Since 2016, I have been photographing and painting Greater Sandhill Cranes in northeastern California, where they migrate to nest. At the Modoc National Wildlife Refuge I assist a long-term study aimed at protecting this threatened population.
I am enchanted with the variety of expression and communication within their “culture”. They live for a long time, mate for life and have been on the planet since the dinosaurs. They are complex and intelligent and huge. And they dance.
To purchase any of this work, please contact me through my CONTACT page.
Love / 2023 / handmade watercolor on Claybord / 5 x 5
Conversation / 2024 / handmade watercolor on Rives BFK paper with clay ground / 14 x 40 / sold
Follow Me / 2024 / handmade watercolor on Rives BFK paper with clay ground / 14 x 40
Dance with Me / 2024 / handmade watercolor on Rives BFK paper with clay ground / 16 x 20
On the Wing / 2024 / handmade watercolor on Rives BFK paper with clay ground / 16 x 22
Together / 2024 / sumi on kozo paper with handmade badger brush / 18.5 x 33 / sold
What's Over There? / 2023 / handmade watercolor on Rives BFK paper with clay ground / 14 x 19
Dance / 2023 / handmade watercolor on Claybord / 10 x 10
Dear One / 2023 / handmade watercolor on Claybord / 5 x 5
Crane Music / 2020 / handmade watercolor on chalk gessoed paper / 20 x 65 / sold
Sketch for Crane Music / 2020 / sumi with badger & rabbit brushes on kozo paper / 13 x 29
Downstroke / 2018 / sumi with weasel brush on gampi paper / 10 x 12 / sold
Lean / 2019 / sumi with badger and rabbit brushes / 13 x 20
Lean 2 / 2019 / sumi with badger and rabbit brushes / 13 x 20
Call / 2018 / sumi with badger brush on kozo paper / 30 x 21
After Hokusai / 2018 / sumi with weasel brush / 26 x 18
Walking on Ice / 2019 / sumi with goose quill pen / 13 x 13
Long Flight 1 / 2018 / sumi with badger brush on gampi paper / 13 x 39
Long Flight 2 / 2018 / sumi with rabbit brush on gampi paper / 13 x 39
The Feather / 2018 / handmade watercolor from goose eggshell and charcoal with badger brush / 18 x 23
Balance / 2019 / sumi with crane quill pen / 30 x 22
Storm Hills / 2023 / beeswax, sumi and indigo with mole brush on kozo paper / 12 x 17
Blue Mountains 1 / 2023 / beeswax and indigo with mole brush on kozo paper / 12 x 17
Blue Mountains 2 / 2023 / beeswax and indigo with mole brush on kozo paper / 12 x 17
Snow on Hills / 2023 / beeswax and indigo with mole brush on kozo paper / 12 x 14
One Line Landscape - Mesa /2023 / beeswax, sumi and clay watercolor with mole brush on kozo paper / 9 x 24
One Line Horizon / 2023 / beeswax, sumi and indigo with mole brush on kozo paper / 9 x 23
One Line Landscape - long / 2023 / beeswax, sumi and clay watercolor with mole brush on kozo paper / 9 x 29
One Line Horizon - long / 2023 / beeswax, sumi and indigo with mole brush on kozo paper / 10 x 31
Monsoon / 2022 / sumi and indigo with mole and badger brushes on kozo paper / 12 x 15
Virga 1 / 2022 / beeswax, sumi and indigo with mole and badger brushes on kozo paper / 12 x 15
Virga 2 / 2022 / beeswax, sumi and indigo with mole and badger brushes on kozo paper / 12 x 15
Petrichor / 2022 / sumi and clay with mole and badger brushes on kozo paper / 13 x 13
Long Rain / 2022 / sumi and indigo with mole and badger brushes on kozo paper / 24 x 14
Lightning / 2022 / beeswax and sumi on kozo paper / 12 x 14
Storm Over Galisteo / 2022 / sumi with mole and badger brushes / 10 x 12
Mesa Storm / 2022 / sumi and silver with rabbit brush on mat board / 6 x 5.5
Cumulus / 2022 / sumi with rabbit brush / 6.5 x 5
Radiant Decay - 75 Rings / 2022 / beeswax, sumi and indigo with badger brush on kozo paper / 36 x 36
Radiant Decay - indigo / 2022 / beeswax, sumi and indigo with badger brush on kozo paper / 29 x 27
Radiant Decay - weasel / 2022 / beeswax and sumi with weasel brush on kozo paper / 18 x 18
Decay - yucca 1 / 2022 / sumi with yucca brush on kozo paper / 11 x 13
Decay - badger / 2022 / sumi with badger brush on kozo paper / 16 x 19
Decay - horse / 2022 / sumi with horse brush on kozo paper / 29 x 19
Decay - badger 2 / 2022 / sumi with badger brush on kozo paper / 19 x 19
Decay - yucca 2 / 2022 / sumi with yucca brush on kozo paper / 13 x 18
White Ibis / 2013 / sumi with raccoon brush / 13 x 14
Great Egret / 2011 / sumi with coyote brush / 14 x 9
Reddish Egret / 2013 / sumi with grey-squirrel brush / 11 x 9
Great Blue Heron / 2011 / sumi with coyote brush / 14 x 9
Jump-down Pelican / 2014 / sumi with grey-squirrel brush / 27 x 18
Jump-up Pelican / 2014 / sumi with grey-squirrel brush / 27 x 18
Double-crested Cormorant / 2013 / sumi with rabbit brush / 18 x 13
Egret / 2013 / sumi with raccoon brush / 21 x 14
White Ibis Trio / 2013 / sumi with raccoon brush / 14 x 20
White Ibis Quintet / 2013 / sumi with raccoon brush / 14 x 27
White Ibis / 2013 / sumi with raccoon brush / 14 x 13
Bird Flies but Does Not Cross / 2014 / sumi with raccoon brush, including silk border 33 x 85
calligraphy by Shaku Daijo
Shaku Daijo was founding abbot of Daishu-in West Rinzai Zen Temple, in Northern California. A portion of the sale of this folding, framed screen will go to Daishu-in West with much gratitude for collaboration and teaching.
Traces of a Bird / 2015 / digital print on silk / 78 x 30
calligraphy by Shaku Daijo
"There is nowhere to look for them, the traces a bird leaves in the sky"
Traces of an Ibis / 2014 / indigo watercolor with grey-squirrel brush / 13 x 54
Traces of a Pelican / 2014 / indigo watercolor with grey-squirrel brush / 36 x 27
Elegant Cats Ear / 2019 / sumi and colored gampi paper with badger brush / 13 x 13
Fawn Lily / 2019 / sumi and colored gampi paper with badger brush / 13 x 13
Splendid Mariposa Tulip / 2019 / sumi and colored gampi paper with badger brush / 13 x 13
Fawn Lily Bud / 2019 / sumi and colored gampi paper with badger brush / 13 x 13
Jackrabbit / 2015 / sumi and desert-pigment watercolor with jackrabbit brush / 13 x 16
Hermit 1 / 2012 / sumi / 27 x 14
Hermit 2 / 2012 / sumi and watercolor / 27 x 14
Slender Crab / 2012 /sumi with handmade raccoon brush, including silk border / 18 x 18
Pacific Spiny / 2011 / sumi and watercolor / 13 x 18
Pacific Spiny Duet / 2011 / sumi and watercolor / 13 x 18
Wavy-Leaf Soap Plant / 2013 / sumi with weasel brush on green paper / 22 x 13
Big-leaf Maple Seed / 2013 / sumi with handmade weasel brush / 8 x 8.5
Lupine Pod / 2013 / sumi with weasel brush / 18 x 13
Wild Pea / 2013 / sumi with weasel brush on green paper / 18 x 13
Many of the brushes I use have been made from fur collected from road-killed animals. The handles are of homegrown bamboo. My pens are made from quills found in the Fall when the birds have naturally lost them while molting.
The marks and lines possible from these unique brushes and pens are excitingly wild or graceful and always full of personality.
badger and mole brushes / 2016 / materials collected in Modoc County, CA
quill pens / 2017
quill pens, detail / 2017
coyote, raccoon and horse brushes
jackrabbit and coyote brushes / ocotillo, palm and bamboo handles
made during artist's residency at Anza-Borrego State Park, 2015
Fu, "Lion" brush / 2014 / sisal fibre bound with copper wire to a bamboo handle
constructed with Ellen LeBel at my studio for use in a calligraphy workshop by Pearl Huang and Ellen
Fu, "Lion" brush / 2014
brush "kit" / large fox, medium racoon and small squirrel
coyote brush with ocotillo handle / made during artist's residency at Anza-Borrego State Park, 2015
CARD SETS #1-3 (2021, 2022 and 2023) include 5 unique 4.25” x 6”cards with white envelopes.
CARD SET #4 (2024) includes 4 unique 4” x 9” cards with grey envelopes.
Each CARD SET is bound with a red ribbon and protected by a cellophane bag.
If interested, please contact me on my CONTACT page.
CARD SET #4
CARD SET #3
CARD SET #2
CARD SET #1
