Gentling

Home from a getaway at Lake Superior's North Shore, thinking about what the lake has gifted me with over the years. In the past, it has been mostly stones, rounded and smooth, that have found their way into sculptures and jewelry. More recent has been my fascination with driftwood, stripped of its bark and limbs, leached of color and reduced to simple shape and texture.

These are the things I use in my work, which is so dependent on the materials it derives from. Paints and pigments, beads and wire of course, but the true origin of each piece is found in the world around me.

My ponderings on the long drive home - my love is not of objects that come from nature as much as it is of objects affected by nature. Stones tumbled by the crashing waves til their edges are worn away. Broken bits of metal reduced to rust, with nothing left but color and texture. Edges softened, shiny surfaces eroded and worn, all sharpness gone.

And I think about all the brash and brittle that time has taken from me as well, and in the end, I find I am grateful for the gentling....