My work is based upon the photographic image and deals with the juxtaposition of abstract elements within a figurative format. The camera and the photograph have become my sketch book and, as such, seem to influence the manner in which I approach and compose my prints and drawings.

This problem tries to bring together a comprehensive array of themes. There has been a duality between painterly techniques, recognizable images and disjunctive imagery. The subtractive painting technique used has created smooth transitions between images and made these hybrid realities more convincing.

Three intaglio prints and three drawings will be investigated to answer three specific questions. The questions are: 1. Is it possible to isolate the source of subject matter in my work? 2. What effect do media and subject matter have on each other during image development? and 3. Does my subject matter contained in an entire work contribute to the subject matter of my later works?

It was impossible to document all of the important dancers of the era; however, certain individuals were notably exceptional. The purpose of this study was to document and illustrate some of those dancers who impacted and influenced the development of American vernacular dance during the early twentieth century through the mid-1940's. The individuals chosen were as follows: Dewey "Pigmeat" Markham, John Bubbles, Bill Robinson, Earl "Snakeships" Tucker, James Walker and Charles Green (Chuck and Chuckles), Katherine Dunham, Honi Coles and Cholly Akins (Coles and Akins) Josephine Baker, The Derry Brothers (Ananias, Jimmy and Warren), Eddie Rector, Willa Mae Ricker and Leon James. Emphasis was concentrated on capturing an accurate likeness of the individuals as well as on establishing a specific mood. Since all of the above-mentioned individuals were dancers, a special effort was made to recreate the lighting and aura of the stage.

The goal of this study was to construct a body of work encompassing a broad range of wheel thrown functional pots that are accented with hand built additions. I produced a total of forty pieces developed from four forms representing a respective increase in scale. I addressed technical and aesthetic issues during the process. These included glaze combinations, variations of established hand built additions, surface decoration, and form/shape manipulation.

My work already shared some of the characteristics of the gravesites that I proposed to study. They were similar in that they both attempted to integrate sacred and profane imagery. Both called attention to personal events and related these events to a larger scheme. Finally, both were involved with the creation of objects of veneration according to personal edicts, but in relation to already established mythologies. I proposed to create a body of work based on the information gathered from the investigation of three predominantly Mexican graveyards-- one in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, and two outside of Laredo, Texas.

The original proposal was altered for the sake of clarity. In contrast, the new introduction offers a stronger and tighter definition of intent without changing the concept of my concerns. Working through the beginning stages of analysis I began to understand the significance of asking specific questions as a means of focusing my intent. I proposed to continue to explore the evolution of imagery in my work through the creation of seven to ten "pieces." I remained open to and involved with the uses of painting, drawing, photography, installation and combinations thereof.

My objective was to create a body of work using various printing processes. I wanted to communicate my emotional responses to the fertility and childbearing of older women. I wanted to address the realities that become problems for women who wait to have children at an older age and related feelings. Some of these problems were infertility, early menopause, "sticky eggs," and birth defects. There are current medical practices that help these problems such as the freezing of eggs, artificial insemination, and multiple births. I wanted to incorporate ideas about the panic I began to feel about having a child at an older age and my frustration over the lack of open discussion about such feelings. I have combined the use of realism and abstraction in my work. I included dyed and torn paper to lend organic and tactile qualities to the humanistic subject matter. The end result has consisted of various forms of collage and an assembly of the dyed, torn and printed paper.

In my problem I explored the nature and results of the juxtaposition of the sacred and mundane and its relationship to the specific formal elements of image and content in the paintings. I analyzed a small number of paintings (approximately four), selected from the new body of work. This analysis was conducted by answering each of the six stated questions as they pertained to the selected group of paintings as a whole.

The purpose of this investigation has been to review the various forms of passementerie in order to provide a background for weaving narrow bands and ribbons. While the basic fabric structures, plain weave, twill, and satin are used in the production of ribbons, some problems occur in adapting them to the narrow form.

The focus of my study is the utilization of fiber to create interpretations of animal skins that reflect the cycle of nature through varying degrees of multiplication and repetition of the fibers. In exploring this problem, I have addressed the following questions: 1. Which fibers work best for achieving these interpretations? 2. What problems were encountered in creating structural supports? 3. What are the effects of repeating fiber elements?

It was the intention of this project to test selected objects to determine which ones could be used for decoration. If an object became a stable, aesthetically pleasing, part of the glazed piece, then it was considered successful. Two firing temperatures are important to my work; they are 1796 degrees Fahrenheit, oxidation (which is cone 06), and 2372 degrees Fahrenheit, reduction (which is cone 10). I expected some of these objects I chose to work better at the lower temperature, and some to work better at the higher temperature. All objects were test-fired on small plate-tiles at both temperatures. After testing, I decided which items were successful as decorative additions. With these successful objects, I was concerned about what methods of attachment were possible and what surfaces were appropriate.

The emotional and psychological reaction to a chalice is determined in part by the visual impact of the vessel. The goal of this problem has been to explore the visual impact of contemporary techniques and traditional materials, combined with multi-cultural imagery on the perception of the vessel as a chalice.

The purpose of this study was to analyze the physical issues of verticality and architectural reference in the presentation of my figurative sculpture and to determine how these issues affect me as viewer. In this analysis, the term architectural reference refers to the fundamental structural elements historically associated with architecture, such as column, pylon, pilaster, pyramid, elevated platform, and bilateral symmetry. The term does not address broader architectural concepts such as spatial organization, circulation, or shelter.

As a result of my interests I became concerned with 1. The invention of eccentric imagery for use in painting formats. These images were intended to subtly allude to archaic and archetypal objects of forms (artifact reference) yet remain anonymous in terms of absolute identity. 2. Random and ambiguous placement of the imagery on a surface resulting in a mapping or diagramming of a possible 'place,' with a broadly interpreted landscape orientation to space. 3. Paintings having the characteristics of the objects in terms of materials and processes used, surface tactile qualities, irregular shape. These three ideas formed the basis of the problem.

This problem concerns the production of large scale ceramic sculpture and its affect on the working method of the artist. Traditionally, western ceramics deals with functional pieces of a personal scale, that is smaller ceramic works which serve specific utilitarian purposes. The concepts of clay as an art medium and the studio-potter have developed over only the last 125 years of western ceramic history.

At the beginning of my graduate study, a series of clown images was executed. The entire surface was utilized in a rapid and spontaneous manner in the first few drawings. The clown images became more complex and visually perplexing. Yet, through an attentive study of these images, I felt a need to be more direct, expressive, and selective in approach and method. It seemed that, consciously or unconsciously, the process of drawing an image important to me was an attendant characteristic to the actualization of the image. The personal promise in these conceptualized and drawn forms was of major concern to me. My proposal, therefore, was to investigate the existing motivations behind these images, to explore the meaning and significance of the sum total of my work.

In this body of work I have attempted to unify those aspects of utilitarian pottery and sculptural ceramics which I value most. I intended to join the inherent interactive nature of pottery with the capacity of sculptural ceramics to convey content through a personal aesthetic. Through this exploration I have developed a stronger personal expression in clay.

The impetus for this project emerged in an effort to move beyond small scaled weavings executed in neutral hues to larger pieces with more color. All of my previous work had been technically oriented, lacking in direction, and limited to neutral hues which blended well together and were readily available. I determined that the project would involve answering two basic questions: (1) could i successfully push these panels to large scale, and (2) could several of these large panels be manipulated to create an interchangeable piece that would work visually in more than one arrangements.

There are three recurrent themes in my work: 1) environmental installations utilizing ecologically unsound materials 2) incorporating air space with plastics 3) conceptual inspiration derived from dreams. I proposed to address these three themes by employing materials traditionally used for industrial applications (as in plumbing supplies and dry-cleaning bags) as fine arts media using fiber related techniques in environmental sculptural pieces.

This project was an investigation into the specific influences upon my art produced by my living in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for two years from August 1976 through August 1978. Initially, I had to make a major psychological and environmental adjustment. This period of adjustment, referred to as culture shock, was a time of personal confusion about the differences between the American and the Arabian cultures. I characterized my state of mind during this period as a psychological numbness and confusion. This adjustment period altered my interests so that the drawings I had done before I left the United States no longer held their original significance and new interests began to appear. I hope to identify some of the changes that occurred by examining and comparing my earlier drawings with those completed since my return.

The purpose for this study was to investigate the effect of painting and drawing when used as an integral part of sculptural form. The following questions are addressed in this study: 1. Does color increase or decrease the three-dimensionality of a form? 2. When used, is color an integral part of the sculptural form or a superficial decoration? 3. Can drawn line (on the sculpture's surface) be used to flatten or deny the sculptural form? 4. Can drawn line be useful in describing or enhancing sculptural forms?

The purpose of this study was to develop a vocabulary of patterns and motifs based on Persian and Mesopotamian styles. Then, using the characteristics mentioned above, to create a body of work, approximately twenty pieces, using that vocabulary.

I have suggested that the ornamental element employed in my painting functions as historical, cultural and social text, and also as a carrier of ideas and ideals about beauty and art which have been invalidated by the Modernist view. I will explore how the elements of painting: material, paint application, palette, figure/ground relationship, scale and other formal and technical factors, combine and interact to transform, contradict, subvert or negate the ornamental element in the painting; and how in turn these combinations effect the way the paintings function both formally and in terms of content.