Being a creative for as long as I can remember brings me such joy. Over the years my medium has evolved from painting with acrylic on various substrates to my desire to create three dimensionally.
My primary medium of choice is copper but I will often incorporate aluminum into my sculptures as well. My inspiration comes from the plants, animals and sea life living here in the beautiful Tar Heel State, North Carolina. My style ranges from naturalistic portrayals to occasional flights of creative whimsy.
Working with copper is very satisfying. It can be formed and re-formed repeatedly. For many of my life-size animal subjects, such as a baby bear, heron, hawk or a raccoon, I’ll spend many hours studying photos of my subject in its habitat to identify its form, proportions, special markings and unique identity. I then sketch a working blueprint for a 3-dimensional armature which I fabricate with torch and solder from tinned or solid copper wire. Then, working from copper sheet of varying thickness, the sculpture starts taking shape as I clad the armature with pieces I cut, hammer, heat and texture into just the right fit, attached both by soldering and hand-wired techniques. Depending upon the subject and the style direction I envision for the piece, I may embellish the copper with color by flame painting with my torch or applying patinas or color with traditional brush work.
My passion, particularly in my animal sculptures, is to capture my subject’s personality thru the gaze of its eyes and expression in its face, inviting the viewer to take a closer look and make a connection.
Artist Biography:
My interest in creating art began as a young child in New England. I never received formal training and consider myself to be God taught.
I have 5 grown children and 12 grandchildren and a very supportive and collaborative husband. We escaped the long cold winters of New Hampshire and relocated to the coast of North Carolina 30 years ago and have never looked back. After becoming empty nesters, we moved from New Bern and followed 2 of our children to Asheville. However, my love of the ocean is in my blood and still surfaces in my artwork.
Creating and selling my artwork is such a wonderful and fulfilling journey that has been a part of my life as long as I can remember. “If I can dream it, then I can create it” is a mindset that all artists share. I believe this ability is a gift given to us by God. I am blessed to have found a purpose that brings me such pleasure. I hope that my work brings pleasure to others as well
