"Uzbekistan Elder"

"Uzbekistan Elder"
16"x20", Oil on Canvas
©2013-2014

I completed this work as a project for my Saddleback College Painting III class. My instructor, Veronica Obermeyer, introduced me to Ann Gale's “open form” style of lost edges and broken color. I used a very limited palette of white, three blues, a red and a yellow.

I found the wonderful photograph on which I based the work at "The Travel Word" website. It was posted on April 4, 2010. The article was titled "Photo of the Week: A Warm Smile from an Elder in Uzbekistan." I did an exhaustive internet search for both the photographer, Nabikhan Utarbekov, and the author, Lyudmila Vafaeva, without any results. In the United States the copyright belongs indefinitely to the photographer. I followed up with an email to the "The Travel Word's" Editor-in-Chief, Ethan Gelber. Mr. Gelber warmly replied and attempted to communicate with Ms. Vafaeva. As yet, I have not had contact with Nabikhan Utarbekov or Lyudmila Vafaeva.

Saddleback Steamroller WoodBlock Party - Spring 2014

"Carl Linnaeus"

30"x40", Ink on Tea Dyed Muslin

© 2014

The Group, Morning, April 25, 2014

Our instructor, Vinita Voogd, is in front (right of center) with her arms folded. I can be found second from the right, holding my straw hat. We are posed in front of the "steamroller," a small, gas-powered, asphalt paver.

By the end of the day I was covered from head to toe with printmaking ink, hat included. It took a full week to completely remove the ink.