It's all about the story...

This piece actually sold a couple of months ago. It went to a very good home; someone who was very excited to take it home. That's always a good feeling on my part. In the last few months (since I did the Apple Festival, actually) I've met a dozen or so people who really 'get' my work. What a thrill.

Most recently a woman drove up to my house to pick up a pendant of one of my Instagram photos, and a set of coasters with the same photo on them. We talked about the materials that I use--how so many of my paintings begin with collage, how I use found objects in my jewelry--how every piece I make has a story--

When I first had my work in a gallery, I had to write my first "Artist Statement." Of course, I struggled with the entire process. It was HARD, and I didn't know what to say. Maybe a good sign is that the same process would not be nearly so hard now, four years later. But I have realized that some of what I said in that first awkward statement was absolutely, totally right on the nose. I wrote about how when I was little, I wanted to write books and tell stories. When my sister and our friend Vicki and I played, we played stories that we made up. When I read, it was all about immersing myself in the story. I'm still doing the same thing now, and I'm loving it.

My work, my materials, my art--it's all about the story...