The Impossibility of Blue Roses

A woman studies her charts, making ready to set sail once again. She will search the world for impossible blue roses. Her ship embarks from the compass of her heart. The winds are favorable...

After a journey of many days? weeks? months? years? she sights a sliver of land on the horizon. An island! Perhaps the elusive roses grow there. But the winds strengthen into a hurricane, as perfectly spiraled as a nautilus...

... and she is blown off course, all her beautiful navigational instruments and the treasures she has gathered lost to the roiling sea.

Meanwhile, the roses gently nod and sway their full, heavy heads on her garden island, spreading their fragrance far and wide.

Gel-Filled Molds - Yummy!

I found this replica brass sextant in the gift shop at the Mariners Museum in Newport News and right away could see its potential in regard to new paintings. I shall draw from it and make gel-medium-filled molds which I will apply to my artwork.
This sextant actually does function in a crude way. It would need a lot of adjustments- I could not get the lamp I was focusing on to quite sweep my "horizon" (the window sill.) But I have finally understood how it works, which is already something.


Here is the mold I made from the sextant. It is rough, but I want that fragmentary look.


These are gel medium filled molds of various objects. Once made the molds last for years and I can use them over and over again. They look a little like cookies on a baking sheet, but they don't taste nearly as good.

Now, you can wait for the results!

The Wave

A sailor in dress blue uniform steps forward with a sharp salute. The song in his heart is on the lips of the woman who breathes it into a silver microphone. Above her on the wall is a map of Newfoundland and Labrador, where the first transatlantic Marconi station was located.

A radio tower beams the song across the world and a Hokusai wave washes over the bow. In another country a woman turns to listen to something coming over the breeze.

Why do I hear "Moonlight Serenade" in my head?

Acrylic on canvas with silk, cotton, leather, wool and rhinestones. 30 x 40 inches and 76 x 101 cm.