A life time of ideas and memories.
Making art since 1960: wood, stone, metal, glass & photography.
A life time of ideas and memories.
A life time of ideas and memories.
A life time of ideas and memories.
I have worked in many different media during my 72 years on this planet. Growing up in rural Northern Illinois with Master Woodworkers, Farmers and adventurous & talented Grandmothers. I have been creating things since I was 8 years old. The galleries are in roughly chronological order.
Sitting on my Grandmothers lap, I learned the art of cutting semi-precious gems. Which led to Silver & Gold jewelry fabrication. My ability to "see" stems from cutting stone. You look at a piece of rough & decide what to remove, what doesn't belong. Unfortunately, I lost all my of earliest documentation in a house/studio fire in 1987. This fire also took me in a new direction artistically. I began working in glass.
After the loss of all my jewelry and lapidary tools, I was looking for a way to continue my artistic pursuits. The Women's land community I was living in had a large stockpile of Greenhouse glass that I realized I could use to create "slumped" glass objects. With a small grant from an Arts benefactor association, I purchased my first kiln.
As the art market became saturated with glass I once again looked for another outlet. Enter Knives! I had some experience doing light forge work but knew my health would not allow wholesale production. So, working with blade "blanks" I concentrated on making the handles, where I could use all my skills; lapidary, glass and woodworking.
My partner & I moved to Texas in 2000. I was still working in Glass but was also making artistic knife handles. I had rebranded my studio from The 3 of Swords to A.I.D.. When my arthritis started to interfere with that sort of intense hand work, I once again started looking for more outlets for my creative bent. Having had a camera since I was 5 (a Brownie) I started to get serious about digital photography. It was early days, my 1st digital actually used floppy disks as the storage in camera.
I grew up in a family of woodworkers. I spent many hours playing in sawdust & watching master craftsmen fashion furniture from raw wood. Spending my summers on a relatives dairy farm helped me understand the value of creative ingenuity. Being able to make or repair objects with disparate materials.
I love resurrecting things. From trash to treasure, sadly neglected or inadvertently damaged heirlooms back from the dead. Restoration of furniture. Creating objects using dead bits and pieces. All part of my world.
Malachite slab, polished face. 4 1/2" at the widest, just under 1 pound.
Sterling and fire agate ring. Lost wax method, circa 1982
Glass rapidly became an obsession. I have shown around the country at various juried shows, where I won a number of awards. I spent many years showing with The American Craft Council. A solo show in St. Louis & various group shows at Museums & Art events.
"Bloodsport, a self-portrait" 1994
Bodice daggers, stone with one dicroic glass (middle). circa 2000
Divafoto was the brand I created for my Digital Photo studio. I quickly started receiving recognition. Kodak digital image of the day and inclusion in a film on "New trends in modern photography". Solo shows in Chicago, Kansas city & group shows in San Antonio. I also shot large & small live events & portraiture.
"I see you" 2009
San Antonio, Texas, United States
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