Collaborations with Mario Laplante
Mario and I made this series of work during an extraordinarily inspiring visit to the Burren in County Clare, Ireland. Geological phenomena created by the last ice age 15,000-20,000 years ago resulted in the dramatic limestone landscape we encountered at every turn. We witnessed the life that this landscape supports, cows, horses, and other domestic animals roaming freely and sure-footed on the stony hills and rock shelves as well as fox and weasel, both of which stopped by for a visit at the house/make-shift studio we had created. The abundant and varied wildflowers, diminutive, colorful and resilient that appeared to grow in every crack and crevice in the limestone filled the air with remarkable and varied scents.
What else informed these images?
• The ancient stonewalls climbing the hills and dividing the meadows
• Ruined castles and remnants of long abandoned stone houses
• Graveyards with old and new markers, tended and untended
• Cathedrals and churches, glorious and humble
• Vines, moss, and brambles enthusiastically climbing and occupying the remnants of anything human-made
• The Atlantic Ocean, rhythmic, powerful, musical, and mesmerizing
We made these compositions with gratitude and the desire to honor and share our experience.