Life of an Artist

Over the weekend I found myself walking down memory lane talking about how I became a mixed media artist. I went to college for ceramics. I still learned all I could from my father’s wood working experience. I enjoyed being exposed to new materials. My ceramics instructor talked about pottery as sculpture so I took every sculpture class I could. I was too far along to change my concentration when a close friend made the observation that I was not a potter. Oh I could throw a pot and the glazing fascinated me but she was right. Most of my ceramic sculpture did not survive the kiln. Sculpture and pottery often had to be fired together in the large gas kilns. A recipe for disaster. I began to feel confined by the material but was not allowed by my professors to explore materials until later. I learned to weld and cast, work in plaster and even took a painting class to better understand painting. In my final independent study class I moved from working very organically (influenced by my study of Eva Hesse and Louise Bourgeois) to rigid and geometric (influenced by my study of Frank Lloyd Wright and Mondrian). I finally chose to work in wood. From there I created a series of geometric sculptures all from wood with the inclusion of metal. But I was still drawn to the organic forms, despite my love of modern arts simplicity. The work of Louise Nevelson, Ruth Duckworth and of course Eva Hesse called to me. And I realized I had been struggling with once again feeling confined to one material and one style. It was then I knew I had to allow myself to utilize my experience using various materials and combine them. To allow myself to explore the work through what is called mixed media. Sometimes I see an object and visualize what I can create with it and sometimes I choose certain materials to create a work already in my mind. It has opened up my world as an artist.

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