Artchangeslives II

Bastiano (Aristotle) da Sangallo (1481–1551), The Council Episode of the Battle of Cascina, after Michelangelo Buonarroti, 1542. This painting preserves part of Michelangelo’s lost composition for the unfinished Battle of Cascina Thomas Hart Benton (1889–1975), Martha’s Vineyard. I was at the Raphael exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and I was not expecting much after being at the…

The Ordinary — a Pride Month group exhibition at Collective Z Gallery featuring works by participating artists. “Being queer is ordinary. So is making good work.” — Collective Z, The Ordinary exhibition statement When Collective Z announced The Ordinary, I immediately understood why the title mattered. For many of us, simply living our lives has too often been treated as something unusual,…

Marsha P, watercolor and ink on paper, 2025 Accepted: The Ordinary — Collective Z, New York I’m happy to share that my piece “Marsha P. (Johnson)” has been accepted into The Ordinary, a Pride Month group exhibition at Collective Z in New York City. The exhibition opens June 4, 2026 and runs through June 30. Michael and I will leave this Thursday to attend the opening on June 4 and return to the…

Fool on the Hill — ink on Paper, 4 x 5in — inspired by The Fool on the Hill, The Beatles 🌿 May 22, 2026 — Fool on the Hill Today “The Fool on the Hill” popped into my head. When I was a kid, I identified with that song, and honestly, I still do. What hit me today is that the song really isn’t from the fool’s perspective. It’s from the people watching him. Everybody deciding who he is from the…

“They call me a legend in my own time, because there were so many queens gone that I’m one of the few queens left from the ’70s and the ’80s.” — Marsha P. Johnson A print honoring Marsha P. Johnson and the continuing visibility, courage, and humanity of queer lives. Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle German Etching paper. Edition of 100. Signed and numbered. British Vogue / ARTS &…

How do I map meaning before words arrive? Making Meaning — Opening a Sketchbook, 2026. I think that’s it. Finding my way in. Then starting to move about the page. Finding another opening. Seeing a shift, a row, an arrow, a direction. Then each line takes shape and organizes itself, much like this drawing was created. That’s how my brain functions. That’s how I find meaning. I’ve always seen…

Mapping Existence (2005)Pen on paper, 12′ × 12′Tracing my shadow. A drawing from 2005, one of a series called Mapping Existence.  I’ve spent a lifetime around art — teaching it, designing it, selling it, and making it. Funny thing: becoming a full-time artist later in life may be the hardest chapter yet. Still working. Still becoming. Query What keeps you doing what you’re doing?   Another map…

The ArtChangesLives(Dot)Com logo — a magenta high heel on cyan, representing who I am, the work I do, and the life I claim. This stiletto mark represents ArtChangesLives(Dot)Com, but it also represents me. Its stiletto symbol meaning is deeply personal. Growing Up Different As a child, I loved crayons, paper, toy service stations, record players, cameras, and yes, even dolls. I was drawn to…

Pen and Ink | The Space Between — 5 × 5 in Walking Reflection — April 17, 2026 Serious Play, Solemn Play Years ago, I showed my students at Minneapolis College (MCTC) a video by Paula Scher on serious play vs. solemn play, and I find myself returning to that idea again. “Serious play is about letting go and allowing things to happen. Solemn play is about controlling the outcome.” — Paula…

Walking Reflection — April 14, 2026 When is The Work Finished? Door-05192024, Mixed Media, Pen and Digital, Hendricks 2024 “The work is done when it has nothing more to say to you.” — Robert Rauschenberg I made an appointment to have ten pieces framed — thinking about when a work of art is finished. And then I canceled it. At first, I thought I had chickened out. That I didn’t have the courage to…

Tenement-02172026-watercolor Lately I’ve been thinking about what remains of us. Not reputation. Not a big story. Not even the full face. Just trace. A shadow on concrete isn’t the person, but it proves something stood in the light. I keep circling the idea that existence doesn’t require constant visibility. When awareness drops away — sleep, silence, the spaces between — there isn’t spectacle.…