In May of 2022 we took down some dead Ponderosa pines on the land. In one of the biggest (+/-150 years) and most compromised we found incredible colors and patterns of fungus and bark beetle activity that probably aided in its demise. One of the trees had an old inclusion that ruined our Sawyer Theo’s blade. We had it cut down and milled on site into some amazing lumber–enough to build a new kitchen area, plus, plus…
Fungus stain and the inclusion:
Being sequestered inside for 3 months during the pandemic has led me to make a book about testing my sanity. It is made up of a series of Rorschach tests that reference the landscape. (Lauri)
4” x 2.5” x 2” Pine bark, cotton, watercolor, ink, collage 2020
COLLECTION: U.C. Berkeley College of Environmental Design library.
Using images of different types of landscape collapse I wanted to make the observation in these extraordinary times of the decline of our environment and our culture. From everything including loss of our creatures, soil erosion, humankind strife and corruption in our institutions that all seem to be on the brink of disaster.
12” x 12” x 1.5” Cotton, ink, collage, birch bark 2020
COLLECTION: U.C. Berkeley College of Environmental Design library
This series started in 2020 as the pandemic began to spread rapidly and California Governor Gavin Newson declared a shelter in place order. In my studio I had paper, ink, watercolors and some old children’s dictionaries. Each day there were reports on the radio of the growing epidemic, racial injustice, police brutality, raging fires & floods, elections, insurrections and evidence of the rise of fascism. I started drawing the most available subject, me. In the dictionaries I found definitions and illustrations serendipitously relating to my feelings and the events of the day. They were collaged along with the self portraits into an artists’ book. As these events escalated, more drawings were made and then more books followed. A total of nine were finished before I ended the series after the more than two years since the pandemic started. (Lauri)
This series is in the collection of artists’ books in the U.C. Berkeley College of Environmental Design library.
This is a field guide of sorts that I started in 1997 after finding an antique book with a color chart for bird identification. I painted the colors on paper pieces and arranged them in a rising and falling rhythmic pattern. Later I added sonograms and mnemonics of bird song or calls corresponding to the colors. A list of the 34 birds is on the back page and is numbered lightly on the preceding pages. (Lauri)
5.5” x 3.5” x 1.25”, Walnut, paper, ink, paint, press type 1997-2022
Collection: U.C. Berkeley College of Environmental Design library
A list of the 34 birds in the book:
