I have been working on new mixed media pieces for an upcoming show in Baltimore at the Fleckenstein Gallery The show is bird themed and called …and Your Bird Can Sing co-curated by Deborah Donelson and I am really excited to be part of this group show. I will post the details soon. I also hope to blog about each piece. I’ve been quiet here with all my energies just going to creating the work!
My artist statement for the show:
Birds often appear in my work as messengers, winged beings that live in that space between Spirit and Earth. The reports of the decreasing number of bird populations due to human-induced climate change are alarming. We live among birds, but in our modern lives they fly in and around the edges of our lives. Will our culture only notice them when they are absent? Birds are central to the Earth’s well being, and ours as well. In this precarious time, the birds are messengers and they are speaking loudly.
All of the pieces I created have birds as we often see them, in the periphery of our lives – in the sky, in the branches above, or wading in the distant water. My pieces also include found and salvaged materials – wood, metal, and cloth. The pieces imitate the way birds find and use materials in their own environments. Reusing materials that would be discarded highlights how we need to rethink and reshape our lifestyles to be more sustainable- not just for us, but for all life on Earth.
I remember when I saw those two birds sitting way up high in the top branches of a Sycamore Tree. I felt like I was spying on a quiet moment up there.
This past month I finally got over my fear of power tools and taught myself how to use our table saw, which is able to do angled miter cuts. I have so many ideas but was never able to see them through because I was hesitant. Then I thought to myself, well, I won’t move forward if I don’t try. I created the frame around this house shaped piece using old rulers that I found at an estate sale. I still have so much to learn in regards to cutting and constructing, but it was fun. I’m so excited to start building more things-whether it is for my home or for my art. My world of making is expanding- hurrah!