Eyes of the Storm

She looms over the horizon, wild-haired, black as night with eyes of gold. Try as you might to predict her next move, she has her own wheel and her own charts, etched into her smile. She knows no helmsman.

The ship finds a bright crack in the dawn and is safe - for now.

Acrylic on paper, silk and cotton, with glass beads and 22K gold leaf. 28 x 38 cm.

Runaway Horses

A horse snaps its reins and stampedes across a field of bank notes and Colonial coins. Benjamin Franklin is the unwilling and unwitting jockey on this wild ride. Semi-precious stones, mother-of-pearl, and glass beads - anything that can be traded or has been traded - are scattered across the path.

Acrylic on paper and printed cotton with glass, mother-of-pearl, tiger's eye, hematite and 22K gold leaf. 12 x 16 cm.

Weathervane

The creak of the weathervane can be heard as the wind blows. Old Colonial-era coins fly by in the breeze from a Southerly direction. An oily sky is black with storm.

The body of the weathervane is the scroll decoration of a turn-of-the-century cash register, on the haunches is the howling and appalled face of a denuded coconut. The arched back leg is a dead sea horse.

Acrylic on paper with silk threads and sand. 28 x 38 cm.

Royalty

A King and Queen, enemies, stare Janus-like in opposite directions. The only thing they have in common - the one thing that binds them - is their royal T.

Acrylic on paper with leather, wool, glass beads and cowrie shells. 19 x 28 cm.

Fun With Fossils

No matter what people say, I'm really not a demon. Those little horns on my head are actually cup coral fossils from the Devonian period, about 417 - 354 million years ago. The land which is now known as Michigan was once under an ancient ocean and is particularly rich in fossils of this period. This has led to vast limestone deposits which we quarry today. During the Devonian period, the Earth looked quite different and most of the continents were formed in a "pre-Pangea".

From this period, and with a bit of patience, one can find cup coral...

...delicate crinoids...

...hexageneric corals, like starburst fireworks...

...and brachiopods, gastropods and trilobites (not pictured here.)

Good hunting!

Call the Tune

A country couple dances in an idyllic setting to the music of two itinerant players. Butterfly wings keep the beat. A horned creature looks on. Is He the one who calls the tune?

Acrylic on paper with glass beads and butterfly wings. 14 x 19 cm.

School of Mermaids

A school of Mermaids swims by in a cobalt blue and purple sea. A three-masted ship rocks on the horizon, partly hidden by a golden fog bank.

Acrylic on paper with silk, polyester and glass beads. 28 x 38 cm.

Crossroads

A Knight stands in bright sunshine, gloved hands resting on the pommel of his sword. A dark Lady passes by and gazes at him from under her veils. Although they are strangers they admire one another.

When we come to certain crossroads we find we are changed. New blood can literally come into our lives, as it did over the centuries in Europe, and all over the world. Movement across the globe is natural for humans. We have always wandered and we always shall wander. Borders, walls, language and strange customs will not stop us.

Acrylic on paper and polyester, with labradorite from Canada and glass beads from India and China. About 24 x 33 cm.