Climate in America
Portraiture, Still-life, Landscape, Murals, Itinerant Portraitist, Old Master, Oil painting, Self-Portraits, Children's Portraiture, Yale, Yale Portraits, Davenport College, Davenport College Portraits, Sterling Memorial Library, Sterling Memorial Library Portraits, Women Artists, Women Artists NY, Women Artists USA, Contemporary Portraiture, Contemporary Painting, Multidisciplinary Artist, Installation Art, Artistic Activism, Public Art, Documentary Film, Documentary Film Award Winner, Mural Artist, Animal Portraits, Snakes, Snakes Portraits, Glass Sculpture, Drawing, Art Drawings, Commissioned Artwork
Climate in America
With initial funding from the Peter S. Reed Foundation, I began “Climate in America” in 2018 by traveling to locations in the United States that are undergoing effects of global warming: rising temperatures and sea levels, retreating glaciers, thawing permafrost, changes in growing seasons, alterations in river flows, ocean acidification, torrential downpours and hurricanes, droughts and associated wildfires, and declines and shifts in populations of plants and animals. So far, I’ve been awarded residency fellowships for the project in three geographically diverse locations: the Studios of Key West in Florida; Chalk Hill Winery in Sonoma, California; and Denali National Park in Alaska. In each location, I conducted a set number of watercolor portrait sessions (for instance, my goal in Alaska, the forty-ninth state, was forty-nine) and focused on specific populations: in Key West, writers, “conches,” drag queens, and fishermen; in Sonoma, vintners, seasonal workers, firefighters, victims of the 2017 Tubb’s fire, and conservation scientists; in Alaska, employees at Denali National Park (interpretive rangers, sled dog trainers, bus drivers), university scientists, and Iñupiat whalers.
In “Climate in America,” I work with the local communities in choosing subjects and work sites for watercolor portrait sessions. Each day, I invite two to six people to sit for watercolor portraits that I paint from direct observation using the camera lucida, a device for drawing dating back to the Renaissance.
Stories are at the heart of “The Itinerant Portraitist.” Because I work with the sketchbook lying flat, the sitters observe their image as it emerges on the page and guide the painting verbally and nonverbally. Conversation is encouraged, and the connection that the subjects form with me during the portrait process helps them reveal themselves and explore their own narratives. In “Climate in America,” I have recorded hundreds of personal stories, including the dangers of whaling in a shorter season with less ice; being stuck in traffic with children while fleeing from hurricane Irma; the perils of driving a bus on the only road through Denali, where landslides resulting from melting permafrost are common; and how to pack chickens into pillowcases for a fast escape by car from a wildfire. I’ve also recorded conversations with scientists about ways to address the crisis, with realtors about the dangerous roles real estate plays, and with many others on the front lines, such as firefighters and politicians. These conversations will be edited for a future documentary that shares my discoveries with the public.
