Various short writings, essays, thoughts, ramblings…
This piece started out in a masters class by Kirsten Stingle, on doing faces and hands. I’ve always loved doing hands, but this class gave me several more techniques in creating accurate and expressive sculptures. As I continued working on the piece, it began to focus more and more on the topic of human trafficking […]
As I’ve stepped into this time of transition, I’ve been looking for a suitable metaphor to carry with it the feelings I’ve been experiencing as I try to navigate the changes that have been suddenly, and without warning, dumped on my head. …
Some people have asked me about my work process when I sculpt a figure. I took this opportunity to capture a few photos along the way as I was working on a figure sculpture, showing the various steps.
Our pastor, Gary Franklin, has been going through a series called, Jesus- Unpredictable and Untamable, based on the Gospel of Mark. This past Sunday, he went over the story in Mark 11 of Jesus cleansing the temple the day after the Triumphal Entry. Almost as a side thought, Mark tells of Jesus going up to […]
What does it mean to “be present”, to pay attention to the world, especially to the people around you?
Clay, 11″ We often face times in our lives when we have been torn down. But, we are not destroyed. There is life still hidden in the roots, and it will come back to live as tiny shoots… (This piece reflects a theme which has recurred over time through some of my drawings and sketches.) […]
The butterfly has long been a symbol of transformation, beauty, freedom and grace. In particular, it speaks of a transformation at the deepest level — not just a change in outlook, or a vague “hopefulness” that, “things will get better somehow”, but being fundamentally different.
This piece was a bit of an experiment in terms of technique. I do not normally use armatures in my sculptures, partly because if the technical problems of the clay shrinking and cracking when you put it over a static structure, and partly because it’s harder for me to “see” what the piece is going to look like when I just have the bare wires in front of me.
Hope only exists in the presence of fear, uncertainty or despair. A muscle is only strengthened when it is working against some opposing force, so Hope becomes the place where we go to when we are threatened. The threat need not be huge or catastrophic, but it must be something that forces us to pause, […]
This is a series which reflects on the struggles which all of us face in our lives. The struggle may be great or small, profound or trivial, secret or public; but the reality is that none of us live without it. In a sense, our lives would be small, boring and largely meaningless if we […]
Watching the stars… This was actually a “test” piece. When I originally bought the kiln and clay from a friend who was retiring from working with clay, there was one unidentified block of clay. I found that it fired to a rich, semi-gloss brown. I have tried to identify that particular clay body so I […]
We often hear people speak of great artists as “gifted” individuals. I have even heard people use that term to describe my abilities in art. I’ve wondered about the deep implications of having a gift, and what impact that has on the way I practice my art. First: a gift is something which is given. […]