SANCTUARY 21
It took 4 weeks, 8 hours a day even through the heat wave
to make the 36-foot mural that will hang behind the tents 
in Sanctuary Part Three.
Finally I spread out the mural in my driveway.
Seen from the far side, that’s me on the distant ladder.
I was relieved because…
…this is my funky outdoor studio
and I couldn’t see the two 18’ sides together until now.
The table in the center is 3 feet by 7 feet 
(an old screen door on horses)
so the canvas crunches on the ground as I move it.
Here’s a finished detail about 4 feet wide.
The sky is acrylic and pastel, the top mountains are pastel,
the bottom foreground is found objects and plant pieces, and…
…the “mountains” in mid-range are stapled creases of canvas.
The only way to drag each half
from the driveway back to the workspace
was to wear it as a cape.
Here goes the second 18 foot cape.
Yay! The mural is done until Sanctuary Part Three 
hangs in January with the entire series!!!


*
Please join me (virtually or in person) for upcoming shows –
Sanctuary Part Two (the rafts) will be exhibited from Oct. 6 to Oct. 31
At TAG Gallery, 5458 Wilshire Blvd., LA 90036.
Appointments are available by calling (310) 829-9556.


AND Sanctuary Part One has a solo show
at Gallery 825 from Oct. 31 to Dec. 4.
SANCTUARY 20
These little girls try so hard for you to accept them
holding “Hi” and smiley signs
that belie the worry on their faces.


Perched against a painted wall, bare feet dangling,
they are the greeters welcoming you to Sanctuary Part 3.
They appeared as sketches in Sanctuary Part One,
but look at the difference since I freed them 
from the canvas and gave them legs with pants!
The “wall” behind them is re-purposed too
from this abstract painting made years ago.
This is how the canvas drapes behind the wall.


The reclaimed materials reflect a theme throughout Sanctuary:
value everyone and everything.

************************************************************************

This family just arrived…
…with a mother’s anguish…
…and her quickly stuffed suitcase
spewing whatever clothes she could grab.
(It’s another rescued element: my battered handbag.)
She holds a roll of film but it has no pictures.
Did she plan to photograph her home before it was gone?
Or is she keeping it for a future she doesn’t know?
Another salvaged painting forms the roof of her tent,
torn and weathered like her.
But they’re safe now. They’ve arrived
in Sanctuary.
SANCTUARY 19
The one-room school in Sanctuary Village
overflows with kids from all over the world
arrayed in rows at desks made of bark.
At the back, a mom brought her baby,
a daughter who clutches mom’s dress,
and a son who shows off his Nike shirt.
Beside them 3 little girls try to cope:
the biggest clenches her fist,
the littlest grasps an incongruous charm,
and a brave girl raises her hand.
In front of them, these kids discover new notebooks.
But this girl sits alone. Everyone here is a refugee. 
What did she lose?
Crouched at the other side, 
she’s 14 and sees no path forward.
What can this school do for her?
The brightest spot in this story of the one room school
is at front: a colorful map of the world
and the children’s delight.
This part of Sanctuary 3 is still in progress. 
It won’t be in a black box (that’s just for the photo).
Next the school gets a grass floor
set against an 18 ft. mural. 
That will happen in August!
SANCTUARY 18
SANCTUARY has always been symbolic.
Yes, it’s about the journey of refugees
but now we are all undone
in the winds of revolution.


Amidst the passion and action of protests…
…this traditional woman
only wants to protect her children.
She keeps her daughters in traditional clothes,
safely home she believes.
But this little boy loves his Lakers shirt,
proof that heroes who jump so high
they almost fly are possible,
somewhere he’s never seen.
And this kid, 7 or 8, is outta here
as soon as he’s old enough.
Mama won’t be able to stop him.
Or protect him. 
Making this piece involved a dress pattern.
Here it is on my studio table, ready for the backing.
The final piece is a cube, 3ft x 3ft x 3 ft. 
It represents the perfect balance 
this woman desperately wants 
to shelter her family.
*************************************************************************************
The second piece in June is “on series.”
SANCTUARY is a multi-part installation. 
Though I post individual structures 
this laundry place inhabits a context …
…where little girls…
…may seem hopeful.
The “water” is a painting on silk
re-purposed from my 2014 series,
and the metal ring came from a rotted wooden barrel.
I found the net in an alley.
It’s hung with clothes from a give-away bag.
The floor is used coffee bean burlap.
And with these humble materials
daily life goes on.
SANCTUARY 17
The second shelter in Sanctuary Part 3
is a refuge made of sticks and burlap 
like the simple hug we all need now.
This man emerged from charcoal 
and my job is to make him a place.
The armature inside the legs and arms 
is paper towel and toilet paper rolls,
nothing fancy or expensive here.
He waits on my workshop table
above the coffee bean bags on the floor.
I bent sticks with twine to make the arch of the shelter.
It’s drying on my back fence.
The structure is designed with duct tape on used cardboard. 
(The finished version is on foam core for strength).
Now he’s home.
**************************************************************************
For the next shelter in May
I found paintings from my 2013 Fire series…
…reinterpreted now for refugees needing warmth. 
Also from years ago I found an abstract canvas
that didn’t fit any other project.
The flip side of that canvas was always red
and now it reflects the fire in a habitat.
The tent was constructed with foam core 
and a found metal pipe.
The paintings are positioned.
And the canvas is draped as a roof.
Flame tea-lights illuminate the people 
in their finished home.
SANCTUARY 16
As I begin Sanctuary Part 3
“shelter” attains a deeper meaning 
as we shelter in place 
and think of those who have no shelter.
 I always start with a rough charcoal sketch…
…later refined with chalk.
The child’s emotion looking up at his mother 
comes through the first sketch…
…later expanded on a scrap of raw linen.
This is a full sketch of the woman before adding… 
…her arms and hands. 
The armature is cardboard from paper towel rolls,
echoing the plain, essential needs of survivors,
humble materials… 
… clothed with the basic raw linen.
I attached the figures to structural beams 
wrapped with the same burlap and twine as in the rafts.
Nothing is fancy: That’s duct tape on a cardboard box.
The roof is made of used coffee bean bags,
the same as walking figures carried in Part One.
At the end, I added pottery for food
so they can shelter here.
SANCTUARY 15
Now we are at sea, isolated in our lifeboats.
So the rafts of Sanctuary are symbolic.
No real refugees cross great seas
with Grandma hanging clothes on a tiny raft.
Most travel on boats so crowded…
… that despite bravery…
…some sink.
Still, we arrive through rough waters.
How do we do it?
Some can hold on.
And some must be pulled from the sea.
This is the final piece in Sanctuary Part Two.
I had thought the rafts were complete.
Now I want the last work to honor
those who rescue others.
SANCTUARY 14
This month’s raft was difficult — 
Difficult to construct, 
with multiple figures in the water, hanging on,
difficult to deal with the subject,
difficult to feel.
The base is layered with roped logs
on a seaweed texture then topped with bark.
A mother reaches to pull up her child 
who grasps the braided rope of the raft
On another part of the raft 
this man…
…holds onto a rope
that might pull his family up.
Seen from above (as we would in a gallery)
this would be awfullydifficult for them.
SANCTUARY 13
A baby refugee drifted on a raft 
of bulrushes that grew along the Nile
in the Old Testament tale of Moses.
 
Well, bulrush grasses also grow in L. A. yards
where I found them, reminding me
simplicity can be strong.
This raft has only the shoes left by a child…
and the lush crowns of grass that remain.
Sanctuary Part Two is nearly complete
so I made a model of the gallery
where the rafts will be exhibited in July.
The scale is ½ inch = 1 foot.
The width represents 40 feet.
Of course these little stacks with blurry photos
can’t express the experience.
 
But the model showed me an area at the back
around 20 ft. wide and 10 feet deep
where the final element will go:
 
Capsized rafts.
Someone told me to make smiling happy people.
I do hope those traveling by water arrive at a sanctuary.
But some don’t. 
 
These 3 figures will be a small part of the capsized section,
faces down, their arms sunk into black fabric
that will cover the gallery floor like water.
 
Beyond them other figures will be pulled out of the sea
onto new rafts next month.
 
The rescues will be here soon!

SANCTUARY 12
In Sanctuary Part 2 the refugees escape on rafts 
from a huge black mural — fire, smoke, flying debris —
36 feet wide and 7 feet tall.
 
It’s made of two 18 foot canvases 
(the seam in the center won’t be visible)
photographed on trees in my yard where it doesn’t fit.
Half the left side folds behind a tree
And I promise the gallery will not have oranges.
Sigh. 
Please come see it on a big wall in July.
This detail hints at the gritty texture throughout.
Meanwhile, the refugees continue to flee.
A frightened child clutches bags stamped “product”
at the front of a double-mast raft…
…while these men struggle to row
on a separate mast far behind the child.
I tried to photograph the finished raft in my studio
but these desperate rigs need to be witnessed in context.
Next, here’s a work in progress:
This woman, laden with bags, 
holds out her palm (of clay) to visitors 
in the front of another double raft.
Behind her this precious family rides.
I love this detail of the woman’s hand
holding the baby’s foot.
These “logs” wrapped in burlap and twine
bordered by tree bark, bounded by rope 
will become the base of their raft…
…sailing away from a burning land
to sanctuary.