Assemblages
I used to think I was the strangest person in the world but then I thought there are so many people in the world, there must be someone just like me who feels bizarre and flawed in the same ways I do … Well, I hope that if you aren’t out there and read this and know that, yes, it’s true I’m here, and I’m just as strange as you.
— Frida Kahlo
The Queen
As is often the case, my focus falls on a particular object which drives the direction or construction of a piece.
Faces of Our Ancestors
This heavily influenced African mixed media assemblage work began with my purchase of the antique carved lion head (center right). It came from the Carolands Mansion in Hillsborough, CA.
Houdini
This Houdini piece began when I first purchased the 1890s French wood art figure. I often saw Houdini in chains, locked up, then somewhere hidden were all sorts of skeleton keys, lock picks, and police handcuff keys.
A Child’s Fantasy
This circus mixed media collage began when I was seven years old and Ringling Bros. came to San Diego, CA.
The Doll Mall
This mixed media collage took five months to assemble because I kept gathering doll parts, doll heads, and doll clothes, which I organized as a story narrative.
Potpourri of My Life
Potpourri of My Life is a 50-year collection of bits and pieces assembled in a vintage printer tray.
The Dinner You Missed
During Covid-19, many friends complained about the shelter-in-place order and being confined to isolation.
Putin’s Nightmare
About a year ago I embarked on a clockworks piece that includes about 60 internal clock movements.
Rock Me!
As a lifelong music lover, living with Dave Brubeck in a high school art class, who attended Little Richard and Jimmy Hendrix… my vinyl collection became a kaleidoscope of useful collage.
Upright Edwardian Piano
Piano was juried into the prestigious Sacramento State Art Fair and was a finalist winning second place in mixed media assemblage. My idea was to create volume and perspective while limiting the total depth to four inches; a wall hanging bas-relief hanging piano.
The Other Woman
I used some of the finest iridescent burl waterfall Bubinga wood I ever worked with. The antique 1800s Belgian hand-designed diamond cutting and faceting tool with the king of spades card is a metaphor for the lover in control.
Metronome
Here, my love of watches, clocks, and music is combined with wood.
Mechanical Intervention
This huge walnut burl was salvaged from the Mercedes dashboard veneer and kept as a complete slab.
The Paint Apron
This piece started with a tired, 30-year-old, paint apron that belonged to Tony Speirs.
Cut Your Calories in Half
Maple-covered plywood is sign-painted with copper bent trap elements, adorned with various fake foods.
Temporary Insanity
This wall hanging is a composition of maple, a ram skull clock face, 1800s burial casket handles, Art Deco beaded purse, porcupine quills, and mountain sheep horns… a story about the passage of time.
Sleeping Dog
I bought the incredible walnut, ebony, and abalone open frame in France, intending to build this assemblage with my mother's, Carol Standefer’s, clay faces.
Horus
I began with a singular vision, a gorgeous circa 1880s antique 156” wood curtain valance, with gold leaf.
Seductive Virtue
This was a very challenging artwork as I desired to create this lovely young woman almost entirely from fabric.
As Others See Us
Built on a two-sided movable advertising sign. It is an original 1960’s painted sales sign.