My fascination with snakes has to do with their ability to transform throughout their lives, shedding their old skin and starting fresh. It’s what they do on a regular basis. We transform as well, but with seemingly less ease. I hope to embody their natural shifts throughout my life and realize changes in myself and in my community.

I created this piece after a meditation weekend during which I took a walk and glanced this scene of a murder of crows moving back and forth from tree to house. I’m not sure what they were doing. The image stuck in my mind. A group of birds, symbols of freedom, working together. I added the woman in the window looking on as curious observer.

Crows in West Asheville

17” x 24”

Plywood, Acrylic, Milk Paint, Carving

Transformation marks a point in my career where I began combining carved surface design with sculpted form. The images and patterns tells a story on the snake’s skin. What kinds of stories can we tell on our communities’ buildings and streets, in our parks and schools?

The lotus is a symbol of resilience and also hope. As the lotus grows, it plants its roots deep and climbs out of the muck to reveal a perfect bloom. What work must we do to open to the beauty in ourselves and in our society?

In Space Between I am interested in the relationships between things, how an ecosystem sustains itself, how we depend on each other for survival, for nourishment, and beauty.

The nautilus represents both the macro and the microcosm. This wood sculpture speaks of growth and destruction by emphasizing the grain of the wood with its burned surface. I think both of these processes exist simultaneously in ourselves in our world. When we embrace them fully and move with change, we become more apart of the ever-shifting experience of life.

I made this piece at Penland School of Crafts. It took me two weeks to complete and it took two weeks for our class to become a community. We came together as we learned about the tools, the materials, and the place. This piece reminds me of the power of learning and growing in a supported space.