cre-ate - verb - to bring something into existence, to cause something to happen as a result of one’s actions.
Creating is like breathing to me. The process of creating feeds my soul. I don’t know if creating is something that is hereditary; my maternal grandmother was a painter and made beautiful needlepoint pieces; my paternal grandmother loved to embroider and sew; my paternal grandfather worked with stone; my father was an industrial designer and woodturner and my mother is a photographer. Creating is in my DNA, I am sure of it. My journey into creating began in a ceramic studio and a weaving studio designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and continued years later at a local community college. I have never questioned why I am drawn to creating with my hands and am inspired by my travels, my community and my everyday life.
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natural dyed scarves
Inspired by my travels in Japan and my life long love of textiles and fabric, I ventured into natural dyeing techniques that include indigo as well as eco-printing with eucalyptus and plant species native to my hometown of the Pacific Northwest.
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custom scented candles
How I came to be a small batch candle maker is a bit of a mystery. I love the “how” and “science” of creating and I was intrigued by the beautiful scents of fragrance. I had no idea that these would be the driving force of candlemaking. I originally researched creating candles for my own home and soon learned the intricacies and the science it takes to create a candle that not only has a pleasing aroma but burns well. With the encouragement of family and friends, my seasonal collection of candles was born and a proprietary line of candles was created for a local winery, using their bottles with a gorgeous label, designed by a local ceramic artist.
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storytellers
My first Storyteller, “Keeper of the Story” was inspired by a letter from a ceramic artist. The concept was of a shared story between artists to inspire an art piece. The letter wound its way through this artists life, which only offered a snapshot, until the artist started writing about the importance of books throughout their life, which I related to immediately as I have always been an avid reader, letting books transport me to far of places and spark my imagination and creativity. It was the spark I was searching for to begin the creative process. I had never ventured into sculpture as a ceramic artist and became excited at the idea of creating something so outside my comfort zone. Not only did I begin creating the ceramic sculpture but also learned how to create small books that encircled the sculpture to tell the story of
“The Keeper of the Story”. She became the first in a series of ceramic Storytellers which have now morphed into Assemblage Sculpture.
This new series of Storytellers draws inspiration from the textiles that I have collected during my travels as well as a vast collection of fabric from my late mother-in-law, who was an avid quilter. Combing through my many bins of fabric, I often find that one fabric will speak to me and that will be the beginning of a new story to be written and a new Storyteller to emerge. RummagIng around junk shops and antique stores, looking for pieces that help me tell the story. Old fishing floats, spindles from chairs that no longer provide a place to sit, remnants from lamps and door hardware; these discarded pieces are recycled and given new purpose and a new life
