Available Works for Purchase
Arranged in alphabetical order (Note: NW = current work from the last several years; EW = early work)
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At the Take Out (EW)
24x48, acrylic and collaged paper on wood framed canvas $2300 Three beached canoes at the end of an Algonquin excursion with our daughters and some friends. There's something so raw, so humbling and good about paddling through heavy rain, cold and wind. Perspective is offered. Well-being is a gift you do not take for granted. |
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Beautiful Blinders (NW)
18x24, acrylic, wall paper and 3D paper flowers on black framed canvas $1,080 Whether considering our personal lives, our family ways, or our religious and political cultures, we see through lenses. We see in particular ways, shaped by our beliefs and life experiences. I believe, more now in our current political climate than ever, that our first work is to acknowledge these blinders. To think we see without them is to be arrogant and, ultimately, small. But it is hard to do! Often we don’t even know what we don’t know. Sometimes we must remove them; sometimes they provide blessed reprieve from a clamorous world...but at the very least, let us admit we have them. |
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Beauty That Breaks the Heart (NW)
24x18, acrylic and collaged papers on birch panel $1,080 There are hard things that break our hearts, like loss and pain. But there is also the kind that beauty inflicts upon our soul, where we are taken aback by what our eyes behold and find it almost too much. The wild balsamroot does this to me every spring. In my part of the world in the eastern slopes of the Canadian Rocky Mountains, balsamroot blooms take over grassy slopes in a riot of brilliant yellows. A few words from a Mary Oliver poem drip out along the base of this painting: " ...I tell you this / to break your heart / by which I mean, only / that it break open and never close again / to the rest of the world." |
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#beloved (NW)
120x144, acrylic on 3 birch panels; includes separate frame $10,000 This 3-panelled large work is intended for a large, public space and invites the viewer to settle in its centre, held and loved. Read more about this installation on the Collaborations page. |
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Beneath the Surface (EW)
12x48, acrylic and gold leaf on gallery-wrap canvas Just sold! Beneath the dead roots of the iconic Burmis Tree, a limber pine much loved and photographed in southwestern Alberta, lie countless seeds from decades of long-buried cones. Limber pine cones, all dressed up in gold leaf, like Christmas, promise new generations! |
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(Carried By Grace (NW)
10x20, acrylic, table napkin and Japanese paper on gallery-wrap canvas $500 (currently at the Fernie Arts Coop) Our life journey, as symbolized by the boat, is far more out of our hands than we would like to think... But notice the stars! Notice the expanse. At the very least, perhaps we get to carry some of that with us as we move through this world, which is both so hard and so beautiful. |
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Contend (EW)
72x36, acrylic and gold leaf on wood framed canvas $3800 Contend(ken tend’): v. 1 fight; struggle. 2 take part in a contest; compete. 3 argue; dispute. 4 declare to be a fact; maintain as true. L Contendere < com- (intensive) + tendere (stretch) Syn: cope, wrestle, battle; emphasizing the idea of trying hard and struggling against opposition. Let us contend for what is right and what is in front of us to do...and perhaps some of heaven will be pulled down into our here and now. |
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Deluge (NW)
60x24, acrylic on birch panel $2100 These two self-portraits (see image below) explore the range of our human condition: times we are overwhelmed and feel certain we will drown, and the parched wilderness where we lose our bearings. When words fail to capture the fleeting glimpses of insight – the insight that gives meaning to our days, painting does this for me. Sometimes it is a seizing, but mostly it is gentle, this holding of story and truth. Like the bird that alights impossibly upon my head, despite the torrential downpour, or flies just beyond the periphery of my vision so that I wonder, did I really see something? These birds are my metaphor for witness. I will remember. I will mine for the gold of grace and truth in these moments, and there, build my alter. |
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Drought (NW)
60x24, acrylic on birch panel $2100 These two self-portraits (see above image) explore the range of our human condition: times we are overwhelmed and feel certain we will drown, and the parched wilderness where we lose our bearings. When words fail to capture the fleeting glimpses of insight – the insight that gives meaning to our days, painting does this for me. Sometimes it is a seizing, but mostly it is gentle, this holding of story and truth. Like the bird that alights impossibly upon my head, despite the torrential downpour, or flies just beyond the periphery of my vision so that I wonder, did I really see something? These birds are my metaphor for witness. I will remember. I will mine for the gold of grace and truth in these moments, and there, build my alter. |
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Eclipse (NW)
24x36, acrylic, paper and gold leaf on wood framed birch panel (ON RESERVE) The raven and its raucous call is a mountain species of gritty endurance and intelligence. This was one of two paintings used in a collaborative art installation at the www.crowsnestpasspublicartgallery.com/ |
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Faith Discusses Global Affairs with Peace (EW)
36x24, acrylic on wood framed canvas $1700 What if the great virtues were embodied in regular, everyday folks? I imagine them to look something like these lovely ladies. And I imagine them walking through this life in a way that brings goodness, even when news, politics, health and economy throw us into turmoil. We then look to these ones who exude the virtues. They make us better individuals and I thank them. |
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First Snow Run (NW)
14x18, acrylic on black framed canvas $630 To paint a herd of running horses during a pandemic is cathartic. It's that simple. |
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Goodness, Gentleness and Patience Rest on Main
(EW) 24x36, acrylic on wood framed canvas $1700 What if the great virtues were embodied in regular, everyday folks? I imagine them to look something like these lovely elders. (Can you tell this was painted pre-pandemic?) And I imagine them walking through this life in a way that brings goodness, even when news, politics, health and economy throw us into turmoil. We then look to these ones who exude the virtues. They make us better and I thank them. |
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Gratitude (EW)
30x24, acrylic and mixed media on regular canvas $500 Painted during my early years as a tired, confused and overwhelmed mom, this piece is one part exuberant love, one part sacrifice, a soft belly and a good dose of throw-my-hands-up-because-I-don't-know-what-the-hell-I'm-doing! I survived those years. We tend to look back and wonder about how it was possible. Raising daughters made me more compassionate, tolerant, creative, magnanimous.... Every part of motherhood, the good, the bad, the ugly, is worth it. Worth it! |
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I Hear With an Accent (NW)
48x36, mixed media on birch panel $2500 The five paper squares collaged on the left-hand feature my dad's handwriting. Written in Frisian, his native tongue, the words blur off the paper into calligraphic scrawls - a tribute to my family heritage and how it has influenced how I look at things. |
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Incarnation (NW)
36x48, acrylic and gold leaf on wood framed birch panel $3450 Embodiment. To appear in living flesh, fully present. As my imperfect Christian faith evolves, falters and surges, I find myself returning to the incarnation of Jesus. God in human form - this tradition's foundational canon. The calliope hummingbird alights, a momentary jewel, suggesting poetic mystery beyond my grasp. |
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In Good Company (EW)
18x24, acrylic on black framed canvas $865 In recent years my family journeyed through the unchartered waters of cancer and death. We don’t journey alone, however, but find ourselves in the company of those who keep us afloat through their expressions of love and kindness. A small, vulnerable vessel buoyed up by the greater story of community. |
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Inner Compass (NW)
14x18, acrylic on black framed canvas $630 Leaned into the pummeling elements with head down, we can imagine this seasoned old mare will go where she knows she must go. Her inner compass is strong; she can trust it will bring her home. |
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Journey With Flowers No. 1 & No. 2 (NW)
12x12 acrylic and collaged paper on gallery-wrap canvas $360 each (available at the Lebel Gallery Gift Store) As we move through our days, let us bring flowers, let us bring beauty. |
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Journey With Flowers No, 7 (NW)
12x12 acrylic and collaged paper on wood framed canvas $400 (available at the Fernie Arts Coop) As we move through our days, let us bring flowers, let us bring beauty. |
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Journey With Flowers No. 8 (NW)
10x10 acrylic and collaged paper on wood framed canvas Just SOLD at the Fernie Arts Coop! As we move through our days, let us bring flowers, let us bring beauty. |
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Journey With Flowers No. 9 (NW)
16x16, acrylic, collaged wallpaper, metal leaf on wood framed canvas $690 As we move through our days, let us bring flowers... |
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Journey With Flowers No. 10 (NW)
16x20, acrylic, collaged wallpaper on wood framed birch panel $800 As we move through our days, let us bring flowers... |
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Journey With Flowers No. 11 (NW)
12x12, acrylic, collaged wallpaper on wood framed birch panel $360 As we move through our days, let us bring flowers... |
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Journey With Flowers No. 13 (NW)
10x10, acrylic, collaged wallpaper on gallery-wrap canvas $250 As we move through our days -- even on days so rough as they came during the third weary wave of COVID, when I wanted to walk into the wilderness and get lost...or scream, or something -- even then, let us bring flowers. |
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Journey With Flowers No. 15 (NW)
12x12, acrylic, collaged wallpaper on gallery-wrap canvas $360 As we move through our days, let us bring flowers. |
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Just Like Arpeggios (EW)
36x60, acrylic, music fragments on wood framed canvas $4300 Arpeggios are those broken chords foundational to music. They really aren’t that much fun to learn. Once embedded though, they open up something wonderful and launch us into melodies! It struck me one evening as I listened to one of our daughters struggle to smooth out a difficult arpeggio, that this is not unlike what we do in the home with our children – those chores, those endless lessons on respect and responsibility. We lay foundations so our children are equipped to play out their particular melody. |
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Lifeline (NW)
acrylic on 17' Grumman canoe $9000 An installation piece that will create conversation, this painting highlights the delicate yet tenacious nature of enduring relationships and community. Read more about it on the Collaboration page. |
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Reconnaissance (NW)
12x24, acrylic on black framed canvas $720 A herd of Frisian mares running across a curious landscape. A bridge? A ladder to the sky? |
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Spring Prayer (EW)
24x12, acrylic on gallery-wrap canvas $575 There were 5 snowstorms that April. I love winter, but I began wearing a flowered scarf just to remind myself that spring would come, that crocuses were forming under all that snow. On a whim, I tied this scarf between the trees and stood back to enjoy the new view. I stared at it for a long time, a feast of promise and colour in what seemed a perpetually grey world. It offered a metaphor. During darker times, these moments open my thoughts to consider what is beyond my immediate view. |
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Sound Within A Sound (EW)
30x24, acrylic on wood framed canvas $500 Is there anything more visceral and compelling than a drum beat? It calls us, pulls us in, moves our body and our spirit! This particular image was from a photo I took at a gathering of artists, musicians and creatives. We pooled our diverse expressions of worship there in the setting of a beautiful chapel deep in the Rocky Mountains. A sacred experience that I wanted to hold in my memory. |
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The Teacher (EW)
24x30, acrylic, papers on black framed canvas $1440 My hands. The square palms of my father and the deft movements of my mother. I was an art teacher for over 30 years. They have rarely been smooth or paint-free. Like water pouring through my fingers, hand-written notes from students, parents, student-teachers and colleagues, cascade into a bowl-like form, but fail to hold them at all. They are the good, the bad, the funny, and the ones that made me cry - a summary of my life as a teacher. A tribute to this beautiful, messy, and most wonderful profession that has so profoundly shaped who I am. |
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This Land is Your Land, This Land is My Land (EW)
60x48, acrylic on wood framed canvas $4320 Wolves that travel alone have a story to tell. It is not their normal social behaviour. This particular wolf is on a journey, strong west winds at his back as though nudging his steps forward. The mountain range is the Continental Divide separating British Columbia from Alberta, delineating water’s flow east from west. This wolf traverses this great geological phenomenon with ease. Oblivious to political boundaries, these long distance movements along the spine of our beautiful continent establish and maintain new groupings, enriching the gene pool. |
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Three Arrows (EW)
40x30, acrylic on gallery-wrap canvas $1500 At different points along the parenting journey, you reach crossroads where you must re-define and re-prioritize aspects of family life. You clean house, so to speak, so that things function as they should for the new season in which you find yourselves. These times ask you to step away from activity so you can hear your quieter thoughts and, more importantly, hear your children’s hearts. This piece was painted during one of those times. It took the deliberate, thoughtful process of naming an image in paint to gain insight, to slow down, to listen, and take stock … and in so doing, to remember that the most important opportunities are right here in the most ordinary and familiar of places - at home. |
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Three Streams, One Boat (RW)
22x30, acrylic wash and charcoal on Stonehenge paper, unframed $350 The Christian faith and its long historic sweep... As I consider what I inherited, what I've explored, I see more broadly and with a much looser, questioning hold than I could when I was younger. This simple drawing was my meditation about the intersectionality and tension of ancient and modern, orthodoxy and upstart, with its many variations and expressions of those who gather to celebrate faith. |
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Treehugger: White Oak With Nel (NW)
48x36, acrylic on gallery-wrap canvas, wooden frame $3,450 There is a something about the sentient quality of trees that humanity is waking up to. Ancient red cedar, sturdy limber pine, majestic white oak... trees have always caught the collective imagination, and now more than ever. Nel is a member of our community who champions every living creature, furred, feathered, or scaled. Flanked by manicured yards, Nel's small plot is alive with life as she carefully attends to habitat and nurtures biodiversity. She is a student of Nature and is as curious a person as I have ever had the privilege to know. It seemed fitting to have her be my model to accompany this white oak portrait. |
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Tumbling Bear (EW)
60x48, acrylic, typographical maps on wood framed canvas $4320 Topo maps shatter as a blue grizzly tumbles through space. What does it look like when our wilderness landscapes are fractured beyond recognition? At what point is it irreparable? We are well aware of the threats, and no one can deny our need for natural resources. These mounting pressures require that we step up intentional strategies so that our beloved planet does not suffocate in our embrace. Knowing movement patterns of various species across landscapes, identifying crucial wild spaces that connect animal and plant populations, and the protection of natural areas, are progressing up the Priority Ladder - at least we hope so. There is hope that the tumbling grizzlies of this world will land on their feet. |