Oil on canvas paper. This self portrait is a vulnerable image of being bed bound by a chronic illness flare up. It pictures the splitting, dissociative, and ultimately invisible pain that is an everyday reality for the ill. Yellows and purples are used in contrast to the white, medicalised, sheets. The eyes, which communicate malaise, are contrasted by the fist gripping the unruly hair. There is a dissociative nature to pain which cannot be ignored. Perhaps the hair, pulled at the root, distracts from an abdomen full of revolting pain.
Flare up, 20th of March 2026, Oil Paint on Canvas Paper, 23×29 cm
This small-scale oil painting was developed from an analogue photograph taken in Berlin in spring 2025. It shows a man, mid-conversation, in the confines of a warm yellow flat. While the sitter’s appearance and the use of a landline evoke another time, this was not a deliberate shift in era. Rather, the objects and clothing shown have endured and remained in use across generations.
Bless the Telephone, 23rd of April 2026, Oil Paint on Canvas Board, 20×25cm,
This portrait pictures chronically-ill-artist Debra Freeman Highberger in the last light of a winter day. Behind her is her painting studio, where she has taught hundreds of children and adults to paint for over 20 years.
Debra, 24th of March 2026, Oil Paint on Canvas, 41x51cm
This portrait of Florence Bean, pensive and staring into the distance with a glass of wine in her hand. This portrait was done in Glasgow in the fall of 2025. In the top left you can see the dark night outside.
Florence, October 12th 2025, Oil Paint on Canvas Paper, 23×29cm
This double portrait expresses the unbridled joy of mother and daughter on a warm summer night at sunset.
Just Before, 19th of October 2024, Oil Paint on Canvas, 60×90 cm
In this double portrait a little boy shares his wonder of nature. This piece is set in the sand dunes of cape cod, a beauty that if not conserved may be washed away by coastal erosion and sea level rise.
The Sea by Scargo, 9th of April 2026, Oil Paint on Canvas, 100×150 cm