In recent years my attention has been drawn to how we humans affect our planet. While early projects were about the land, my connection to Cape Cod and the ocean is strong. Reading about how devastating plastics (since their lifespans are often hundreds of years) harm or kill sea animals and plants, led me to create art that highlighted the problems regarding this issue. In some works, trash, which ends up being mostly plastic, gathered on daily beach walks, is incorporated into the art. In others, imprints of abandoned fishing gear found on beaches are visible.

Highlighting problems, however much that is needed, became so disheartening that I switched to solutions, particularly biological ones. Viewers' awareness will be increased by seeing art about potential restorative approaches—paintings on a mushroom-based material that biodegrades and can therefore replace Styrofoam and other plastic packaging. Another series celebrates a minuscule sea creature whose bodily processes remove micro plastic from the ocean’s water column.

The more I learned, the more it became clear that, no matter how many technological or other approaches might help, we humans need major changes in our behaviors if we want to keep the earth livable. After digging deeper, this reality led me to create One Evolving Consciousness, a video that weaves a timeline of public climate change awareness with my personal response to it.

The video compelled me to explore what I could possibly do to help motivate changes in our behavior.  I am also a psychotherapist, so I constantly focus on the question: what makes people change? Research tells us that creating experiences for people motives more change than telling them the facts.  My experience in the office validates that. The Snowball Effect Project, thesnowballefectproject.org, is ongoing and invites both grownups and children to make new or additional commitments to act.

A project currently in process acknowledges that, while it is vital that each of us acts, it is hard to feel that what we do as individuals can make much, if any, difference. It is obvious that we have more power in groups.  This “people power” project reminds us of that. There are abundant environmental groups which need our hands or our dollars. Or, we can create our own groups. Group power can influence the government’s actions and, especially, develop the power to stand up to the big corporations which pollute so heavily.

Such projects offer optimism at a time when it is in short supply. They urge us to continue to think creatively about solutions to   our most important world issues.

The art includes paintings, monotypes, and installations. In keeping with the organicity of the projects, the colors come from nature. Using sustainable materials is important to me. Encaustic, which is composed of beeswax and tree resin, is the primary medium.