Califia is a regal black warrior queen, who ruled over the mythical realm of California. She is said to be “desirous of achieving great things.”
-Las Sergas de Esplandián ( The Adventures of Esplandián) written by Garci Rodriguez de Montalvo in the late fithteenth or early sixteenth century.
California was named after this mythical goddess.
The female figure unravels the numerous layers of culture that continue to accumulate in California.
52x42”, oil and cold wax
“Sun Kissed” is a collaboration with Debbie Phillips who is married to Jim Phillips CEO of Sunkist. They have a lifetime of living in and around citrus and agriculture in California. Using historic and contemporary imagery, the painting shares California’s citrus industry’s history. The figure is a modern Roman Pomona goddess, who represents fruit trees and groves. All of the imagery and text share the historic beginnings of the Citrus industry’s contribution to the growth of California.
48x48”, Oil and Cold Wax
Images of beach clad women from multiple generations are painted over collaged ephemera that hold clues to coastal identity.
Oil and Cold Wax on Oval Panel, 40”x48”
This painting was inspired by and epic wildflower bloom after a 7 year drought. It addresses subjects such as our native population, growing populations, who is native, and how our population is changing in California.
48x48”, Oil on Canvas SOLD
LA, Lawns, and Lies explores our relationship with water within the state of California. White picket fences and green lawns are iconic images that promise a blissful home and prosperity. A Hollywood version of a bikini clad cowgirl pulls out her pistol. Is she the water sheriff or bandit who robs Northern California of her water? Which myth will survive? What is true?
12x18, Oil on silver leaf on panel.
This image of my Califia muse manifests the idea that we are at peace with the natural world, co-existing with planet Earth. It was painted on an ornate shaped panel to elevate it as an icon. The edges of the panel are rimmed with copper.
Oil On Panel, 24 x 28 oval panel
Califia is surrounded by California's extinct Grizzly Bear and Antique German paper doll silhouettes of native Americans from the late 1800's. The "Forty Niner" line art figure is still used in our public school curriculum. These figures reference the radical environmental and cultural extinctions that occured with the Gold Rush.
oil and cold wax on canvas, 30 x 30 in
A day was spent scouting out the flower fields in Lompoc. We were greeted by a crew of women yelling "gritos" while blasting Mexican Folk music. I thought of the history of the many women who had worked in the fields of California. I found my Califia muse in the flower fields. Inspired by The Rivers Journey project. Flower fields in Santa Ynez Valley. Califia Series.
Califia Exhibition at Sullivan Goss - An American Gallery
24x36 Oil on Panel
The Santa Ynez River and City of Santa Barbara have a long history. The majority of Santa Barbara's water comes to the city via 3 dams and tunnels from the Santa Ynez river. We are forever chained to one another.
This was a pivotal piece, shifting my focus from the Santa Ynez River as landscape to creating the river as a beautiful young woman. This was the start of the Califia muse.
Oil On Panel, 28 x 24 in oval panel
Califia serves as the Catrina figure for Dios De Los Muertos. She is bringing light to the vanishing Monarch butterfly migration that is found throughout California in our Eucalyptus Groves.
40x40”, Oil and Cold Wax on Canvas SOLD
This painting was built by layering text from many greetings that would be used in ancient and modern California vernacular.
Oil On Panel, 24 x 28 in
Califia Series. Inspired by the multiply layers from the prints , figures are buried under layers of landscape and portrait of a native Chumash. The fibonnaci spiral is layed on top with gold and silver leaf.
Oil On Panel, 24 x 24 ornate panel SOLD
Califia Series. Girl dressed as cowboy-referencing Hollywood's Western film genre, sunsets, and our iconic palm trees.
20x24”, Oval, Oil on Panel SOLD
A strong power pose dominates collaged imagery that portrays a different perspective of women and their place in society.
12 x 24 in panel SOLD
Archeological Dig Monoprint adhered on panel with oil and cold wax painting. Referencing picture postcards sent from California. Califia Series.
Oil on ornate panel rimmed with copper 8x12”
Oil On Panel, 12 x 12 in ornate panel
"My Lover's Eye"-Oak Savanna depicts iconic California Oak and grassland.
Each of our 4 unique landscape regions has the mythical Califia muses' eye hidden within.
Eyes have long been thought of as the window of the soul. Symbolically, the eye has turned up as the all-seeing eye of God, the French police adopted the watchful eye during the French Revolution, to signify a member’s allegiance.
Lover’s eye jewelry was popular in the late 1700s and early 1800s, depicting a spouse or lover’s eye. Because the tiny watercolors revealed only the eye, the subject’s identity could be kept secret.
Oil On Panel, 12 x 8 in ornate panel SOLD
"My Lover's Eye"-Redwood Forests depicts iconic old growth Redwood Forests.
Oil On Panel, 8 x 12 “ ornate panel SOLD
"My Lover's Eye"-Pacific depicts the beloved Pacific Coast.
Oil On Panel, 6.5 x 12” ornate panel SOLD
"My Lover's Eye"-Desert represents our many desert regions.
SOLD
Three panel mixed media Retablo. Opens to 24x32” panel triptych. Closed 16x24”. Hangs on wall or can stand as a 3 dimensional panel. Painted on all sides.
Califia Series. California's beach culture is reinterpreted in a religious retablo format. References include early mythology of Sun Goddesses, Adam and Eve, Christ Child, and Renaissance "putti". Collage work include's American Folk Song sheet music "Rise and Shine" and Don Miguel Ruiz quote (see below). A removable cleat allows the painting to hang on the wall or stand alone. Panels are rimmed with copper.
"Just imagine becoming the way you used to be as a very young child before you understood the meaning of any word, before opinions took over your mind. The real you is loving, joyful and free. The real you is just like a flower,just like the wind, just like the ocean, just like the sun." Don Miguel Ruiz
Mixed Media on (2 ) 8x24 panel doors with hasp and copper rimmed edges. SOLD
Back of ratable triptych. 23x24 inches when open. Mixed media on panel. Poem by Don Miguel Ruiz.
"Just imagine becoming the way you used to be as a very young child before you understood the meaning of any word, before opinions took over your mind. The real you is loving, joyful and free. The real you is just like a flower,just like the wind, just like the ocean, just like the sun."
SOLD
Oil and Cold Wax on Canvas, 18x24”
Inspired by Colin Campbell Coopers’ piece by the same name.
Oil on panel, 20x24” SOLD
The River’s Journey Project also influenced this body of work. Here, the figure embodies California’s complicated relationship to water.
Gouache, 7x5” SOLD
The River’s Journey Project also influenced this body of work. Here, the figure embodies California’s complicated relationship to water, the number of dams we have built to meet our water needs, and the laws we enforce to protect our environment.
7x8” Gouache
Gouache, 7x5”