Dancing Grinders

This is representational of an animal gracefully leaping over potential death. The antique meat grinders are suspended beneath the wooden body with small flecks of turquoise resting on top of them. When hung away from a wall, the pieces all move playfully beneath the creature due to the give of the wire coil at the top.

sold

Snail Synapses

 
Snail paths in the sands of Peaks Island, Maine.

February 2010

I did this painting while imagining what my synapses might look like during the actual creative process itself. Watching snails slowly making their way across the sand in Maine a couple years later, I was amazed by how similar the patterns were.

18" x 24"
 
not for sale

Tarnished 1962

To represent peaceful balance, I wrapped the top piece of Nova Scotia driftwood in seaweed which I soaked then dried to conform to its shape. Beneath are two delicate pieces from Cape Cod secured with coconut shell beads, and at the bottom hangs a penny from 1962.

11" x 17"

sold

For the Birds

Without meaning to, I started collecting all these quadrilaterals containing perfect circles. They decreased perfectly in size and reminded me of tiered bird houses. The top one is Nova Scotia driftwood, and the others are rusted metal bolts and washers suspended from wire filament.


sold

Woodland Looking Glass Series - X

This antique mirror is enveloped in twisting, gnarly roots and driftwood from Cape Cod.

sold

Woodland Looking Glass Series - IX

Sea flower mirror made with driftwood from Nova Scotia and Cape Cod.


sold

Woodland Looking Glass Series - VI

Cape Cod driftwood

sold

Woodland Looking Glass Series - V

Plum Island and Nova Scotia driftwood are carefully laid out around this antique leaded glass mirror to display the contrasts of each piece.

17" x 24"



sold

Woodland Looking Glass Series - IV

This mirror is comprised of driftwood from Cape Cod.

sold

Woodland Looking Glass Series - III

This full length mirror is an homage to all the coastal places I've explored within the past several years; Nova Scotia, Maine, New Hampshire, Plum Island, Cape Ann, Cape Cod, and California.


41" x 18.5"

$350

Woodland Looking Glass Series - II

This embedded mirror is comprised of driftwood from the northern coast of California as well as from Cape Cod.

12.5" x 10"

sold

Woodland Looking Glass Series - I

This oval mirror is mounted on a 1" thick oak log cross-section. The perimeter is lined with thin strips of birch bark, and long pieces of Nova Scotia driftwood curve out from the base. One strand of black seaweed is also woven in along the bottom left.

32" x 24"


sold

Trash is the failure of imagination.

While in Los Angeles last week, I checked out Aaron Kramer's "Salvaged" exhibit at the Craft and Folk Art Museum . His creations of impeccably assembled found objects and whimsical sculpture was definitely a kick in the butt--time to resume welding! The whole museum is worth exploring.

*Art reception next Thursday, September 2*

My opening reception for Folk is next Thursday, Sept 2 at the JP Art Market (36 South Street) from 6--9. The show will be up until September 19. 

Come to next week's First Thursday 5--8, as there will be many other talented artists exhibiting all over town for the evening.

Full Pine Moons

Sitting in the Arnold Arboretum last month, I watched the full moon rise above the pines. Several unseen critters were doing the same nearby.

Representing the 13 full moons every year, these luminous shells each vary in detail like the lunar stages. They're suspended from delicate Maine driftwood and ultimately secured by a pine cone which I found while hiking through a small area in the Blue Hills that had been subjected to forest fire. Most of the trees were charred and ashen, giving things a silvery hue. Resting on the top of the cone and each piece of wood sits a tiny shell.

sold

Urchins From Many Walks

These are the railroad tracks in Medfield where I found the tie for the Urchins sculpture. One boy noticed me taking his picture and started dancing. Watching, I was reminded of "Stand By Me".






Here is a compilation of relics from various walks. At the top is a porous, man-made rock from Webb Memorial State Park, one of the loveliest of the Boston Harbor Islands. Balanced below is a railroad tie I found while hiking across the tracks out by my hometown. The curved driftwood is from Cape Cod, and either end is lightly covered with bark that holds the same purplish hue of the rock. Suspended from the wood are coconut shells sitting atop sea urchin spines which make the most delicate sound when they clink together.

sold

Creeping Black On Silver

Sitting on the hood of the car clicking photo after photo, I finally captured this bolt touching down on the outskirts of Portsmouth, NH....right before my batteries ran out.

After watching that heat lightening streaking across the sky, I created this. The charred wood was found among the remains of a bonfire on the coast of Nova Scotia, and at the top it's gripped by an antique caliper. On the silvered end lies black seaweed which I soaked until soft and then coiled around a slender piece of driftwood, mimicking a bolt and playing on the contrast of the base.

sold

Three Ties

Made with wood from Plum Island, the three ties hanging from the twisted wire mimic the three crumbling nails protruding from the panel. While the nails have deteriorated faster than the pressure treated wood, the stains they leave behind will remain. I found the ties buried in the construction site of what is now the new Media Lab at MIT. There were countless remnants from the building that were ultimately just covered with turf and sprayed with seed. Makes you wonder what lies beneath all those pretty lawns.

$300

Red Balance

Calm settling over Plum Island after one of the biggest storms of the summer.














Made with driftwood from Plum Island and erosion fencing from Cape Cod that's been mangled by waves, this sculpture illustrates balance in the natural world. Red represents the fire of the sun; driftwood, the power of oceans; metal, the strength of resources; goldstone, all the precious gifts.

Finding such boldly colored wood is rare, but on this particular trip I gathered a bunch of it. Perhaps some poor hippies' love shack was toppled in a particularly fierce storm....


$200

Plum Island

Nahant--June, 2010

Speaking of storms, here's a front I watched racing across the sky in Nahant. It created the most eerie and beautiful white glow....until its fury was unleashed. I'd never seen anything like it, but I now understand the terrifying yet seductive allure of storm chasing.

Eye of the Storm

      Representing the suspension used in a dry dock to lift ships out of the water, the ironic element lies in the fact that the wood surrounding this metal "eye" is the only remaining piece of the structure. I discovered it off the coast of Portsmouth, NH and felt as though I'd just stumbled across buried treasure. It has incredibly rich color variations from green, to deep gold, to red. While there were many other large beams protruding from the water, I was unable to dislodge any of them.


$300







This sculpture was featured on  Etsy "storm-is-a-coming"  today. Check out the beautiful collection of work it's mixed in with.

Agate Embryo

A wing of driftwood represents the stork, the rusted wrench symbolizes the potential challenges of fertilization, and the agate illustrates the embryo. When light shines through, you can get lost in all the detailed complexities within the slice of rock just as you can within a new life.


$200

Falling Leaves

This curved piece of driftwood was found elegantly burned in the sand dunes of Falmouth, Cape Cod. Thinking it resembled a tree branch, I bent wire and added the brackets to mimic dried leaves falling from a limb.
21" x 19" x 5"

$400

Burned Cascade

Made with driftwood found on the shores of Plum Island in Newburyport and drill bits from the construction site of the new Media Lab at MIT, this piece symbolizes the horrendous BP oil spill of April 20, 2010. The charred wooden panel mimics the impenetrable blanket of oil smearing its way onto sand while the thin black wood pierces life. The bits are suspended from the wood using coated wire and a brass bead sits at the top of each.

approx: 9" wide x 26 " long

$500