Artist Statement

Over the years, I have enjoyed a number of hobbies. Flower gardening, sewing and making paper, to name a few.  Recently, I’ve found a way to combine all three of these crafts. First during the growing season, I pick and press a variety of flowers/leaves that will become my color palette.   Next, I make paper using natural materials. Then I hand stitch different kinds of paper together. This serves as my canvass. I paint the canvass with my pressed flowers and glue them down into a design. At this point a final stitching occurs to create interest and balance. Although I love creating flower arrangements such as wreaths and bouquets, I am also exploring areas of feminine/feminist themed work. This creative process has brought me much joy, much challenge and given me a way to  express my voice. 

Flowers

Flowers have a natural beauty and strength. They are ancient organisms that have helped to feed and populate the world. They remind me that a short life can be well lived. I have enjoyed the science of pressing and drying them. I never know exactly how they will emerge from between the drying sheets. I have enjoyed the challenge of assembling these small shapes into ideas of beauty, thoughtfulness and activism.

Paper

Our paper making group uses natural fibers to make pulp and then screens to pull the sheets into paper. It is a slow and old art. In our fast digital age of, it seems almost obsolete. Throughout history, paper has documented much of human civilization. Present day, in my own lifetime, words and images on paper have brought me many emotions from saddness to joy to wonder. I think paper is an ancient medium full of magic.

Mother Mary

Mother Mary is a symbol of hope, strength and feminism to many. It is said that she, on occasion, would whisper to her son, Jesus, and ask him to intercede for the poor, the vulnerable, the frightened. It is my thought that she would likely be an advocate for women’s rights today. Those rights include an education, religious freedom and birth control. In this series, she is crowned in a halo of flowers with her feet firmly planted in the ground. 

I have created a series of Pro-choice Marys that embody this sentiment.

Creating uterus bouquets came out of a desire to celebrate the women with flowers. Both are remarkable and resilient. Throughout time, women (with the help of men), have populated the world, created homes, created beauty, nurtured children and fought for freedoms. Similarly, throughout time, flowers have played a crucial role in providing food for living things.  They also, create beauty, homes for the next generations and they too are fighters! Uterus bouquets seemed to be a logical way to combine these topics and to shine a spotlight on the beauty of both.

Note: After the overturning of Roe V Wade, I became disturbingly aware of how precarious women’s rights are. Anyone’s rights depend on the people who create laws and those who destroy them.

✌️ Peace on Earth Mary

“Peace On Earth” has been a timeless sentiment expressed by peacemakers throughout the ages, past, present and future. Mother Mary seemed an obvious choice.