Catching It

I realize these guys are catchers. We're all worried about catching it, the plague, the virus. I think there will be more in this series...

Shields

I needed materials, so I went for a jog this morning and collected wood on the way to bring back to the "studio". I already had found two fabulous pieces of pierced metal on the road last week, and they were just waiting for their other parts.

I added heads first, then one got what seemed like wings. Then I wanted to have them holding round things. At first I thought it was a tray, and they were some kind of servers, but then I realized they were shields. Maybe we are all trying to ward off the awfulness that seems to be assaulting us and the world -- environmental depredation, a narcissist for a president, and now a pandemic. Three strikes. Maybe they're catchers... Catchers in the Sty.

The wood still needs to be treated somehow (I don't have my wax with me at home), and I'm not sure if they will have legs and, if so, what kind. Also are they on a stand or on the wall. Time will tell.

Art in the Time of COVID-19

Adjustments are being made by all of us during this time. My Art Group has been doing a round-robin email thread where people can tell what they're working on -- or thinking about.

I isolated at home for two weeks after my husband had back surgery at Dartmouth-Hitchcock, then had to go out to a doctor's appointment two days ago and one for him to have his stitches taken out yesterday, and I took the opportunity to go by my studio and pick up some tools so I can do a little bit of work at home. I know I could be working on watercolors or drawing, but I was craving to work with wood and objects.

So, I rearranged my home office and brought in a nasty old piece of plywood from the barn to create a surface over file cabinets and voila! Home studio! I'll have to go outside to do big sawing and carving (thanks to Ann Young for the loan of chisels!), but tomorrow I'll dig in.

One side of the room and

the other side.

Bigs and Littles

Some friends recently bought a small apartment in New York City and wanted some of my work in their new space! They wound up buying both one of the new large figures

 

and also three of the smaller figures that were in a recent show at North Common Arts

I'm grateful to them for sending these images, and I'm sure they and my work will both enjoy their new home in the Big Apple!

Boats Floating in Montpelier

I've been working on making Ships and Boats for several years now, and this week I've put them on exhibit at the Capital Region Visitors Center at 134 State Street in Montpelier (next door to the Vermont Arts Council). They're open 6AM-5PM M-F and 9AM-5PM on weekends (wow, way more hours than most galleries...) The boats will be there until April 29, so stop by and have a look.

There's a case with a small flotilla of vessels, and two larger ones on a nearby windowsill ... just where you'd expect to find boats.

 

Here's a short statement. I was thinking about immigration, and the movement of people around the globe and how we need to be open to that, since all of us in this country came (in the not so distant past) from somewhere else.

If you’re here at the Visitors Center, you’re probably from someplace other than Montpelier, Vermont!

Humans have been moving around since the beginning of our species – by foot, by horse, by cart, by plane – and by boat.

Ships and boats move goods across oceans, take people fishing on lakes, and glide up and down rivers. They are part of our life on this watery planet.

These boats are made of found materials – wood, metal, bone, and other interesting things.