This 12″x12″ mixed media collage was created on fabric interfacing, and features hand-painted papers, vintage ephemera, pastels, watersoluble crayons, and stitching.

“Riverview” was an amusement park in the Chicago neighborhood where my mother grew up. Though it closed shortly after I was born, I recall many stories of summer days that my mom and her siblings spent riding “the Bobs” – an old wooden roller coaster added to the park in 1924.

I’ve always hated roller coasters – not real fond of ferris wheels either. This piece was created for a call at the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis in 2020, for an online exhibit called “Flattening the Curve.” It has been an honor and a privilege to be able to create during periods of “lockdown” and “social distancing.” As an artist, I’ve struggled financially during these uncertain times as a global pandemic has brought life as we knew it to a virtual standstill, but I’ve been extremely lucky to be mere steps away from my studio, where I can create without fear of the virus.

A favorite Picasso quote –

“Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.”

Seems quite apt in current times as well.