100 Leaves   
Public Art Celebrating Beachwood, Ohio's Centennial

Press:  Cleveland.com      
Q.  Public Art:   What's so "public" about it?
 A.  "Public art is art in any media that has been planned and executed with the intention of being staged in the physical public domain, usually outside and accessible to all."  -Wikipedia
  In this case, Junior Acheivement has worked with The City of Beachwood to organize the city's first public art project to celebrate its centennial. 
  On a personal note, I felt connected to this project because my great-grandfather farmed land here until the late 1950's on the property where one of Beachwood's luxury malls sits today.  While I miss his simple home with its looming Beech trees, it feels fitting to take an active role.      
Q.  Who purchased the leaf?
I'm delighted to have been partnered with Richard T. Heffern of ReVera Partners, LLC. who has commissioned its production.  Thank you!
One Chagrin Highlands
2000 Auburn Drive
Suite 200
Beachwood, Ohio 44122
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                                        Key
A.)  The fiberglass leaf has been covered with a coat of white gesso.  You may be able to see that I've lightly pencilled in lines to indicate where the transition from one color to another will be.
B.)  I'm working from the center to the outside edges. Each of the colors chosen represent the actual shades of Beech leaves through the seasons. Here I've blocked in the Summer dark green leaf and added the shadows and highlights on the entire right side as well as a few of the upper ribs on the left.  Can you see the difference?
C.) Shadows and highlights have been added on the entire surface of the dark green leaf.  The Spring lime colored leaf is in place, complete with right side shading .  D.) Close-up.
E.)  Autumn gold partially blocked in.
F.)  Caught this shot in the raking morning sunlight.  It'll be a real eyecatcher when installed out of doors.
G.)  Gold blocked in all around. H.) Close-up.
I.) My favorite man-eater cat Bob is assisting today.  I'm working right to left so the gold shading is completed on the right side in this photo first.  J.) Close-up.
K.) Just couldn't wait to see how this equisite copper paint would look in this application, so I jumped the gun to test it.
L.) Close-up shows the highly reflective properties of Lumiere metallic paints.  M.) Winter's copper paint filled in to the edges.  N.)  And here's me to add scale to the photos, painting a third coat of copper paint on the other side of the leaf.   I'm very happy with the results. O.)  Base painted and ReVera logo laid out. P.)  Logo completed.  Q.)   Leaf delivered back to the warehouse.  That's the job!s


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Special thanks to my good friend Ted Panzeca (above) who is always ready to help at a moment's notice;  I couldn't have picked-up or delivered the leaf without his generous assistance!

And as always, I owe a continuing debt of love and gratitude to my incredibly bright and funny husband Nick (left), who always makes time to help despite his own challenging schedule. Admire his work, or buy his books or music here!