Family stories are often preserved in ordinary objects made to be used, played with, and eventually forgotten. Years later they reappear at garage sales, flea markets, or antique stores carrying far more than scratches and faded paint. They quietly carry the memories of the families who once loved them.
That's the essence of American Material Memory.
My drawings are not celebrations of rarity, collectibility, or nostalgia for nostalgia's sake. They are portraits of memory I call American Material Memory. By isolating familiar objects and rendering them with extraordinary care, I invite viewers to slow down long enough for forgotten moments to return. The drawing becomes less about the object itself and more about the life it quietly remembers.
Croquet reminds me of summer afternoons, family picnics, and Fourth of July gatherings along the St. Clair River. But this drawing means something else to me as well. It was while working on this piece that I discovered how to make Prismacolor pencil behave the way I'd always imagined. By melting and modeling the color, then blending graphite with Gamsol, I finally achieved the depth, softness, and surface quality I'd been searching for.
That breakthrough wasn't simply technical. It became the visual language that finally allowed me to draw American Material Memory the way I had always envisioned it.
Mounted Artwork Description
After finishing this drawing, I carefully trimmed it from its original sheet, then professionally mounted it on Canson XL Mixed Media Paper (98 lb / 160 g/m²), which I selected to match the original drawing paper. The mounted presentation features clean, precision-cut edges surrounding the original artwork. The graphite retains its characteristic range of soft greys, crisp detail, and natural metallic sheen, while the Prismacolor pencils provide rich, wax-based color and smooth tonal transitions. The artwork is securely adhered to the backing, lying perfectly flat with a clean white border that frames the original drawing without altering the original image.
Family stories are often preserved in ordinary objects made to be used, played with, and eventually forgotten. Years later they reappear at garage sales, flea markets, or antique stores carrying far more than scratches and faded paint. They quietly carry the memories of the families who once loved them.
That's the essence of American Material Memory.
My drawings are not celebrations of rarity, collectibility, or nostalgia for nostalgia's sake. They are portraits of memory I call American Material Memory. By isolating familiar objects and rendering them with extraordinary care, I invite viewers to slow down long enough for forgotten moments to return. The drawing becomes less about the object itself and more about the life it quietly remembers.
Croquet reminds me of summer afternoons, family picnics, and Fourth of July gatherings along the St. Clair River. But this drawing means something else to me as well. It was while working on this piece that I discovered how to make Prismacolor pencil behave the way I'd always imagined. By melting and modeling the color, then blending graphite with Gamsol, I finally achieved the depth, softness, and surface quality I'd been searching for.
That breakthrough wasn't simply technical. It became the visual language that finally allowed me to draw American Material Memory the way I had always envisioned it.
Mounted Artwork Description
After finishing this drawing, I carefully trimmed it from its original sheet, then professionally mounted it on Canson XL Mixed Media Paper (98 lb / 160 g/m²), which I selected to match the original drawing paper. The mounted presentation features clean, precision-cut edges surrounding the original artwork. The graphite retains its characteristic range of soft greys, crisp detail, and natural metallic sheen, while the Prismacolor pencils provide rich, wax-based color and smooth tonal transitions. The artwork is securely adhered to the backing, lying perfectly flat with a clean white border that frames the original drawing without altering the original image.
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