Art That's Personal

It's not hard to understand that the act of making things is a means of self expression and artists/craftspeople fulfill this in a myriad of different ways. Many approach it from a cerebral and intellectual way, finding solutions to aesthetic problems. Some approach the act of making art/things in a philosophical way commenting on the human condition or an activist way making political statements, for example "green" craft. Others, like me, take an extremely personal approach, telling the story of MY life. I've spoken about this in past blogs.

Well, now as I approach my 60th birthday in the month of April, the story I've decided to work with is based on the idea of the "Road of Life" as in The Journey; The Creative Path; The Road Less Traveled; The Wide Path and the Narrow Path; The Roller Coaster of Life. So, some new work I'm beginning makes use of the translucent layering technique I developed about 15 years ago which resembles enameling, but with polymer clay and reveals a shallow depth of surface. The layers in this technique can also speak of the many layers of meaning, activity, and circumstances we have in our lives.

Unlike much or my previous work, I have decided to be more non-representational, more abstract, so that I will not prescribe what others should see. This format is extremely difficult for me and that is why I want to challenge myself with it. The two large hollow beads pictured here together are called "Path" and this shows one of my first attempts at layered abstraction.

Stay tuned for more work in this new direction. I'm still using the format of jewelry (and probably purses) because I LOVE to wear jewelry and I enjoy working small. Also, you might want to take a look at my website which has been updated with a few more recent images.