The concept for this piece happened just after the election when I heard the Lukas Nelson song, "Turn Off The News And Build A Garden". Like so many of my friends, I was grieving the fact that I live in a country where a majority of voters thought it was a good idea to elect a hateful, madman as president. When I heard Lukas's song I realized that those of us who did not vote for this vile creature need to develop and embrace strategies to survive the sanction of hatred at the highest level of power. I decided that for myself, the way I can survive and maintain sanity is to focus on building my own "garden". Not a literal garden, but a commitment to counteract the fear, lies, and rampant negativity we confront daily by the would-be dictator and his minions in the white house. Therefore, I am committed to bringing as much positivity, laughter, art, and kindness into our world as I possibly can. This flower-laden girl is titled "Building a Garden". I began work on her by casting many hundreds of flowers in resin and individually painting![]()
and adhering those flowers to my girl's body and headdress. I put the last touch-ups of paint on my garden girl this morning and I spent the day today setting up my giant photo backdrop in my photography studio/garage and photographing her. She stands five feet tall from her base to the tips of the flowers sprouting from her head.
Due to a miscalculation with the last art piece I finished, I ended up with quite a few extra cast resin birds. The desire to use these birds was the motivation for this latest piece. The title is "Learning to Fly". When learning to fly it is advisable to employ a lifting mechanism and follow the directions of several flying experts. The figure is made from air-dry clay, doll arms, old wood spindles, bronzed baby shoes, and cast resin birds. The base features a wood structure with rusted pulley wheels, and she stands five feet tall.
Making art so often results in learning experiences. One of my surrogate scavengers had gifted me with a child-sized shabby chic chair and I envisioned a dog sitting on the chair covered in birds. So I sculpted the dog and cast about 70 birds with resin. The problem was that when I placed the birds on the dog they completely obliterated doggie visually. Soooo....try, try again. I removed all the birds, resurfaced the dog with new clay and repainted the dog and the birds, replacing only around a quarter of the birds I originally used. Lesson learned...Sometimes more is not more.
This is the last call to see my solo show at the First Congregational Church in downtown Boulder. Halloween, Thursday the 31st is the show's last day. The First Congregational Church is on the Southwest corner of Broadway and Pine. Monday through Friday, from 10:00 to 3:00 come to the door at the top of the steps facing Pine that is nearest to the metal folded crane sculpture and ring the bell for someone in the office to let you in. Thanks to all of you who have come to see my art.
It's almost showtime! This Friday, Sept. 6, from 5 to 8 pm, my show will be open at the First Congregational Church in downtown Boulder at Broadway and Pine. If you can stop by (and I certainly hope you can), I recommend that you check out the display in the glass case in the main gallery. I have filled it with small free standing assemblage pieces and my latest addition to that group are these three small pieces.