Not Lavender or lavendar - but Equiangular

Toto 2
With your dangerous beauty you
are like unto a tornado,
touching down,
laying waste to trepidation...
I am drawn, into your world,
seeking an Oz of my own.

Let me trade silver
for your ruby set in gold.
I look for you in the yellow moon -
while the wind and City keep you,
I keep this to hold.

... for Peter, 2006 c. ply

Logarithmic Spirals, 24 x 24 - Acrylic on deep cradle panel

My fascination with storms and whirlwinds likely has much to do with growing up in "Tornado Alley," an area of the Midwest whose borders shift with ever changing weather patterns. Though I now live in the foothills of the Appalachians, I long for a big, big sky, full of mystery and the promise of a story borne on the wind in whispers and murmurs - and deafening roars.

The images I paint arise out of stories read and weather footage viewed, as well as memories, dreams and imagination. Sure, the Wizard of Oz is a fantasy, but as a child I fully expected the next tornado to carry me to a place where horses changed color and creepy monkeys carried off little dogs! (To this day I can't abide monkeys...)

The science of twisters fascinates my left brain as well. Tornadoes, cyclones, hurricanes, galaxies, and the Chambered Nautilus are all examples of logarithmic spirals, which often appear in nature. Spira mirabilis, "the marvelous spiral" was first described by Descartes in the 1600's. Marvelous spirals, indeed...






The "Pop" art of the 60's, classic " hypnosis wheels", the boinging eyes of cartoon characters - each made much of spinning spirals.

Wow - Four equiangular spirals (hurracanes) seen from satellite orbit.

And my personal favorite spiral done by an artist?

Robert Smithson's Spiral Jetty, 1970

And here - by way of Stu's comment, is a piece by another of my favorite conceptual artists: Richard Long.



Lots of circles, spiral and targets...