I have always been fascinated by volcanoes, it’s part of growing up on a volcanic field with 600,000 years of activity. At Sunset Crater Visitor Center in Northern Arizona, they had a model of what our summit would have looked like over a hundred thousand years ago before it erupted. I would stand in front of the picture of the peaks as they were in the 1990s and push a button which altered the image to show the summit at 16,000 feet. Release my finger and the mountain top disappeared. I could push that button all day. 16,000, 12,000; 16,000, 12,000….

The regions most recent activity, Sunset Crater, was a bubbling burst of volcanic activity in A.D. 1085. There are over 100 extinct young volcanoes in the area.

During my formative years exploring the lava caves and hiking, I was always in love with the way volcanic history formed the landscape.

Today, living in the PNW, there is no shortage of volcanic chatter. In August 2024, Jeff and I took our second trip to Mount St. Helens. I swam in Cold Water Lake where crystal clear water is filtered by pumice. The lake left her impression of energy deep in my bones.

In 2024, just weeks before that volcanic visit, I painted a posterboard with metallic watercolors and cut it up into postcards for the Postcard Poetry Festival. The inspiration came steadily as each day I wrote a new poem based on “objects” in the paint and swirls which I accentuated with watercolor pencil and marker.

I am honored to announce that in the months of July and August 2026, the watercolor and poetry series, which I’ve titled, Answer Back with Beauty, is being featured in the gallery at Float On in Portland, OR.

It’s divided into five themes and I’ve also put together a book by the same name.

One of the five themes is a group of four fiery mountains — Into the Fire. This volcanic theme calls for frames that speak lava and cooling. To represent this cycle, so begins my new experiments with celluclay….!

Watch the short trailer of Sunset Crater National Monument to get all teary eyed!