"Study Nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you."
- Frank Lloyd Wright
Beautiful colors...
As an artist, you would assume that I think a lot about color.
It’s true! As a painter, I practice color mixing, blending, subtle changes, stark contrasts. As an Art Educator, I think about color theory and how I can share some of those concepts with my students.
The palettes you see here are integral to my latest body of work, the Threatened Texas series and the beginning of a new way for me to understand color.
Since 2019, I have been learning about, and bringing awareness to Endangered, Threatened and Species of Greatest Conservation Need.
Artist/ Educator...
Before I began my Threatened Texas Series, I was no stranger to Environmental Education, having spent much of my career weaving together the Arts, Experiential and Environmental Education. I have had the fortune to have organized youth gardening projects as teacher and as an AmeriCorps VISTA* Volunteer. I have had the honor to have worked in Arts & Environmental Education for organizations like Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, and the High Line.
Surprisingly enough, prior to the initiation of my 2019 explorations, I did not know that the majority of the 148 Threatened and 74 Endangered species in Texas even existed! Since then, I have spent hours of my time researching these fascinating species. I am especially grateful for the hard-working scientists who have dedicated their careers to supporting our planet's biodiversity. A special thanks to those who have supported this project through information sharing by answering my phone calls and inquisitive emails.
The palettes you see here are just a small sampling of the color integral to my latest body of work; the Threatened Texas series.
The first step to protecting Endangered and Threatened Species is to learn how fascinating and essential they are...
This series is designed to celebrate the incredible diversity and importance of species in Texas. For this project, I am dedicated to sharing what I learn about each of Texas' 148 Threatened Species, sampling colors from their actual images, and creating original art inspired by their unique palettes.
The reality is that more I look at these Threatened Species, the more I consistently find strikingly beautiful color palettes that range from subtle variations on earth tones, vivid, bold and balanced combinations. The longer I look at the images, and the more I learn about the lives of these plants and animals, the more I understand how essential they are.
5% of the profits of any sale of Threatened Texas works enthusiastically goes Endangered and Threatened Species in Texas...
That means that if you purchase a signed archival ART PRINT or any other PRODUCT (tees, totes etc.) featuring these species, it means you could be helping any number of the 148 Threatened, the Endangered or 1,300 species that are considered to be Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN) in Texas.
