A Scholarly Pursuit of Art As Research Tool and As Means to Broaden Appreciation of Earth's Soilcapes.

As a soil science professor and professional artist, I passionately dig beneath the surface to revealing flow, energy and color from that which is all dark - the soil.  I create large, commissioned artworks that weave scientific research and mixed-media 2D art to guide, to inspire and to foster dialog between nature and culture.  My interests are in the relationship of humans to soils, and I explore this through means of art-science the connections of shape, form, process and function.  I teach art techniques in my soil science courses, including landscape drawing, pigment production and design.

     What I do would be categorized as Neo-Land Art, whereby the Earth Artist authentically represents ecosystems. Subject matter and art media converge on soils as nexus for evocative imagery and scientific exploration. Using scientifically based techniques of pigment creation for the paintings, the site is permanently and resiliently embodied in the artwork. Site history is conveyed in artwork design. Artwork accompanies scientific research at lab bench and field study site, with synthetic publications for outreach and discourse. Current projects involve soilscapes on several continents.