materials
Giving my artist talk for the Marking Time exhibition at Palmer Art, I was endeavoring to explain my lifelong habit, dare I say need, to collect objects. From a young age I have sought out secondhand stores, flea markets, and garage sales, searched for sea glass by the shore. I imagine all the hands that touched the object, wonder about the lives led; sense the history contained within.
Read MoreWhen I was dying cocoons with oak gall and walnut ink, tea bags and coffee grounds, I looked at all of the stained teabags and felt reluctant to toss them. This happens when I am captured by a material. At first I am not even sure what it is that draws me to it. Locked in at home all spring and beyond because of New York’s shelter at home orders, I knew I was fortunate. We were financially secure, had access to outside space and could work from home. I thought about the myriad lived stories across the world during this global pandemic. Each family with its own set of experiences. Children returning home, grandparents moved in for the duration – or worse, prohibited from contact with loved ones. Essential and health care workers on the front lines risking their own lives for others. I wondered what I would remember and hold onto from these long and difficult months.
Read MoreI enjoy this part of the process:
. . . the idea. . .beginning the steps to make what is in my mind a reality
. . . the decisions involved — color, material, process
. . . dying tea bags, opening, closing, composing before stitching
. . . burning paper…choosing the book . . . choosing the paper
. . . what the material conveys and how it portrays content and meaning.
Always the processes and materials I choose include an element of surprise, something I cannot control. This often yields unexpected and unanticipated results that stimulate whole new paths of exploration.
Read MoreI have an art materials obsession. By art materials I mean anything and everything I think will help me physically manifest my ideas. The temptation to seek out new materials and tools pops up throughout the year but is particularly acute in the fall when the allure of new materials becomes a clarion call. For me September still marks the “new year,” perhaps from the years of association first with my and then my children’s academic calendar. Fall also happens to be my favorite season. I revel in the sharp air, the achingly blue skies, the crackle and crunch of dried pods and leaves beneath my feet. There is nothing like being beneath a swirl of bright yellow maple or birch leaves as they swirl and dance around me.
Read More
