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| The following works are a tribute to my family. My brother, Ken, and sister, Deb, (both of whom are deceased) always told me I should create more art. They both told me I should make art for sale. My work is too personal to sell at the present. Most of my favorite works are about me or my family. Below are just some of the works I have created in the last few years. I used these works in my teaching to show how artists get ideas. New on this page - "Garden Sculptures" for my husband. | |||||
Click on thumbnails to see a larger view USE YOUR BACK ARROW TO RETURN |
Venus
rising: A Self Portrait 1998 - 2000
I finally finished this for my husband for Fathers' Day! I know it does not look like me. It is a 3-D parody on Botticelli's "Birth of Venus". Botticelli's Venus showed what he believed to be beautiful. This shows our concept of what is beautiful. It is also symbolic. The window (detail) shows the front porch of the old Christian Richer homestead (now owned by the Weller's) in Peru, Indiana--as well as colognes (gifts from Deb). The other detail shows an antique hair brush and cosmetic case. The wallpaper background is that of my bathroom (where this work of art hangs). |
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| Galileo's Dream
(1999-2000)
This was a gift for my son, Matthew. This project began with his interest in astronomy. It was a great learning experience for me, too. My husband made the frame from an antique frame given to us by his brother. The front of the shadow features Galileo's finding of the moon. The detail shows his drawings and writing--two activities I value highly. The back displays a brief biography and some of his inventions. There is also a hint of the future (NASA's Galileo Project). Next summer will bring my project to completion as I hope to make a handmade book with brief biographies of other noted astronomers. The book will fit in the recessed area in back. Matthew hopes to major in Astrophysics in college. (Note: Matthew is now majoring in Mechanical Engineering, but still enjoys gazing into the night sky through his telescope.)
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 Front view showing antique frame and detail of drawings Back view with detail of pendulum clock I am looking forward to learning more about astronomers as I continue this next summer in the form of a handmade book. Special thanks to National Geographic for use of Galileo with the cardinals. Images from National Geographic are copyrighted and may not be used without their permission. Use above is an "appropriation" of an art image as well as a "derived" work. Copyright law does not allow this use without permission. |
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This work is under glass so it is difficult to photograph. |
Celestial Family is my favorite work to date. This was done for an assignment at Bluffton College Ohio in the Master's of Education program. The class was "The World of Art: Visual Art" The surface of the composition is embellished with paint markers. While the constellations were inspired by existing constellations, they were altered to suit my purposes. A close look will reveal "The Enterprise", "The Challenger", the face of my father printed in Pegasus, my grandfather in a shape of a church and our cats and dogs. The center cast paper (from an Anasazi or mimbres bowl) represents my family: the antelopes are my husband (symbol for farming in Bamana culture) , the fish represents me (for Pisces) and the lizard is my son (symbol for longevity in Bamana culture). The cast fish at the top in also me, while the cast serpent (U shape for Libra) is my husband--the lizard is again my son. This work combines my interest in three dimensional work with my skills in printmaking. This is the type of work--mixed media with paper casting--that I plan to pursue. Work was done for a graduate class at Bluffton College. World of Art: Visual Art. I did not follow Jay Bumbaugh's lesson here, I did my own thing, with his permission. | ||||
| MY LIFE:
PERSONAL SHRINE (1994/ 2000) This project was made during a class at Arrowmont in Gatlinburg, Tennessee--but not finished until summer of 2000 (Why you ask? I didn't have the tools to cut the wood until recently--One of my presents was a band saw). It is a ceramic relief sculpture with lots of added "glitz". This is my kitsch piece....Lots of fun...but is it art? My husband really likes it, though, so it is in our family room instead of the bedroom as originally planned. This project combines many decorating techniques. I got the idea for the oil stick finish from David Stabley (I have a link to his work on my ceramics page). The glazes on many of the pieces are majolica. |
 Inside the windows and doors are little images of me throughout my life. My pets are all around (Yes, that is a monkey on the pole! My mother actually let me have a monkey when I was in high school!) My mother is the smiling face in the sun (detail). My sister is the fashionable lady with the hat. She preferred wearing hats over wigs to hide her thinning hair during radiation treatments and chemotherapy. The double door open to reveal a mirror. |
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My family Cut paper collage This piece was made in the World of Art class at Bluffton Collage. It symbolizes my family. The top piece is called The "Twittering Machine" the owl face symbolizes my husband - very wise - the middle one "The Visitor" (my son, the lizard, comes into our home - the fish are my husband and myself) - and the bottom "7-11-17" (my wedding date and son's birthday --two lucky days). Each piece has a story to tell about my family. The entire piece is made from cut fadeless and ColorAid paper. Please pardon the reflections on the glass. Many thanks to the Bwa people of Mali and Burkina Faso for their inspiration in this piece. These works completed in "World of Art: Visual Art" - graduate class at Bluffton College. I did my own thing here with Jaye Bumbaugh's permission. |
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Monoprints
- mixed media
Codex Subtractive method of monoprint - white screen print ink on Plexiglas. Accented with colored pencils and acrylic paints. Handmade paper border. African Rhythms. Subtractive method of monoprint - white screen print ink on Plexiglas. Accented with colored pencils and acrylic paints. Handmade paper border. Amphitheater of Life Collage combined with multiple print methods. Monorpint screen print and subtractive method monoprint. Many thanks to Jaye Bumbaugh, professor at Bluffton College as these works were done in "World of Art: Visual Art" graduate class. The method is his lesson - shown: my interpretation |
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"A House for Vincent"
This was made as a tribute to a favorite artist of mine, Vincent Van Gogh. It is a sculptural pitcher. Relief and carved images around the vessel come from Van Gogh's paintings. Sun flowers climb the handle and adorn the roof. One side features two small figures - a tribute to Karen and Louie - the instructors I had at Arrowmont for the class in which this vessel was made. Karen and Louie are the one who encouraged me to continue to make "shrines". |
"Family Tree" |
Details: Left, my son and two doves representing my parents. Right, my husband and me with our two cats on the branches overhead. The lizard is also symbolic (used as a symbol for my son in some previous artwork). |
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The Question came up on Getty ArtsEdNet . What kind
of Art do you do? I decided to put my answer on this page:
I was lucky - when I taught high school every sample I made was "my kind of art". I have a lot of that now - but not all. Much of my 2-D art at school was thrown away. I have all the high school ceramics and have gifted much of it to family and friends. When I taught middle school - most of the art samples I made were my kind of art. I have a lot of that, too. My favorites are all up on the walls in my house now. You can make "your kind of art" when you make samples for kids. I never expected my students to come close to what I did. I just wanted them to see how the idea could grow. I know Ken Schwab makes "his kind of art" when he makes samples for his students, too. The kind of art I make now is very personal - I don't share it with many. Am I a "real artist"? I have thoroughly read copyright law now...wading knee deep through legal jargon - soon I was in way over my head. As I look at all of these work I highly value I see where I have "appropriated" this image.... and I have "derived" a work from that image..... and I pay "homage" with this work.... and "parody" another. I guess, If I want to be a real artist... I must turn to my monoprints as there are no recognizable images in those - yet clearly I was inspired by cultural patterns in my Codex and African rhythms. Amphitheater of Life is all mine. Many thanks to Jaye Bumbaugh for this approach to monoprints (World of Art: Visual Art - Bluffton College graduate class). When I make my art I pay tribute to something that inspired me.... I am beginning to think I have no original ideas of my own anymore. I still continue to be inspired by images I see and I share those ideas with the art ed lists as my walls are filled with my works that I have desire to sell. I have not asked permission to use any of the works I used as inspiration (although in further study of my work, many works used for inspiration could be considered in public domain at this point). I am now elevating all of my works to "shrines" - they are not for sale.... nor can they be copied as they are me - they are my family. No one can copy the meaning I have in these works. |
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What to do with all those project samples? Garden Sculpture!
My husband got this great idea to turn my project samples into Garden Sculptures! These are all plaster additional sculpture that had been painted with acrylic paints (colors are already fading and will need some repainting next summer). All were given a couple coats of polyurethane and so far have held up to the summer rain. Left: Winged ChiWara (Bamana inspired) - mythical antelope figure of farming. Two long wood sticks hold it up off the ground. Center - Pueblo inspired bird now with very LONG legs (welding rods). Right - Family totem.... |
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Click images for larger views.
Shown far left is scrap wood fantasy animal painted with enamel paints. Inspiration came from the wood carvings from Oaxaca, Mexcio. Left is a male chi-wara - symbolizing my ancestors who were farmers (and also my son as this is small chi-wara). It is probably about 18" tall. An actual Chi-wara of the Bamana people of Mali would be about 4 feet tall.
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