The Big Crafty, July 2022

Drawn to the ephemeral from a background as a choreographer, my current work explores the beauty of natural change that catches my eye.  My nature inspired ideas come from daily moments; the small hands of my child as tiny gifts, my morning walks past neighborhood yards with my dog, or hikes through the woods with my family. Gardens are a constant in my life that represent change, past moments of time. I find myself transported to childhood thoughts of rows of my grandmother’s roses, the fragrance of summer and the squeeze of my hand through my mom’s strawberry netting past tiny flowers to extract juicy fruit. As an adult they subsume walks and talks through my dad’s garden as he shares the marking of time through the change of his garden, the many gardens I have made space for and the many gardens I have left behind, these are touchstones to my memory.  Gardens bring us together and help us create memories as we share seeds, plants and techniques. They bring us surprises in the form of flowers we never knew were there, longing for a moment in the year and thoughts of another’s kindness as blooms resettle in their magnificence. 

 

When flowers and nature capture my eye and make a mark on me in some way, I explore ideas two dimensionally. I doodle to simplify and also draw it to find the details of the forms, and then I transfer marks onto the surface of the clay. I use earthenware and low fire to produce rich colors as I capture and share a tiny piece of the world; small parts of the world where we can find joy, calm and connection.