A love of antique photography spurred my Discarded series of works. I love antique stores and through the years I’ve often found myself sifting through bins filled with an array of formal portraits, family snap shots, polaroids, class photos, all mixed up, transfixed by the faces. Who are these people? What were their lives like? What happened to these families? And how did all these photos end up disposessed in a bin mixed with hundreds of other familes, on sale for a quarter apiece? I decided to start a series of paintings featuring these images, to give them new life and meaning. I’ve worked in multiple mediums for this series, including transparent watercolor, encaustic and collage.