November 2008 Archives
Q. What Inspires You?
A. Everything. It's a bit frustrating actually! I can't look out the window without being inspired to make something, but it's impossible to find enough time to make all the things that I dream up! For me art isn't something I just do in the studio or that I'm only inspired to work in one medium and say "this is what I'm going to use to express myself". It's part of every facet of my life. I'm constantly designing and making things. I've remodeled two houses...well I'm still in the process of remodeling the second one. Those have been huge creative expressions. I've designed almost every aspect from floor plans to landscaping to garden gates to kitchen cabinets to ladders that lead to bedroom lofts. And I love designing the things that fill the house too, like lamps and tables and fun, funky closets. And yes, I've designed my own dishes, but of course I haven't made them yet!
I find a lot of inspiration in found and reclaimed objects. I see the potential in what something can become. I love taking found objects and incorporating them into a piece of art or into a table or lamp or a sculpture in the garden. So often I just see an object that I like, maybe just a piece of old rusty metal, and I think "that's cool, I wonder what I could make with that?" So the object ends up inspiring the design in this case. My house is full of things either gotten from salvage yards or from the woods or from some bodies garbage pile on the side of the road. I'm able to transform them, give them a new life....working in clay is a lot like that. I start with just this lump of clay and transform it into a piece of art. That quality of being able to manipulate clay to whatever shape or design I can imagine is what has always been the biggest appeal of clay to me. It can be functional yet beautiful. It can be carved like wood. It's strong enough to be used for furniture. It can be used like a canvas to “paint on"...it's such an incredibly versatile medium. The possibilities of what one can create with it are almost endless.
Q. What types of work have you done?
A. I've always drawn. I can remember sitting in the middle of our garden as a kid and drawing pictures of all the different flowers. I come from a very artistic family. My grandfather was a very talented artist and craftsman. There's a little town in the U.P. that's filled with his murals. You can find them in restaurants, churches and people's homes.... and my uncle is an award winning wildlife painter. So drawing was just something that came very naturally. In college I started out taking Graphic Design classes thinking that was a good way to have a job that fulfilled my desire to create and give me a steady paycheck. But after 2 years I decided it just wasn't for me. I had taken a ceramics class during my sophomore year and I was just hooked so I switched over to the ceramics program. After college I didn’t have the space or the money to set up a pottery studio so I used whatever was available to me as a creative outlet. I picked up some used darkroom equipment and played around with photography for a few years. Mostly black and white. I was particularly fascinated by the patterns and textures that I found in nature. I would take close-up shots of flowers or leafs and then crop them to the point that they became almost abstract. The original object was sometimes unrecognizable and the photograph was more about the movement of the lines and light and shadow than the object itself. I also played around with painting for a little bit, but it just never felt as natural as drawing for me. And I worked at a stained glass studio for about 5 years which I really enjoyed. I didn't do very much design work, just a couple of windows for my house and presents here and there, but learned a lot about the craftsmanship of making and repairing stained glass.
Q. And now?
A. I took a fiber and textile class at the local college a year ago and loved it. It was kind of an introduction to all the different things you can do with fiber from dying to screen printing to felting to weaving.... It was a bit overwhelming, the possibilities are endless! So I've been playing around with that a bit in my spare time which unfortunately I don't have enough of! I've been mostly focusing on making scarves from used sweaters which is great fun. I used to do a lot of sewing when I was a kid and when I was just starting out, making pillows and couch covers and drapes, things like that for my new house, so it's been fun getting back to it again. I’d also like to start doing skirts and purses with reclaimed materials. And I'm very interested in the different printing processes like linoleum block and silk-screening and really want to play with that more. As far as ceramics goes, I'd like to find ways to incorporate found objects into my clay work in the same way that I have in so many of the other things that I've done. And I want to get my website finished.
Q. How did you start your career as an artist?
A. In my late twenties I had a few paintings at a new gallery in Petoskey. At the opening I met David Austin, a local potter/sculpture who was also showing his work at the gallery. He was looking for an apprentice a few days a week in exchange for being able to use his studio. I jumped at the chance to get back into pottery! I learned a lot form David and we became good friends. After about a year, I set up my own studio. I started doing juried art fairs around Michigan the following summer. So I guess that was the beginning of my "career", although it sounds funny to me to call it that.
Q: What was the inspiration
for your recently published books?
A: Reading and memorizing great
poetry which is full of beautiful imagery sparked my imagination to
create the series of India ink paintings that comprise A Roomful
of Questions. Each painting is paired with an abstract question,
and I introduce the book with a quote from Rainer Marie Rilke that encourages
the reader to live in and love questions rather than to feel compelled
to know the answers.
Stone Crazy
came into being when after returning from a vacation on Lake Michigan
I sculpted little figures that were embracing and at one with beautiful
stones that I found on the beach. They seemed to tell their own story
which became the book. Shell, Tree,
and Snow Crazy followed. The illustrations in this series of
books are photographs of the figures I created to act out my stories.
My years of doll making experience gave me the skills to model the figures.
Q: Tell me about your doll
making.
A: After graduating from Syracuse
University with a master’s degree in painting I taught art classes
at a private school in Winnetka, Illinois. Having grown up in Ann Arbor,
and being familiar with Charla Khana who made dolls as art objects,
I decided to make dolls with my middle school art students. The next
thing I knew I was quitting my job and exhibiting in the Ann Arbor Art
Fair and getting orders for my work at a wholesale show put on by the
American Craft Council. How odd it felt to be passionately making dolls
instead of what I considered to be serious painting! But for some reason
it felt right and natural to me. Looking back, I’m glad I followed
my intuition because those little characters that I created changed
my life in such wonderful ways. They introduced me to people who would
become life long friends, provided me with an income, and gave me the
pleasure of making other people happy with my art. My assistants and
I shipped dolls to shops, galleries, and boutiques across the country
from Bergdorf Goodman in New York to a store in Malibu, California where
Joni Mitchell purchased a lion doll that she gave to her friend David
Crosby. Every year I added new designs to my collection. I am still
producing my dolls, but on a smaller scale.
Q: How did you go from making
dolls to publishing books?
A: PRINT MAGAZINE included me
in an article about five artists who designed toys for adults. An editor
from Dial Books saw it and asked me to illustrate a book of children’s
poetry. I realized from that experience that I really wanted to illustrate
my own writing and took a class at Ann Arbor Rec. and Ed. which introduced
me to a critique group that I still belong to ten years later. It took
a long time for me to evolve my writing style. I feel fortunate to have
found a small press that has made a commitment to my stories and illustrations.
Q: What medium do you enjoy
working in most?
