Circle Me

Circle Me

Mixed Media

2009

42" x 54"

SOLD

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This is, to date, the largest painting I have ever made.

I have been fascinated by maps for a long time. When I was younger, I would stare at them for hours on the countless road trips my family would take. On long weekends, we would drive to camp in the mountains of north Georgia or North Carolina. My dad's family, by and large, all lived within driving distance of each other, so there were many family road trips for holidays. My mom's family, however, was a little different.

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When I was born, I was the first grandchild on that side of my family. I still believe that my grandparents, Beppe and Papa, took that as a sign that they should retire and travel. And travel they did. The next 11 years were spent on their boat, the Kennemer, while the leisurly circumnavigated the globe. Periodically, we would recieve post cards, letters and care packages from them, describing their travels, and the fascinating places they went. My parents carefully plotted their route on a large world map that would be carefully unrolled each time news arrived. (It strikes me now how unnerving it must have been for my mother during those years - raising her two children, and worrying about where her parents might be, and how they were faring.) I always loved to look at that map. It is now hanging in the spare room in my Papa's house in central Florida, and I was thrilled to show it to my kids this summer.

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To some degree, then, it is only natural that maps became a central theme of my work. I will explain more about this in the future.

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This particular work includes maps of Florida, where I spent most of the first part of my life, and Texas, where I have been since then.