Looking back at sticks and stones

Driftwood loom

Driftwood Loom detail

I recently was going through an old journal from my first-ever artist residency (1996) on White Island. To be able to look back is so important – it gives me perspective and assures me that  - yes, I have been on a very focused path for decades. It is curious to me that over 20 years ago I was pushing my belief that art can be made from anything.Here is a peak at my journal and photos from those 8 days alone on a rock with an automated lighthouse (yes…. the fog horn does blow every 30 seconds ….night, day, fog, sun).

Journal from White Island

Line of bricks

 As I continue to make art using not only natural objects – but simple tools, and minimal materials – I am affirming my belief that art is simply personal, creative expression.

Evidence

The Evidence

EVIDENCE is “the available body of facts or information indicating whether a belief or proposition is true or valid.” 

No surprise, this word is currently part of our political climate.

Just back from a month long sojourn in warmer climes, I laid out and examined the “Small Parts”   that I created while away – examining the evidence of my own life.

Leaf with Blue Hole

These little works of art- the woven shells, embroidered leaves and netted horseshoe crab shells – are physical objects that are evidence of a period of contemplation and curiosity.

But these concrete things are really a gateway to the unseen, the invisible.

Here I am reminded of what the Little Prince says

Rusted Chip

“And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”

It is easy to get caught up in the evidence, the concrete and physical. Perhaps the truth lies in the invisible, not necessarily in the evidence.

Small Parts

Shell Weavings

This winter, I am away for a month, renting a small bungalow in the Florida Keys. On this trip I decided to test the idea that limiting one’s tools, materials and palette has a way of forcing new paths of creativity.I intentionally limited my “art bag” to a few materials and supplies. I brought drawing supplies, water colors, and a sketch book. I brought some embroidery threads and a bunch of bobbins with indigo dyed linens, needles and scissors. Thats it.I have always believed that to make art, I do not need to have elaborate equipment or materials. My teaching mantra has been “any solid object can be a loom.”Years ago, during a solo residency on a White Island (off the coast of NH), I tested this theory and built looms out of driftwood, found ropes and other flotsam.So are I am again, testing this idea, opening doors to new ways of making art.

Horseshoe crab #1

These little weavings and embroideries are a small part of a larger story:  my curiosity about the invisible mysteries of life, the infinite wisdom of the natural world and the beautiful potential of each moment.This collection of works is titled “Small Parts” in reference to the idea that we are all small parts of a larger Universe.