My recent work comprises large charcoal drawings and miniature mezzotint prints that investigate the impact of urban development on native woodlands. While the impetus for this body of work is the disappearing trees in my local environment, the issue of urban growth and environmental resources are broad ones that affect many communities.

The Still Green series depicts cuttings taken from native oak trees cleared from newly-developed land. Each branch is taken from a unique site and represents an entire grove of trees. Both the subject and the title of the series reference a field test performed by arborists, gauging the condition of a tree. The cut branches are temporal: the inner cores are still green, but the leaves have begun to curl and wither. While the drawings document an act of destruction, they suggest restoration: “For there is hope for a tree, if it is cut down, that it will sprout again, and that its shoots will not cease…” (Job 14:7-9)

In these prints and drawings, I explore relationships between trees and the spaces they once occupied to demonstrate the impact of land development. By using a reductive method, in which an image is revealed gradually through the removal of pigment, I hope to suggest the gradual disappearance of our woodlands. My prints use a non-acid intaglio technique called mezzotint, in which the scraping of the plate creates a detailed, tonal image. In drawing, I work on a grounded surface, using erasers to coax an illuminated subject from a dark background.

Coordinator Core Drawing Program/Assistant Professor of Art, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas USA [2002-present]

Education
MFA, Printmaking, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA
BFA with honor, Art, Grinnell College, Grinnell, Iowa, USA

2007
“Untitled”, Goodman Gallery, Laredo Center for the Arts, Laredo, Texas, USA

2006
“Untitled”, Lincoln Gallery, Northern State University, Aberdeen, South Dakota,
“Untitled”, Midland College, Midland Texas
“Untitled”, Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts, Nebraska City, Nebraska
“Variations on a Theme—Lari Gibbons, Paul Hunter, and Isabelle du Toit”, Pan American Gallery, Dallas, Texas
3rd Biennial National Print Exhibition, North Arizona University Art Museum, Flagstaff, Arizona
Harnett Biennial of American Prints, Joel and Lila Harnett Museum of Art,University of Richmond Museums, Richmond, Virginia
Impressit Print Exhibition, Laura H. Miles Gallery, Minnetonka Center for the Arts, Wayzata, Minnesota