Springing into action . . .
March 17, 2011
The seeds planted in the fall, after a long winter’s sleep are now stirring . . . . physically and metaphorically. March is a month of anticipation and creation for me. Last year I was inspired to create “Kohaku!” – the 2010 art prize project. This spring my creativity is flowing with smaller scale gallery items like the “little table coffee book” and gift items for entertaining in style. I will also publish a large coffee table book of my studio work for the past 20+ years.
My primary focus for this year is to come off my creative sabbatical and re-launch my studio – it is what I was born to do . . . however this phase of my creative development is spurring me to delve deeper in to my interior to birth work that will reach and impact more people. How this will manifest is still unclear to me but I feel it stirring.
As a creative, I “see”, “feel”, interpret and respond differently to this world of ours and it is often misunderstood leaving me to feel estranged at times, the proverbial round peg in a square hole. The challenge for me always has been the struggle to “fit in” with the world around me. But I already do. I have a unique place in the grand scheme of things as do we all. My gifts of sensitivity, understanding and the ability to find beauty and awe in the world around me excite me and compel me to interpret and share it, as I feel it, with mediums that seem unrelated or incongruous. THAT is the challenge I just absolutely LOVE.
The ability to interpret naturally occurring events, objects and experiences into artistic expression which conveys the essence of a thing without being that exact thing or a direct representation of it. And it does not need to be complicated. My tendency is toward minimalism. This is quite evident in my contemporary religious work. With simple flowing lines and seemingly minimal imagery, I can convey numerous concepts and metaphors intertwined, overlapping, and merging with each other. My hope is that the movement and messages within the piece will resonate deeply, on a core level, with the viewer so they will receive and understand on a level which may not be conscious for them but will, somehow, reach that inner place of Grace we all KNOW. Art and artists are asking the viewer to “feel” first, rationalize later . . .
"Give Thanks, Sing Praise, Declare God's Steadfast Love"
At first glance, the color is the most striking aspect of this piece. In actuality, the majority of this panel is clear textured glass. The color stems from pieces of dichroic glass mounted perpendicular to the panel itself leaving them almost invisible. The message here is that the Divine fills our lives with rich beauty and dimension and yet remains unseen or intangible; that same light also stems from inside of us to the world. The central image is triune (the trinity): a Nautilus – symbol of eternity; a Cornucopia (give thanks) – symbol of abundance and bounty ( both of which are promises to us from God); and a Ram’s horn (declare God’s love) – which was used as a call to worship back in the day. The bottom section of the panel, under the main image, are geometric, bevelled shapes which actually represent musical notes (sing praise) as the first music was composed of “shape notes” and these shapes are the actual notes of the hymn verse of the stewardship theme.
Inspiration is the voice of the divine. We all hear it but do not always act on it. This is the “rush” that I hope all of us experience many times over in our lives. When I act on my inspiration, be it in the form of art or a daily activity, I am filled with joy and excitement and that energy is transferred into the work or activity ultimately making it a success regardless of the outcome. At that moment, we are in sync with our truth.
