Portents Along the Watershed looks at how our treatment of the water systems throughout the North American continent mirrors the larger western view on environmental stewardship. Myopic by its nature; there is no real coexistence. All natural systems are made to work for the needs of the society regardless of the state of natural ecosystems. We see this peak in the mid late 20th century with the catastrophic use of pesticides leading to the birth of the modern environmentalism movement but while some change has occurred the Spectacle of the larger materialism of Western culture will not be stopped. This body of paintings looks at how the basic infrastructure of our watersheds has no foresight to its long-term effects on the environments they occupy. Dams are the most obvious representation of human intervention along our rivers whether they are hydroelectric giants or old mill dams, represent the same threat, dividing a once single ecosystem into two and not allowing fish to swim upstream nor river silt to flow down. Culverts are another structure that fundamentally alters a waterflow, by making a stream flow into a smaller pipe juvenile fish struggle to swim upstream because of increased current and the animals that use the edges of the river as trails must attempt dangerous road crossings. Throughout these paintings the structures are shown separated from the environments they occupy. I wanted the viewer to feel their oddness but also to begin pondering ways to construct our infrastructure in a way that is cohesive with the natural world and maybe begin to see that the land has its own inherent right to exist and thrive.