Several years ago, while at a carnival, I noticed a new trend. Among the traditionally hand painted rides, always decorated by a self trained painter in a clumsy yet winning manner, were appearing rides that had been decorated using new digitally printed materials that adhere to the ride’s surface. The “artworks” on these rides were stock photo quality photographic images, clumsily montaged. I realized that economics would prevail, and as new & refurbished rides cycled into the carnivals, this look would eventually supplant the traditional handcrafted cottage industry art form of decorating carnival rides. I started searching out the best of those traditionally decorated carnival rides, incorporating them into my landscape work.

Recently I have been printing my photographic imagery on antique tablecloths. Their beautiful textures and detail, laboriously created by unknown women, touches me. There are echoes in this obsolete craft to the surface decorations in the carnival world. Both are an attempt, by use of craft, to decorate the surfaces of our world. Quite recently I have gone from printing on square tablecloths to experimenting with round doilies and other unusually shaped linens. The shapes seem to speak well to the oddness of my carnival and boardwalk imagery.