"Face Cards of Life" It is my belief that we are dealt, through the "luck of the draw," a hand of challenges, dreams and constructs that we must "play out" during our life's journey.  This journey is examined in the "Face Cards of Life" painting project.  The "card" paintings are based on the double-faced structure of face cards in an ordinary deck of playing cards.  These are, of course, the most powerful cards in the deck. There is nothing ordinary in these "Face Cards of Life" paintings.  The subject of each painting is familiar, but the unusual design allows me to present two provocative, dichotomous views that may complement or expand or contradict.  This structure also allows the paintings to be hung "upside down" with each view provoking a new response.  This will challenge completely one's perception of the images thereby arousing curiosity and forcing engagement. Each "Face Card of Life" painting is based on extensive research of ideas, sounds, text and images--both worldly and spiritual; contemporary and ancient; familiar and foreign and real and imagined.  The source of my material is my passion for life; my personal beliefs; my interest in nature, literature, science, mythology, history and religion. I want people to be surprised challenged, provoked, puzzled, disturbed, even amused or repelled by the "Face Cards of Life" paintings.  For example:  What would the world be like if we prayed to a female God?  A black madonna? An old white woman?  What if we saw the heavens at Mother Moon and Sister Sun?  If we did, would birth be holy and war repugnant? The cards also ponder:  How does one depict the "Dark Night of the Soul" or "Chaos"?  How much brilliance and creativity have we lost with war?  Are the Ancients still among us?  Is there a need for Rebirth?  Are we Metamorphosing into a look-alike, think-alike, bland society?  Are our personal "Masks" transparent and meaningless? Each painting is created carefully and meticulously using both realism and abstraction.  The images were created with watercolor enhanced with silver and gold leaf, egg tempera, ink and collage. Finally, there is no "right side up," no one way of looking at anything.

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