These watercolors, with the collage topographic maps, are from my most recent series of works which focus on the flora, fauna, and landscapes of the beautiful northern San Diego County back country. My goals are to capture the hypnotic beauty of the expansive mountain views, while showing the detail of wildflowers , branches of trees, animals, insects, and human artifacts from the past. This region was home to the ancestors of the Luiseño people. They have lived here for over 6,000 years and still live here today.

The more I learn about their ancestors, the more I respect and admire their way of life. Evident in their economic and family structure was a respect and understanding for life in all its forms. People made a living off the land here for over 6,000 years and they did not destroy or degrade it. Scientists are only now understanding how well Native American peoples understood ecology and were cultivators and caretakers of the oaks, the plants, and the land that supported them. Men hunted deer, rabbit, and other game animals to provide food and other necessities. A hunter's kill was not to be eaten by himself, but was given to others. The hunter's meat was provided to him by others, also. Can you imagine what our lives would be like today if people still had to offer their "kill" to someone else? We cannot bring back this vanished way of life, yet we can learn a lot from the "old ways" of the people of the past. I have entitled many of my paintings in the Luiseño language because that was the first language of this place.

Click here to view selected pieces from the Ancestral Homelands series.