Desert Flower #7 19” x 10” x 10”

Nature Does Not Quit:   Desert Flower/Rock Flower Series

Several years ago, I was hiking in the desert in New Mexico and was astounded to see flowers!  Bright yellow, pink and orange flowers were growing out of nothing, out of the rock and sand.  This motivated me to sculpt my desert flower series, as the flowers seemed such a manifestation of Hope, of effort and success under the most difficult conditions….  I used to take nature for granted, feeling it was background to Me.  Now I stand in awe of it.

Rock Flower #5 14” x 10” x 9”

Collection of Carnegie Mellon University

Force/Counter-Force: Coming Apart/Coming Together

These sculptures first embody that acute moment when the force hits and everything seems to be Coming Apart.  We feel the force might fragment us.  All is in pieces.  We can’t see a future….  Yet, we stand still in the middle.  We pick up the pieces.  We quilt them back Together.  As in the sculptures, the pieces don’t always go back to their original spots.  Bruises, scars, gaps remain, and yet a new whole is formed that can be quite lovely.  In Repairing, we Renew. We find a way.  And in so doing, we become beautiful.  

Desert Flower # 6 13” x 6” x 8”

Not Broken II 23” x 12” x 10”

This sculpture is a personal tribute to the survivors of the Tree of Life massacre 5 years ago.  This hate crime occurred near to where I live.  In fact, my neighbor across the street, Rabbi Jonathan Perelman, was in the building at the time of the shooting.  He hid himself and some of his congregants in a closet and thus managed to survive.  I subsequently heard the rabbi speaking on the radio.  He said,  “We will not be broken.”  His words were very courageous, very necessary.

Collection of Hoyt Art Center

     Hurricane Maria    (interior detail)

Hurricane Harvey   16 x 11 x 8

In the aftermath of a recent Florida hurricane, I was amazed that one community came through the ordeal completely unscathed!  Scientists and engineers had figured out how to design and build structures that could withstand a hurricane!  Force/Counter-Force….

Bears Ears IV at Touchstone Gallery 19 x 12 x 12

Out of the Vortex 9” x 23” x 23”

Harvey-Irma-Maria #4   10 x 10 x 8

Hurricane Maria 16'“ x 14” x 16”

With this body of work, I contain two opposite ideas in one sculpture.  This is important to me as this is also how I experience the world:  There is cruelty, and there is great beauty.  There is chaos, and there is amazing progress.  There is learning, and there is forgetting.  There is force, and there is counter-force. 

Hurricane Irma    12 x 13 x 13

Collection of Carnegie Mellon University

Ask Not 24 x 13 x 13

High Seas 16 x 12 x 8

When our girls were little, we took them to Florida.  We were out window-shopping when an ordinary rainstorm started. Suddenly the street flooded.  The girls were scared.  I didn’t know then that this was a sign of rising sea levels that the sewer system could not handle.  And that this was related to melting icebergs, rising temperatures!

Kilauea 5” x 15” x 15”

Iceberg II    11" x 5" x 5"

Coming and Going II 13” x 7” x 7”

Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones   10 x 3 x 3

          Thistle   19 x 5 x 5      

We're Not in Kansas Anymore    10.5" x 7" x 7"

Homage to O'Keeffe II   13 x 5 x 7

 Unbearable Lightness of Being series

I was inspired by Kundera's The Unbearable Lightness of Being to build these sculptures of thin porcelain fragments.  More here.  

Iceberg III 11” x 5” x5”

Homage to O'Keeffe I    14" x 4.5" x  5"

Take Your Toys and Go Home    9.75" x 2.5" x 2.5"

            Breathe   17 x 4 x 3

Bud Vase       13.5" x 2.5" x 3"

Whiskey Tumblers for Teetotallers

from the series entitled:  

Your Cup Will Always Only Be Half-Full

(But You May Love It Anyway)

Ascent

6.5" x 5.5"x 4.5"

Descent, Into the Vortex

8" x 7" x 5"

from the series entitled:              Your Cup Will Always Only Be Half-Full (But You May Love it Anyway)     

 Hole-y Cups # 18, 30, 16, 26 and 24

If Only    15" x 13" x  9"

“Best in Show” Three Rivers Arts Festival 2016

What If    12" x 9.5" x 11.5"

“Best in Show” Three Rivers Arts Festival 2016

Tribute 17” x 17” x17”

An expression of appreciation for my artist friends, Al Frega and Cary Esser, who have encouraged me along the way.   A fancy goblet that references their work.

Le Roi et La Reine    16" x 5" x 5"  and   13" x 3" x 4"

Hole-y Cup # 3

Then Again    15.5" x 9" x 10.5"

“Best in Show” Three Rivers Arts Festival 2016

Clouds Run Away from Me    15" x 8" x 8"

Iceberg I      9" x 5" x 4"

Willow Vessel I     15" x 10.5" x 9"