Artist Statement
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Someone once asked me what my “medium” was and I replied. “the town dump” and had to repeat it three times before she got it. Well, I don’t actually get all of my “supplies” at the dump; they came piece by piece from antique shops, auctions, the beach, or wherever something with paint, texture, rust, shape or uniqueness shows up.
For the past 15 years I was a dealer in antiques. Not interested in the fine china or the expensive things, I was always more attracted to the barn or the attic, the bits and pieces, the unusual things: a rusty hinge, a headless statue, and empty clock box, an old kotex machine, pieces of lobster traps. |
So I really must thank the failing of my antique business as an inspiration to making these things into pieces of art. And if you could see my basement and garage, you would realize that the source of this inspiration is truly endless.
It is a special pleasure living on an island off the coast of Maine. I do get a lot of inspiration from my surroundings: the rust, the ocean "aged" wood and the brilliant things that wash ashore as well as the realness of the people who live here. You can't buy that experience.
I have always been inspired by Virginia Woolf and Louise Nevelson and like to think they collaborate with me in some of my creations. Of course Virginia Woolf’s book, Moments of Being, has been instrumental in all that I do. As I understand it, a moment of being is the realization of familiarity as in “ohh, my grandmother had one of these” or “my mother used this to make my favorite cookie with this”. I like to think that each of my creations has it’s own moment of being. On pondering why Woolf’s ideals are incorporated into my art, I admire her stepping out even when it was unpopular, this has been my life pattern and I see my feminist art pieces following in those footsteps.
I once considered my self an outsider artist because I had no formal training, until I heard someone say, “ Why IS it outsider?” She had a point, why should I have to be outside of the art world? So now I don’t define myself, I am just free to create with abandon and don’t give a hoot about balancing, measuring or clashing colors. It is simply a vision and a desire to take the pieces and transform them into something more.
It is a special pleasure living on an island off the coast of Maine. I do get a lot of inspiration from my surroundings: the rust, the ocean "aged" wood and the brilliant things that wash ashore as well as the realness of the people who live here. You can't buy that experience.
I have always been inspired by Virginia Woolf and Louise Nevelson and like to think they collaborate with me in some of my creations. Of course Virginia Woolf’s book, Moments of Being, has been instrumental in all that I do. As I understand it, a moment of being is the realization of familiarity as in “ohh, my grandmother had one of these” or “my mother used this to make my favorite cookie with this”. I like to think that each of my creations has it’s own moment of being. On pondering why Woolf’s ideals are incorporated into my art, I admire her stepping out even when it was unpopular, this has been my life pattern and I see my feminist art pieces following in those footsteps.
I once considered my self an outsider artist because I had no formal training, until I heard someone say, “ Why IS it outsider?” She had a point, why should I have to be outside of the art world? So now I don’t define myself, I am just free to create with abandon and don’t give a hoot about balancing, measuring or clashing colors. It is simply a vision and a desire to take the pieces and transform them into something more.
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