Expanding Waters

2020, 92 1/2”H x 56 3/4”L, acrylic on paper mounted on canvas.

Our goal is harmony of all of the elements. This painting makes it clear that the elements are out of balance. There is too much fire.

This painting is in 3 parts. The first, Imbalance: Consequence, shows a sperm whale burning. The whale is suffering from the warming waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The second and center painting, Imbalance of Fire, is a passionate warning that our waters are growing more and more out of balance from the rise of the heat-trapping CO2. This work is painted differently from our other paintings to make clear that there is a startling change happening in our world. The third painting, Imbalance: Mitigation, show an ice cube tray which is Mickett-Stackhouse’s symbol for finding ways to cool our waters and reduce the amount of CO2 in our environment.

2008 & 2021, watercolor, acrylic, charcoal, and ink on paper mounted on canvas, 118” H x 180” L.

This painting is a map of the Gulf of Mexico which includes the Gulf Stream (the Florida Loop Current). The spiral indicates the dynamic of the Gulf but also reminds the viewer of the warm water gyres that break off the Loop Current and go off into the Gulf. When in the Gulf, because of their intense heat, they can intensify a hurricane that passes over them. Eventually the gyre will reunite with the Gulf Stream. The small images of the ice cube trays and the mangroves are there to represent ways to mitigate the warming of the Gulf. Ice cools water. Mangroves are one of the primary absorbers of CO2. CO2, if left in the atmosphere or in our waters, is one of the main contributors to global warming.

2021, acrylic on canvas, 60” H x 107” L.

This painting presents three mangroves which are a primary collector of CO2, a major contributor to the warming of our waters and atmosphere. The more mangroves the better.

Cooling Giverny

2021, 30” H x 72” W. acrylic on canvas / Ice Cube(s) #5 - 67, 2021, 5”x 7” or 7” x 5”, acrylic on canvas.

This painting shows the mangroves as cooling agents much like ice. However large a contribution the mangroves make to cooling our environment, they cannot do it alone. Now is the time for action.

2015, acrylic on paper mounted on canvas, 64” x 125”.

An idealized vision of pure water that fills our memory.

2020, Acrylic on paper mounted on canvas, 60” x 40”.

The Mangrove is painted in shimmering gold in a field of green to honor the mangrove. A mangrove forest absorbs more CO2 than the rainforest. The mangrove is ubiquitous in coastal Florida, protected by law, and deserves all the care and protection we can give it. It is on the front line of managing the growing heat in our waters.

2008/2011/2020, Acrylic and ink on paper mounted on canvas, 116 x 192 in.

This is a map of the Gulf of Mexico with an overlay of a map of all the world’s water currents. It is meant to indicate that the world waters, as the world itself, is all connected. The Tarpon, representing all life in our waters, is encountering the effects of global warming.

2020, Aluminum and paper. 12’H x 28’9”W x 40’D.

Breath of Influence, a walk-through sculpture, evokes the presence of an illuminated full moon. When facing the sculpture, you are invited to immerse yourself in the water-influencing moon. When looking out through the ring from inside the sculpture, you see that the moon is shedding light of the triptych Imbalance. It is warning us of the possibility of our waters being on fire if we do not mend our ways.

2008, Painted Wood , 11'H x 2,400 sq. ft.

In The Blue is a circular walk-through sculpture in four rooms. (Room 2, Crest, is pictured here.) Each section fills an entire gallery wall-to-wall and creates a different aspect of water: gentle interacting currents, a turbulent sea, a calm expanse of water, and a majestic flow. The installation is part of Mickett and Stackhouse’s on-going series of representing water both two-dimensionally and three-dimensionally. This photograph of In The Blue -Crest has been reproduced in several publications including the widely used art history book Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts.

Gateway Trio

Gateway Trio is a sculpture with three components all commissioned by Clayco Inc.

(i) River Song. Mosaic of glass, rock, and metal. 14’H x 72’L in five panels. 2015. River Song is a gestural mosaic depicting the rapids of the James River that runs through the center of Richmond, VA., and which, in many ways, is responsible for the settlement of Richmond.

(ii) Clear Passage, Stainless-steel and glass with two stainless and wood benches. 16’H x 43’L x 14’W. 2015. Clear Passage is boat-shaped in remembrance of the turn basin for the first canal built in the United States that once existed on this site.

(iii) Capitol Flow, Four embedded 250’ long stainless-steel strips. 2015. The flow lines, Capitol Flow, run from the site’s south curb through the lobby and out to the north curb. If the flow lines were extended to the south they would flow into the James River, the geographic reason for the settlement of Richmond. Extending the lines northward, they would flow into the Capitol building, the voice of government. The Gateway Plaza building, through which the lines flow, is the voice of commerce that sustains and energizes the city. And, of course, there is ART, which unifies it all.