Trumpet Lichen

2022. Acrylic on canvas, 30×60″

Forest Floor, Douglas, Ontario

2020. Acrylic on canvas, 24×60″

Forest Floor, Douglas, Ontario

2020. Acrylic on canvas, 24×60″

Pin Cushion Starburst Lichen (2)

2020. Acrylic on canvas, 48×36″

British Soldiers (fall)

2020. Acrylic on wood panel, 12×9″

Scarlet Pin Lichen

2020. Acrylic on wood panel, 14×11″

Moss and British Soldiers

2020. Acrylic on wood panel, 8×8″

Pelt Lichen

2020. Acrylic on wood panel, 12×9″

Forest Floor, Alice, Ontario

2018. Acrylic on canvas, 60×48

Forest Floor, Alice, Ontario

2019. Acrylic on canvas, 36×30″

Forest Floor, Alice, Ontario

2019. Acrylic on canvas,30×24″

Trumpet Lichen and Pine Needles

2017. Acrylic on canvas, 24×48″

Sea Storm Lichen

2017. Acrylic on canvas 18×24″

Forest Floor, Douglas, Ontario

2019. Acrylic on canvas, 60×24″

British Soldiers – Cladonia cristatella (3)

2016. Acrylic on canvas, 60×36″

Pin Cushion Starburst Lichen (1)

2017. Acryilc on canvas, 24×24″

Lichen V

2014. Acrylic on canvas, 48×96″

Hammered Shield Lichen

2016. Acrylic on canvas, 60×36″

Trumpet Lichen

2016. Acrylic on canvas, 48×36″

British Soldiers – Cladonia Cristatella (2)

2016. Acrylic on canvas, 30×24″

Lichen II

2014. Acrylic on canvas, 60×36″

Lichen Cascade

2016. Acrylic on canvas, 40×30″

Lichen (Golden Field)

2015. Oil on board, 11×14”

Forest Floor, Alice, Ontario

2016. Acrylic on canvas, 24×48″

Lichen III

2014. Acrylic on canvas, 60×36″

Lichen IV, Apalachicola, Florida

2016. Acrylic on canvas, 60×36”

Lichen (Alice, Ontario)

2013. Acrylic on canvas, 36×60”

Lichen IV

2014. Acrylic on canvas, 48×48″

Lichen III, Apalachicola, Florida

2015. Acrylic on canvas, 30×30″

Lichen I, Apalachicola, Florida

2015. Acrylic on canvas, 30×30”

Lichen I

2014. Acrylic on canvas, 36×60”

Lichen Leafy

2015. Oil on canvas, 12×16″

Shelf Fungus

2014. Acrylic on canvas, 24×18”

British Soldiers – Cladonia cristatella (1)

2014. Acrylic on canvas, 30×30″

Forest Floor, French River, Ontario

2013. Acrylic on canvas, 40×24”

Corals of the Forest

2016. Acrylic on canvas, 60×36″

Trumpet Lichen and Moss

2016. Acrylic on canvas , 60×36″

Lichen (Sunset)

2015. Oil on canvas, 30×15”

This ongoing series of paintings of lichen explores a micro-universe that grows on the forest floor, climbs tree trunks and limbs and sprawls across rock cuts.

I am a photo-based painter, and these images were captured on hikes in the forests of Ontario: in the upper Ottawa Valley, along the French River, in the Sudbury area and in Haliburton. As well, I have taken many photos of lichen during my winter vacations in Northern Florida and they too have become subjects for my paintings.

I was compelled to make these paintings because I was attracted to the repetitive patterns of the lichen, the variety of its texture and shapes and its infinite detail. By magnifying lichen as a subject for large paintings, I was interested in presenting them as other-worldly and alien, as if they were of another time and place.