"Live it Gently with Fire" found a home with private collectors last weekend at the Yellowstone Art Museum auction. I am pleased. Part of the bidding buzz included the Billings Clinic Hospital Foundation. I just know that one day my work will grace hospitals - healing art for both public and private peeps.
Fiesta of Sunset
Last week two sculptures left “the flock” for their new homes. Several more are sold and waiting for delivery since the collectors were kind enough to allow me to show their sculptures in Jackson last month. The “Neruda Series” of mini reliquaries – a total of 18 sculptures – were created during an especially challenging spell of severe insomnia. Each week for several months I averaged between 20-22 hours of sleep; deprivation that taxed my body and soul til I felt like pummeled pieces except when I was creating.I left the business part of art behind and focused on the new creations and sought help from various professionals to find my way back to sleep. All of the sculptures have titles inspired by Pablo Neruda's love poems.
“Fiesta of Sunset” is a bright flaming-with-feathers sculpture and would be hard to give up so quickly except it went to the fabulous creative art-filled home belonging to one of my collectors. Together we celebrated with drinks and chocolate after I arrived with the sculpture. The opportunity to personally deliver and know the people who “adopt” my creations means much to me. The Neruda Series fueled me with the inspiration I needed to survive an especially difficult chapter and spawned a zillion new ideas for future series.
I can't wait to get back to the mess-making soul-feeding creative part of my life!
Sip and Zip Party...!
Next week the sculptures will be going to the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson, WY where I am an artist in residence from July 7-11.
Thursday, June 26th I want to celebrate with you...! (5-8 pm)
Many of you have followed my journey creating the large reliquary sculptures. The most recent series “I Never Promised You a Rose Garden” was featured in my TEDx talk and is currently installed at the Cancer Center in the Billings Clinic. The idea of creating healing sanctuaries within public places such as hospitals resonates as part of my calling as an artist. But what you might not know is that for years I have been experimenting with the challenge to create meaningful small-scale reliquaries - intimate sculptures that pack the same punch. Nothing I created captivated me until this year when at last the puzzle pieces fell together.
A whole new series and scale kept me sequestered in the studio for months.
I am sooooo excited about the new works….!
Influenced by Native American feather baskets I saw in the Denver Art Museum a few winters ago, the niches are “feathered.” My recent obsession with old barbwire continues to weave itself into the art along with a life-long fascination with animal skulls. The result is a new series of eighteen sculptures titled with lines from Pablo Neruda’s prose.
"Little Birds" are flocking...
