One of the joys of being an independent artist is having the freedom to explore ideas and different mediums, to continually learn and grow your personal iconography….to take chances and surprise yourself with an idea that has come to completion in a new way.
I love to explore new mediums and have tried many. In 2003 after returning from Florence, Italy and inspired by the very ancient Giotto images, I researched fresco. It took me three months to create a small fresco series with very few cracks appearing. Such simple materials but difficult in its own way…so much depends on the atmosphere in which it is painted. It was a fascinating three months.
However clay has been and continues to be the main focus of my work. It has kept me intrigued by the endless possibilities.
Clay is responsive, push on it and it gives….mark, paddle or burnish it, put two pinch pots together and if it is out of shape you can coax it gently back into roundness. It’s always challenging…but it lets you dream…with it you can create almost anything you want depending on the condition of the clay. Surfaces: the textures you can attain are small miracles…from rough bisque to sparkling crystal, from grey metallic made with an overload of red oxide to slick and creamy smooth or pebbled with areas of glaze pulling away to leave bare spots or another colour. I love it.
Growing up in a very rural New Brunswick, everyday ordinary things, my family and where I lived was important to me. These things continue to inform my art practice in ways that sometimes surprise me, from the series of Small Tree paintings (trees growing out of conglomerate rocks representing rebirth and tenacity) or adding the impression of everyday objects and toys to the largest Future Fossil, the ‘ordinary’ is still important in my work.
I feel that I have taken the right path in my artistic life, I have been rewarded with my work being accepted by my peers and by well-known curators throughout the province. It has been an interesting and fulfilling journey so far…and, I am not finished exploring the possibilities of art making.