FALLS VILLAGE (2021): The wildfires in October 2020 in Los Angeles turned me into a climate refugee in Northwestern, Connecticut. On the banks of a lake, I was inspired by two trees, struck as much by the space around them as by the trees themselves, I became fascinated by the space between the forms. My work often begins with a simple, even slight observation. I returned to the two trees often and was soon using sketches and photos as the basis for a series of small tempera paintings on muslin on wood. Making three-dimensional work inspires a greater urge to merge image with object. Used primarily as a material for theatrical backdrops and by dressmakers for patterns, muslin has an association as a background material. An observation of the trees in Los Angeles Trees as a background for the urban environment, became explicit in the use of muslin.