HelloCREATIVITY

I was in kindergarten when my mom got a note from my teacher noting my attention to detail in the art I was drawing, so my Mom became my biggest encourager in my early art years.  Now when she looks at my stuff, she might scratch her head, but she always marvels at the fact that I have the drive to create.

In high school I had an incredible art teacher, Ms. Medici, who pushed me to follow my curiosity for any type of medium - so I dabbled in drawing, water colors, acrylics.  I got pretty good at it, which fueled my confidence to try new things and enter my art in contests.  I won awards which again fueled more confidence and curiosity. Until College, I had only really dabbled in 2-D art and it was fascinating to me. But at the end of my senior year, I took ceramics and made my first sculpture - it was so exciting to me, but unfortunately school was about to end and I was about to go 800 miles away to college.  I vowed to get back into sculpture somehow.

When I went to college, for a short time I declared myself as an art major.  One of the classes I took was a 3-D class in which I used different mediums of Jello [yes, "watch it wiggle"], paper, wood and chicken wire.  My professor applauded the fact that I embraced every project to the fullest when other students were merely muddling through for the grade.  In one assignment, he had us carry around a 6-foot two-by-four for 48 hours, and he would tell us what to do at the end of the 48 hours.  No one but me in the class did it - I slept with it, showered with it, took it in the bathroom and to the cafeteria - I even named it.  My friends all knew it by name after 48 hours.  Ultimately it was the reason I got an A, because the goal was for you to form a 'bond' with your art, thus creating a more memorable piece. I had created Norton:  The Super 2 X 4! I will never forget that professor, because he is why the possibilities of 3-D art were exposed to me, and why I still seek new adventures in art today. Eventually I decided that I needed to make money, so I switched my major to Advertising and became a graphic designer for over 10 years.  So it was back to the 2-D in my professional life.

For the last 20 years, I have been doing figure sculpture using the mediums of clay and metal.  I have produced close to a hundred figures ranging from miniature to life size.  I usually sketched the model before attempting it in clay.  I have cast figures using molten iron, and I currently am learning the nature of metal through welding.  Eventually I plan to branch into stone.  My clay mentor is a wonderful old soul who has been exposing me to new ideas since 1988 - Bill Nixon. I value every word he says to me, and he has never ever trashed one of my pieces - even though he has not always agreed with my methodology or craftsmanship.  I have learned many life lessons from his wisdom as well.  My metal teacher is actually younger than me - Daniel Timms.  His experience makes his lessons speak volumes, even if he is younger than me.  His unassuming and methodical approach makes welding fun and low anxiety.

Over the many years of exploring art, I have had many encouragers, teachers and mentors. When I look at one of my pieces, the end result is not what is important -- it is the experience along the way.