I studied both art and philosophy in college – way back when – and my life has been deeply marked by both disciplines ever since. This blogsite then hosts the portfolio of my recent artwork (2003 – present). It consists primarily of landscapes and figure drawings – as I love describing form in both settings. Most especially, I love describing light on form – that’s the subject matter/mode part. However, when it comes to the media I use, I love describing light in form – that’s the materials part. The art displayed here then is arranged in either/both ways, as the mode/subject matter or alternatively the media used to explore it.
I am 68 years young. Together with my husband, John, we have lived in Europe (Germany and Belgium) for almost thirty years(!). However, the longings of expats have recently brought us back home. We have relocated to to Oceanside, California. For the moment I don’t exhibit anywhere, though I am hoping to increase my artistic visibility @ our new home, primarily because the Oceanside Museum of Art hosts great outreach programs for supporting local artists. I completed my Masters degree in Philosophy at KULeuven, Belgium, in 2018. So I spend my days reading (Neo-Platonist) philosophy, translating the non-dual philosophy of Douwe Tiemersma (Dutch to English) and painting. The work that is displayed here is available for sale – unless noted otherwise. If you see something you like, please feel free to contact me. (My prices are humbly-reasonable.)
Well, that’s my artistic hat, or at least one half of it. The other half is the mad scientist. As I indicated above, I love experimenting with the materials traditionally used to render form through light, colour and the intrinsic haptic viscosity of any particular medium. These experiments have led me to make use of different layers of paint through an indirect technique. The testament to these experimentations is my companion blogsite, atelierartisanal.com. It hosts their technical write-ups. And they really are experiments because, if I do “x” to “y”, I often don’t know what exactly will happen. Sometimes they are happy accidents, sometimes they are “most retrograde to our desire”. That’s how you learn. They include: oil, the mixed technique, egg tempera, encaustic, acrylics, silverpoint and fresco.
Please feel free to explore either site or both. In this age of social networking you know you can comment, like, share and/or sign up for new postings from either one (or both). But in any case, sniff around – and I hope you enjoy doing so!
ellentrezevant 
Hello! Several years ago, I was doing a search for the old Friendly’s ice cream mountains promotional posters, and the only hit I got was on a piece of art that, if I recall correctly, you had created. I then got on to other things and never followed up. Was that your piece of art? Do you still have it?
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Hi Christopher, Sorry for my tardy response. Somehow the wordpress interface did not alert me to your comment. How strange that you followed me up and found me here.
Yes, I still have the Friendly ice cream mountains painting/collage. I painted it in the summer of 1978. Due to changes in my life and artistic direction at that time, I ended up boxing it up and placing it (along with two other mixed media “puzzle” collages from that time) in my father’s attic and moved out west. Fast forward to 2004. I retrieved all the “puzzle” boxes, digitalized the pieces and uploaded them to my website with the intent to finally sell them. Turns out along the way, I discovered that all use of so called found photographic images is covered by copyright protection. Oh. I have since negotiated with the owner of the National Geographic image of a Lapp boy for the large collage which I sold but have done absolutely nothing about the Friendly ad or the Marlboro ad (which were also found images used for these paintings).
Anyway, the Friendly ad is alive and well and hanging on the wall of my sister’s home in Southern California. Let me know if you are interested and what your interest consists of?
Thanks, Ellen
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Hello Ellen,
Thanks for getting back to me! Sorry for the delay in replying; we were at Disney World 🙂
When I was a kid, the Friendly’s ice cream mountains ad campaign struck a chord with me—not sure why, other than that ice cream is yummy. Maybe it’s the imagery of ice cream plus blue sky, fluffy clouds, green grass and an open road 🙂 About 15 years ago, I contacted Friendlies and asked if they had any of those old posters. No one who replied had any idea what i was talking about! Then, I did a web search a few years back and found your site, and the image of your painting. I had meant to contact you, but, well . . . life always places significantly higher priorities in one’s path than ice cream, or paintings thereof 🙂 But finally, recently, I did get around to it.
Do you have the original poster, or did you incorporate it into the work? Can you send me an image of your painting itself, so I can take another look? In addition to ice cream, I am a lover of fine art in general . . .
Thanks! Chris
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Hello Chris,
Well if you (and your inner child) were at Disney World, I’m sure you haven’t lost your taste for ice cream – and mountains of it!
At the time I created it I was living in Westbrook, CT. We had a Friendly’s down the road that received our regular patronage. I was attracted there to the poster and its playful absurdity
Funny that now Friendly’s management has no clue. It was a successful image!
No, I don’t have a poster of it. Whatever poster I was able to acquire was used in the creation of the collage. That means two things: the painting is the exact size of the original poster because 5 out of the 28 of the puzzle pieces were done as a direct decoupage transfer. That is to say, I applied layers of some translucent poly-liquid goop that lifted the printed image off the paper and transferred it to a clear plastic film, which I then applied to a wooden block. As I look at the photograph of the painting now, I can see that the five poly-transfers are less colorful than the painted ones. Yet another testament (as if anyone needed it) as to why painting is superior to commercial printing.
I’m replying to you here on wordpress but I’ll send you the image directly to your email address because I don’t see how to attach an image using the discussion interface. Strange.
Yours,
Ellen
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Hi Ellen. Love your work. I read your comments about Mile’s passing on the GF Ning site and found them thoughtful and interesting. Following several links I see you have an interesting in Advaita , as do I, make your way in the world as an artist (see my website at papersunlightsculpture.com) and are working for your Masters in Philosophy. After leaving FoF I went back to grad school (San Fran. State) and now teach at a community college in the San Diego area. I go to Milano every year with my Italian wife. We travel around when there. Hope to visit Belgium one of these visits. Let me know how your philosophy project goes. Looks like you’re thriving. (William Leslie)
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Hey William, Great to hear from you! I’ve replied to you already on the GFoF. Thank you for your kindness on my work. Checked out your site. Beautiful shapes infused by light – we both remember Stephen White. I see that you live in Oceanside? Amazing. John and I just spent this past winter/spring in San Clemente. We were/are considering moving back to the U.S. and wanted to try out San Clemente as a possible location. John even had a few surfing lessons in Oceanside. Both areas had a nice laid-back feel. So do you teach philosophy at Oceanside Community College? Any particular speciality? Would love to hear more. XO, Ellen
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