the moon.While staying on the island of Tioman in southern Malaysia, I experienced my first “moon shadow” as the light from a full moon cast a shadow on the white sand. “Moonlight” recalls that magical night. The luminescent moon is reflected on patterns etched in the sand by the motion of waves.

Odyssey is the title of the epic story by Homer, in which he described the extended journey of the hero Odysseus. This painting involved a lengthy creative process and came to symbolize the circuitous path I took to complete it. Initially, I painted the background colors and the flow of black, yellow and ochre. After hanging it in my studio for several months, I felt the painting was not complete. I took it down and pondered what was missing. I added the black circles representing the periods of “blockage” I had and set it aside again. Months later, I painted the geometric shape of interwoven colors which represent the manifestation of an idea taking flight.