Rock, paper, scissors!!
Or in my case rock, paper, wood! All of these I have loved to hunt since childhood! Brought up in upstate New York during the 60’s, the woods and creaks nearby were our places to hunt for clay, stone and wood. My mother was my first teacher, an artist in her own right. She taught me how to look for stones, fossils and wood early in my life, and now its part of my very being. There’s nothing like the smell of wet rock, being outdoors and seeking the objects of my hearts desire to create with!
The combination of creating with rock, paper and wood has been a magical journey for the past 20 plus years. I started out with fibrous pre-dyed colored papers that I would purchase piece by piece from art stores wherever I traveled. These colored papers are made from all over the world and from different items such as beetle dung, mulberry fibers and banana leaves. My love of paper evolved into creating my own pigmented papers. Currently I purchase Japanese papers to elevate and refine my trademark style of paper painting. I use diverse ways to use my paper in my paintings with batik resist, gelatin mono printing and sewing some papers and applying them to the canvas.
I started to create the wood and stone sculpture about three years after I became a full time artist. When I first started sculpting I carved sacred stone figures with smaller stone inlays and also learned how to weld. I would find the stone in local streams here in TN, Arkansas and also on trips through out the West or abroad overseas. Since my work is larger and taller in recent years I use wood to sculpt taller figures and I have a keen interest in the curved beech to create unique compositions. I have been gifted a lot of found wood by dear friends. In my studio I have storage of a large collection of seasoned wood that it could easily last my lifetime yet I’m always up for just one more piece. My trademark, which has helped me to stand out amongst other artist is the use of papers to cover my sculptural figures. Layers of color are added to the paper which lends the sculpture to look similar to stone. Added elements of wood, stone or even welded twig like branches for adornment are used on many of my sculptures. With almost every piece of wood or stone I can remember where I found them or who gave them to me.
My art is a reflection of the peace that I maintain in my life from being outdoors. There is that childlike contentment, my connection to earth and the organic theme is that is forever a calming factor and the curiosity for the viewer. As a person wonders and looks deeper so is the spirit set free…………
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