A Place of Honor

I recently read Broken For You by Stephanie Kallos and Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. As often happens, these stories resonated with me on many levels. It's why I love to read. Both novels are steeped in the waters of WWII. Both literally and figuratively broke apart and reassembled my pitifully spotty knowledge of war and its aftermath. The seed mosaic that resulted is A Place of Honor, borrowing a phrase from the last page of Chapter 28 in Part Three of Broken For You.

  

"The next time you break something, consider the action that might not immediately come to mind: Say a prayer of thanks over what has been broken. Then give it a place of honor. Build it a shrine."

A Place of Honor
Honey locust and redbud pods, redbud and
black alder seeds, sycamore bark
22" x 21"

Taking Flight

I love the quick sketch quality of the smaller seed mosaics. They are such a relief from the large scale installations that require tedious planning and repetitive processes. But working on Taking Flight was an invitation to slow down, be with the piece awhile, play with scale and movement, maybe create a narrative that would bring comfort to a grieving heart.

Taking Flight

catalpa and milkweed pods, sycamore bark

April 2013

in the collection of Jeanne and Bill Weggel

Leap of Faith

By far the largest seed mosaic that I have undertaken, at 20" x 28", Leap of Faith was created for the CAW group exhibit, House on Fire, what matters, at High Road Gallery last October. I think what matters most to me is not something I would frantically reach for if my house was on fire, but something that I carry with me, belief without empirical evidence.  Kierkegaard describes the core part of the leap of faith as the leap. It's as much an internal movement as an outward action. I love that.

Leap of Faith

catalpa and trumpet vine pods, sycamore bark

20" x 28"

September 2013

Seed Mosaics

These are a few of the 6" x 6" mosaics that I completed this year. You can find the rest of them HERE. I'll be selling them at ThumbBox at the OAL Gallery through December, at the Pop-Up Holiday Art Sale at Oakland Nursery from 10-4pm on Saturday December 21, and at my studio at Tacocat Cooperative.

Valley View

Ash Cairn

Motet

End of Day

It's been too long...

Now that Life has settled down and my new studio space feels lived in and worked in, I suppose it's time to fill these pages with all that I have been doing since last March. I don't want to blast a bunch of images and info into the ether either, so I'll drib and drab it over the next few weeks.
In short, last April I closed my studio at Junctionview in light of the fact that the building was scheduled to become a parking lot. 12 of us formed a co-op, Tacocat, and moved a stone's throw away. Short distance, lots of trips, tons of stuff, one injured toe (not mine) and a skinned shin (also not mine). I'd call it a success. We officially opened our studio and gallery space in August and have never looked back. (Call me if you need a drywall tutorial, but I might shoot myself)

Officially, #3

Ready for openhouse

Most-used work station

Yep, must have loft

HAIKU in March

I am currently exhibiting at Haiku through the month of March.

In-Between is an exhibit of a series of seed mosaics that I work on between larger installations. They are simple landscapes and designs inspired by my travels through rural and small town Ohio. Constructed of seeds, bark, pods, and shells, these small-scale works are a quick, expressive means for exploring ideas and experimenting with materials collected from the very places I try to depict.

River's Edge

Spiral Trace

Undercurrent

I met Randall Perkins today

I met Randall Perkins today. He was seated at a table, pencil in fine-fingered hand and paper already filled with images. He had only just arrived at Open Door Studio. From his silvery brush-cut hair and his grizzled chin to his softly rounded Buddha belly he oozed charm and cheer. Eyes bashfully down he mentioned he needed a shave then asked if I had a coke. I’m in love.

I met Randall Perkins today, but I really met him ten weeks ago when I set eyes on his painting "Receding Dreamscape" that was on exhibit at the Columbus Metropolitan Library. It glowed. The Naples yellow shapes, impossibly supported by slender black stalks, popped against the mysterious magenta landscape. And I heard a story whispering in my ear, a tale of purpose and place.

Receding Dreamscape

"Safeguarding the Dream" is a slice of that place, the center of that world where dreams are collected, protected, and preserved.

This piece was created in response to Randall Perkins "Receding Dreamscape". Both works of art will be on display at Open Door Art Studio along with 28 other works created by artists from Open Door and Mother Artists at Work. The exhibit is titled "This Inspired That" and it opens this Saturday, April 14, 2012 with a reception from 5-7pm and closes on June 1. The gallery is open to the public Tuesday through Friday 9am-5pm and Saturday 12-5pm (call 614-486-4919).

 

Safeguarding the Dream

56" x 24" x 24"

Kentucky Coffeetree pods and seeds,

corrugated cardboard, wood, glass

April 2012 

(detail)

(detail)