Je' t'aime Perris
	Oil on canvas series (click individual images)
	Perris, California is 86 miles south-east of Los Angeles. I followed my daughter there to her favorite California skydiving “drop zone” to watch her jump. As you exit the freeway, you’re thrust into “downtown” Perris, all three blocks of it. Unfortunately, most of the mom and pop stores are closed or out of business since the arrival of several “big box” stores nearby. This scenario is common in small towns all across America. I photographed the three blocks, stitched the pictures together and came up with eight basic groupings ranging from 18” to 52” long (all are 9” in height). It took two years to complete the eight paintings in the series. It is a socio-esthetic commentary on the state of the economy that soon independent stores will be museum-quality retrospects of the past.