Mural at the Caroline Elementary School

Here are some photos of the mural about NY and Finger Lakes Region history at the Caroline Elementary School, which was funded by IPEI and a Local Capacity grant from the Community Arts Partnership.

I presented an assembly to the whole school on the project last April, and the students got all excited.  We then started to get to work. We had 6 days of development and composition, which meant that I met with every third through fifth grade class in the library to get images from the internet during their Library Time. Then I met with each class for 15 minutes to show them the composition.  Finally, I worked with every third through fifth grader for 15-30 minutes individually, and with some students for much longer. The mural is all curriculum-based: third grade studies Finger Lakes and NY State, fourth grade studies the Iroquois Nation and fifth grade studies immigration and the Erie Canal. Taking all the students’ images, I came up with the composition for the 143-foot-long mural.

The goal of this project was to create a teaching tool to help students learn both subject matter and art. The teachers have already implemented the mural as a teaching tool in third and fifth grade. It would seem impossible for a student graduating from Caroline not to know the Finger Lakes and NY State Region, now that they walk down this hall each day. This mural really accomplished everything I wanted it to.

Every student and most of the faculty put their handprint on the mural.

Caroline Elementary School hallway

Here's a newspaper clipping from my latest large project, a 143-foot-long mural at Caroline Elementary School.  This was funded by the Ithaca Public Education Initiative and Community Art Partnership, and involved loads of students and volunteers.  Check it out sometime, the subject matter ranges widely through NY state history!

Significant Elements mural

I just finished a mural for Significant Elements, at 212 Center Street in Ithaca, in celebration of this creative recycling business's 20th anniversary.  This mural depicts the history and multiple uses of the circa 1880 warehouse, from undergarment and carriage manufacturing, to airplane parts testing to furniture warehouse, as well as the history of the neighborhood.

This mural project was funded by grants from Tompkins Charitable Gift Fund and The Service League, with sponsorship from Benjamin Moore, Ithaca Painting and Decorating, and individual donations.

Here are some photos of the process, from the original vandalism-prone blank wall through the final product. 

Farm animals

I recently completed some paintings of some of our farm animals, all in acrylic on canvas.  This is our Shetland pony, Tuxedo, who is adorable but whose personality is actually kind of wicked.  I got him for the kids to ride, but he gets a gleam in his eye and immediately tries to buck them off whenever we try that nonsense.

This is one of our hens, a Black Australorpe named Barbara.  Her feathers are amazing, reflecting purple and green in the sunlight.

And this is Gertie, a barred rock hen who lived in our basement for a while getting special care for an injured foot.  I have printed giclee prints of this painting, available at the Farmers' Market or if you contact me.

Silo on 76 Road

An old silo on 76 Road, near Brooktondale.  Acrylic on canvas.

TCPL mural unveiled!

My mural at the Tompkins County Public Library was unveiled in May.  As you see, it features several characters from children's books, such as Puss-in-Boots, Jack from Jack and the Beanstalk, the Cheshire Cat, and the Gingerbread Man.  Also some dragons and castles and other fun things.

Tompkins County Public Library mural

I recently worked with Ithaca High School students on a mural in the library's Thaler/Howell Programming room.  This project The work is supported by an Artist in the Community grant from the Community Arts Partnership made possible with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts.  See the Ithaca Journal article here.