Collaborations

 “Great discoveries & improvements invariably involve the cooperation of many minds.” (Alexander Graham Bell)

Chuck Gumpert and I share a 700 square foot studio. We work back-to-back on two sides of the room, but are often surprised how much our pieces cycle through similar color palettes, shapes and even emotional effects at the same time. We have always seen our work as collaborative in that we critique each other frequently and have come to rely on each other's insights. As a couple for nearly 20 years, we have taken in much of the same stimulation as we travel and observe life together. Yet, we have rarely worked on the same paintings together — until now. In 2020, Chuck and I started collaborating on pieces, literally passing them back and forth. We swap multiple times, each adding layers of color and slight compositional changes over a series of days. It’s a good practice to not be too attached to how the paintings are evolving and it’s fun to get the pieces back at different stages and see how to improve them.

Someone said to me recently that they were amazed that we can create art together. They joked that they can’t even fold laundry with their partner without arguing. I don’t think when we were younger this would have worked. But in our early fifties, we are less competitive and enjoy seeing what working together, pushing each other to use our creative abilities to their best can achieve.

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