The Evolution of a Piece

My husband Josh and I have been traveling around Europe the last three weeks- Rome, Paris, Naples and Pompeii and we’ve seen a lot of ancient art as one does when they come to these parts of the world. Much of it is as old as 2000 years, some even older. All of the art has a long, varied story as it has gone through much in this world to survive and be viewed by us now.

This is a frieze I saw at the Cluny Museum in Paris - What is the story here? It kind of looks like someone didn’t like all the faces and chopped them out? Maybe it was a bad divorce?

It’s really made me think about all the different ways we treat and take care art over the ages. Do we repair it? Do we restore it to its original glory? Or do we just enjoy it- fading pigment, missing limbs and all?

There are so many sculptures with missing parts in the world but they can be beautiful as they are- I loved how they displayed this one with the stained glass parts in the background at the Cluny Museum - its kind of like the museum curator made a new piece of art!

It’s an interesting coincidence that right before I left on this trip I spent a few days in my studio working on repairing a couple of pieces of my own art. One was from a customer that bought the piece from me over 15 years ago and it had fallen from a high shelf and never even had a chance to be displayed. She finally brought it to me and I worked on repairing it. Amazingly it wasn’t that bad but there is one crack on the foot that we are still searching for a solution on. I might add another dog - then the piece will have evolved a bit away from its original form but I think since I am the artist (though changed some over the past fifteen years) that’s probably just fine. If someone else 100 years from now decided to add a dog to it- well that just wouldn’t seem right- OR maybe it’s okay- does it really matter as long as the piece is aesthetically pleasing to the owner/viewer?

Luckily most of the parts were still here since all the canes are long gone!

The other piece I was fixing was a piece I made in 2011- "Ape's Potion House". This piece sadly  had a bad relationship with a command strip at an exhibit and fell with a loud crash.  Once again considering its fall it was in pretty good shape but as I pieced it back together one section was especially hard to figure out so I am pretty sure I didn't put it back exactly as it was.  AND the poor little Ape has a missing limb.  Now that I have seen so many ancient sculptures with missing limbs maybe I will just leave it that way- it does start to become part of the piece's story and its evolution.  

This is the piece in its original glory but it looks a bit different now that it has had a few adventures!

As we have traveled I've seen many interesting stories about art work being restored back to it's former glory.  At one church, Santa Chiara in Naples, there was a terrible fire when it was bombed during WWII.  Sadly much of the artifacts were wrapped in hay and fabrics in order to protect it in case of a bomb but when the church caught on fire these materials were highly flammable.  Still they were able to painstakingly repair the collection of incredible figurative reliquaries back to their former glory.  What a story!  

One of many beautifully restored reliquaries at the Santa Chiara Monastery . I do like that it still has an “antiqued look” maybe that is because even after it was restored it’s been about 80 years.

Then there were the many marble sculptures found in Pompeii.  These of course have one of the most amazing stories ever having been buried under ash from the volcanic explosion of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD.  At the National Archeology Museum in Naples they have a huge collection of these sculptures and interestingly many of them had their missing parts replaced with new marble parts- even their whole head!  As you looked you wondered how they knew how to make all the replacements so perfectly.  

It sure looks like they put a new head and arms on this sculpture doesn’t it. A lot of the pieces in the National Archeology Museum in Naples actually had descriptions laying out which parts were replacements.

I never did find out if any of these sculptures would have been painted but I know a lot of marble sculptures from antiquity would have been fully and brightly painted.  At the Cluny Museum in Paris we saw a lof of pieces that had remnants of paint.  I have never seen one of these sculptures fully re-painted to its former glory- or gaudiness.  I feel like we are so used to seeing these sculptures without paint and we would NOT find a fully painted sculpture to be very aesthetically pleasing!

You can see a lot of remaining paint on this piece from the Cluny Museum in Paris but if you look closely when you go to museums you might see just the tiniest fragments. Sometimes they will even have an image displayed with the piece that shows what colors it was originally but most of the time there is no mention of the previous color.

I think a lot of times we imagine that having art at perfectly preserved in its original glory is the goal but we are also very drawn to the look of aged artifacts.  Just walking around Pompeii and Herculaneum I definitely agree that seeing all the textures and layers of stones is way more interesting than the perfectly covered stucco walls were when originally built 2000 years ago.  If anyone ever proposed putting Pompeii back to what it was I think there would be a revolt.  In Egypt they wanted to put marble "back on '' one of the pyramids and there was huge disagreement.     

Then again we have to try to keep the art and artifacts as "healthy" as possible.  At the Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte there were patches of rice paper on the paintings to help hold the paint onto the wood panels because wood is a living surface and expanding and contrasting over time. (something I've dealt with myself with my clay- I even re-made a piece because of this problem).

I hope eventually they will be able to remove the patches but I get why they have to put them there. Wood is a very challenging substrate!

It's all fascinating to think about this constant balance. I am sure that archeologists and art gallery curators deal with this all the time.  As an artist we also deal with it.  Especially if you have pieces over a long period of time and it gets brought to many different exhibits.  I am lucky that my medium is fairly strong- it's not going to completely shatter like ceramics and glass but then again ceramics and glass were two things that we saw a lot of- I can't believe how these delicate creations lasted over 2000 years!

Amazing glass vessels from Pompeii! How did these delicate objects survive! I never did find out what they were used for- any guesses?

By the way I do tell all my customers that I will repair any pieces that need fixed at any time- I feel like this is the best way to know that my work is out and being enjoyed not sequestered away until it is dug up one thousand years from now!

And one thing about what I make is there are so many little parts - if a few go missing you probably won’t even be able to tell. And if you can- well that’s the evolution of the piece.

New Year's resolutions the Artist's Way

I’ve been trying to remember some of my past New Year’s resolutions.  Mostly I remember the goofy ones like “to eat more Indian food” in 2017.  I was very successful because whenever I was on the road and couldn’t decide what to eat I went with my resolution!  I do like to use the resolution idea not to just improve myself but to make me have more of the things I love to have happen in my life happen.

I remember my 92 year old grandma thought it was very funny that my resolution was to eat more Indian food but she went along with me a couple of times and actually liked it!

One year I resolved to go to more show openings.  We really went at it in the winter, sometimes going to two or three galleries in one Friday or Saturday night.  I think I should try to bring this one back in some form because it does take an effort to get out to exhibits.  I found this a great way to discover new galleries.  The year I did this resolution there weren’t great ways to find out about openings like now.  The twin cities are super lucky to have MplsArts as a resource for all the openings in the area. 

This was a gallery opening of my friend Cory Favre’s paintings “The White Knuckle Project”.

There was a year that I bought some really fun new gloves so my resolution was not to loose them.  You might think that this is a hard resolution to keep if you are prone to loosing gloves- it just happens!  But I found that one time when I left one glove at a class I was teaching and realized when I was already a block or so away it was the fact that I made this resolution that made me go back and get it.  I did keep my resolution the whole year but one week into January we were driving back from Colorado and stayed in a hotel in Omaha.  About an hour away I realized I’d lost a glove at the hotel- I told myself, “Well I made it the full year so I don’t have to drive back”.

These are my pretty gloves that I have NOT lost YET though I came very close when I dropped one in a parking garage and found it on a post two months later!

This year’s resolution relates to travel because on our recent trips we ended up taking the highways and smaller roads instead of the interstate.  When you do Google maps often it will show you a “greener” version of the trip with a little leaf icon and sometimes it’s not that much longer but isn’t on the interstate.  We ended up on one of these routes on our way to Colorado this time because I wanted to stop in Sioux City Art Center in Iowa to see the Judy Onifrio show.  

Mirror selfie at the Judy Onifrio Show. If you are the in the area you have got to see this exhibit!

As we drove diagonally through Nebraska we were shocked how interesting it was!  We drove through many small towns that weren’t more than a gas station and few houses.  We even drove by the “Klown Doll Museum” in Plainview, Nebraska, I admit I was too scared to stop.  Josh took a u turn to go back to a “flea market” which was really just an antique store that had all kinds of old rusty piles out front.  It’s a lot harder to do that on the interstate- we will stop here and there but it’s usually more planned out.

So this year I am resolving to try to take the “greener” and more interesting route to all the faraway lands I travel to in 2024.  It might take a few minutes longer but we are finding that it actually feels shorter because there is so much more to see and discover.  Besides, we will also save a little gas money that we can use to collect strange antiques that might turn into some new pieces of art!

Here I am working on my latest large scale piece in my studio- many of the found objects here came from stops at antique stores as I travel.

My Daily Doses of Art Consumption

I find that my usual haunts for inspiration and art viewing have changed a bit lately. Over the years I tried to make Facebook work as a place to see amazing art. But my feed just seemed to be mucked up with more and more sponsored posts and I would only see the same three or four artists. Then I switched to Instagram and got into collecting all kinds of amazing artists to follow but the same thing happened. I had a short love affair with TikTok during the peak of the pandemic but my “For You” feed didn’t really give me all the eye candy I dreamed of.

I wish the world was full of artistic creations like this food truck with a spiral staircase I saw in Sheboygan but since it isn’t I’ve found other ways to consume the artistic creations of artists worldwide.

I know there is so much incredible art out there to be discovered but how do I find them with out too much effort? Well I seem to have hit on my best fit for my daily habits- I’ve subscribed to several art newsletters. This really works for me because I spend a lot of time on email and getting curated art served up to me as I’m working is a refreshing visual break that makes plugging through the inbox much more fun.

I love it when everyday objects become art! There are a lot of artists in Colossal turning unexpected items into works of art. (I saw these in the Rhino Arts District in Denver)

At the moment one of my favorite e-newsletters is “This is Colossal” . I get at least one email from them a day with three or four articles about art, craft and design. All the art is incredible! If I have time I will click the links to see the full article and more of the artist’s work. And if I’m hungry for more I can always click into their Instagram or website. It’s so much more fulfilling than just seeing one image zoom by on a social media feed. Generally the art from "Colossal” is very creative with lots of unique materials. Much of the work has a message that is digestible and filled with “A-ha” moments of wonderment, like the gothic chapels made of carved cardboard by Eva Jospin.

I came across this stencil art in Denver but I love it when there is great graffiti art right in my inbox.

I’ve also been a fan of “Hyperallergic” for awhile now. This e-newsletter has more news about art from the past and current times. There are a wider variety of types of articles including art critiques and gallery lists for cities and political art news. There can be all kinds of articles beyond what I would consider “art” like this one about a giraffe born without spots.

The other main art newsletter I follow is “Artnet News” . There tends to be less actual images of art on this newsletter and more news but I still find that the articles are interesting and give me an insight into the art world - as in collectors, museums and archeology. There are a lot of articles about the art market and the art that sells for millions at auctions. It can be interesting to study these trends even though it won’t change the art that I am making. This article about up and coming young artists was interesting because their art all has a very similar feel to it.

You might see art like this on Artnet News going for a few million but this actual piece was done by my nephews. I actually think it’s pretty awesome!

I’d love to hear where you get your daily virtual dose of art. Do you have a favorite e-newseltter that you follow? Of course I always want to see more amazing art in person but when I can’t it’s fun to get a little art in my inbox every day and who knows how it will fill up my inspiration bucket!

Eager Eco Engineer Explained

When I thought of the idea of making a sculpture of a beaver I really had no idea what amazing creatures they are! I just knew that they were second to humans in changing the environments that they live in. I did not know that they are a keystone species or even what that meant. But as I started drawing beavers and coming upon articles on the web about them I was soon smitten!

Beavers are monogamous and they live in their lodges with their newborns and one year old kits. They have two underwater openings that can’t be seen from above the water.

One of the first things I learned about beavers is that their dams work as air conditioners for the forest. I was excited to read this because I had just recently found a piece of a fan while walking down the alley near my house. This was the first part of the beaver I created: a fan with fans on it for the beaver back.

The next section I worked on was the “e”. After a few more videos learning about beavers I wanted to make the point about their engineering skills. I found some old books and magazines that had equations and digital maps and a book about ships that had great imagery that evoked the idea of engineering to collage on the letter e.

The more I learned about beavers the more they seemed to just pop up. I even heard a podcast randomly in my feed about how beavers were relocated by parachute after the second World War . Then my friend Laura Burlis (also a polymer clay artist) gave me the book “Eager, The surprising, secret lives of Beavers and why they Matter” by Ben Goldfarb. And after that I had soooo many ideas to pack into this piece. The following is an explanation of many of the “hidden” facts in my “Eager Eco Engineer":

Canadian Maple Leaf Shelf: The beaver is the national symbol of Canada (it’s hard to see but it’s near the parachuting beaver).

Back Foot: Diorama of animals. I wanted to show the connection this small rodent has to larger animals of the forest. They rely on beaver ponds for their water source, cooling the forest , habitat for their food source of fish and more.

Near Hind Leg: Beaver Deceiver- In “Eager “ Goldfarb talks about this device which can be used to lower the levels of beaver ponds so they don’t flood roads and other human property. It’s basically a caged tube that runs from the middle of the pond to the other side of the dam. It’s been very controversial but over the years it’s proven to be much cheaper than just trying to get ride of troublesome beavers.

Tail- I made most of the tail from a letter press drawer and a house shaped collection shelf. The tail of a beaver serves as storage for the winter, a warning system (when slapped on the water) and a rudder as they swim. Check out all the ways I symbolized these ideas (and other beaver facts) in the tail.

Tip of the Tail: Core samples. As I read about how they studied samples of the earth to see how the sentiment had changed as the beaver population changed I got the visual idea of creating my own core samples.

Neck- Bicycle turned into a pie chart. When I discovered this old fashioned bike made of metal worked perfectly for the beaver’s neck I had the idea of putting a pie chart in the wheels but I wasn’t sure what it would be a pie chart for. Once I started reading more about the fur trade and how beavers were harvested more than any other animal I decided to make a chart to show this. Wow was it a challenge to find stats to create this chart. I read so many articles about the fur trade but to find stats on exactly how many furs were collected of each animal it really took some digging. I finally found this research paper that was full of bar graphs for each animal that was part of the fur trade from 1600 to 1984. I picked 1790 because this was the peak year for beaver harvesting and made my own chart (keep in mind it’s made by an artist so it might not be factually exact!) It is very interesting to see how much people were harvesting furs even in the 1980’s! I’d be interested to see these same stats to 2023.

There is so much more to be learned about these incredible creatures and their role as keystone species. I hope this work of art sparks your interest and gives you an idea of the importance of these rodents to our eco system and to us!

At the right angle you can see his "tooth”. Beaver teeth grow continuously so they have to keep on chewing on wood. Their teeth have a lot of iron in them so they are orange (mine is kind of reddish orange because of the piece of found metal I used).

Here’s the whole piece! It’s over five feet tall!

The Gambler in Me

Every year I have to apply for about 12 to 20 “jobs”.  It’s art fair application time!  Most people don’t realize how competitive it is to get into art fairs.  There are some “top tier” shows that have over 1000 applications for 200 or so spots.  So every year about this time I wrestle with the decisions of which three or four images to submit to each art fair and which art fairs I want to try for.

You would think that in my 31st year of applying to arts festivals I would have finally figured it all out but I’m amazed how much I still have to learn.  I recently watched two “mock juries” one with my work as part of the jury and another without.  This is where two or three people that have been jurors in the past go through submitted artworks and give suggestions on how to improve your images and your artist statements.  I was amazed how much I had to learn watching these!

Here’s one group of four pieces I am using this year to apply for festivals.

In most cases artists use a system called Zapplications where you upload three or four images of your art and one of your booth full of your art.  You also get a 100 to 300 character statement about your work.  As a sculptor that creates three dimensional work that is experienced differently up close and far away it’s a big challenge to photograph my work.  It’s also a challenge to pick three or four pieces that capture the scope of what I do.  

After watching the mock jury of my work I felt pretty good about my selection of pieces but I learned that I needed a new booth shot.  The booth shot is the biggest challenge to most artists and it’s been a struggle for me for all 30 years of my career.  If you have been to my booth you know I love to fill it up!  It’s my aesthetic - more is more in my world!  But I have to realize the booth image is not the same as walking into a booth and I need to pare it way down.  I did a mock up on photoshop of my booth with less art and less display materials like my run and floor banner.  What do you think?  

Regular Booth Shot vs. Less stuff Booth Shot

 Watching both mock juries was another reminder that every jury will have different opinions. On one mock jury the jurors hated booth shots on grass and on the other they loved grassy settings! It is such a gamble to apply to shows- one year they will love your style of work and the next they year they won’t..  I always joke about how many “lottery tickets” I am buying each year.  That’s how I feel when I spend the required $30 to $50 fee just to apply to each show each year. There are about 4 or 5 shows that I apply to every year that either I have never gotten into or I’ve only gotten into once.  I already received my annual rejection letter from my “favorite lottery ticket show”.  I got in this show off the waitlist once in 2017. If you added up all the money I have spent on jury fees for that show it is probably far more than I made at the show the one year I was in. .  But just like a gambler I can’t help trying every year.

And now with the tidbits of knowledge I gained from watching the mock juries I feel ready to buy a bunch of “lottery tickets” this year and see if I’ve improved my chances.  In the meantime I wait it out in hopes of getting at least 12 emails with “Congratulations” in the subject line.

At least this year I have a few shows that I know I’m in because I received awards the year before!

Exploring Age through Art

Layl worked with young artist Madalina Kelner to create a series of pieces that explore their childhood. They will be part of an exhibit at Homewood Studios put on by Art to Change the World called Age of Age. The ten teams of artists are all over twenty years apart in age and span from age 25 to 104! Aging, ageism and other ways of looking at our lives through this lense will be part of this exhibit.

Here is the artist statement about Layl and Madalina’s project:

Have you ever realized that what you do when you were a kid is somehow similar to

what you do now as an adult? We explored our childhood and how the art we did

formed our futures and got us through our childhood.

It was interesting to explore the differences and similarities of our childhoods. Layl’s

childhood was about forty years ago and Madalina’s was about fourteen years ago but

we both made art that was similar in many ways. For example, Layl created a “Smurf

Village” on her brother’s train track and Madalina made fairy houses in the woods. We

thought it would be fun to revisit these creations. As we created, we talked a lot about

what our childhoods were like.

Layl working on the fairy house. Photo by Madalina Kelner

Layl used art to try to get more attention from her mom who was taking care of three

other children and helping her dad run a business. She also had her little sisters to keep her

creating even into her early teens. Madalina was adopted and was seen as a “wild

card” and was allowed to lead her own life as her parents followed her interests and.

From a young age she displayed a heavy passion for the arts.

Madalina working on the fairy house.

Madalina dealt with a lot of bullying all through elementary and middle school, so she

used art to escape and focus. “For me I just followed the dopamine spikes I got from

art,” says Madalina. Both of us used doodling as a way of focusing and learning in

school. Madalina would draw out her notes in the form of cartoons and she still has all

her notebooks, many of which we used in our piece “Visual Lit- This is Terrible”. Layl

would draw doodles that would impress the other kids even though looking back now

they really weren’t that amazing. She also kept a journal since age 12 which we

photocopied and added into “Visual Lit- This is Terrible”. When you look at both of our

early skills, Layl’s storytelling in journaling and Madalina’s illustrations of school subjects

you can really see the beginnings of the art and design we both do today.

When asked how your perception of your childhood change with this looked back

together Madalina felt more validated about her perception of being bullied and the

struggle she went through. Layl realizes now that she was not bullied as much as she

had thought and that her life of moving from school to school gave her many chances to

escape bullies and her own shyness was also her protection. Layl says, “I’m not sure if

it’s my distance from my childhood that gives me the rose-colored view, looking back, or

if it was really not that bad… or I’m more healed with a longer amount of time.”

Regardless, for both individuals’ art was a means of healing.

Although one childhood took place in the 90s and the other in the 70s, we were

amazed how closely aligned our creative approach to art was.

It’s possible for negativity to dissipate over time and this project demonstrates two

significant stages of individuals healing through the arts.

View through the Fairy House to the river. Photo by Madalina

Epilog: Layl went back a few days later and the fairy house was flooded but still standing! A week later it was completely back to the elements. You may wonder where all the flower came from- someone had left a bouquet on the river bank which we used to decorate- what serendipity for our creativity!

How to Commission a Piece of Art

Have you ever seen an artist’s work that you love but the pieces they have available aren’t the exact perfect fit for your space or there are parts you love of several pieces but it doesn’t exist on one? Well, many artists love to have work commissioned from them. I am defiantly one of those. Every time I am asked to create a piece just for a customer I’m so excited about the possibility of creating a piece that that will be just right for someone.

The space with the teapot they purchased from me in 2019. (And a cute dog that thinks there needs to be some art on the wall)

A few months ago I received an email from a couple asking about one of my pieces on my website. Unfortunately the piece was sold so I pointed them to some other pieces that were still available. Then they sent me a photo of the space they were looking to fill. The pieces they were most interested in were more vertical and wouldn’t fit in as well as a square or horizontal piece so I offered to make them something similar but in a configuration that would fit their space.

They were very excited about this possibility and told me the piece was going to be their anniversary present to each other. Wow, did I feel honored to be part of this gift!

I got to work creating three sketches that fit the format and style they were interested in. They especially loved one of my favorite pieces (maybe my most favorite but don’t tell my other pieces!) the “Scribble Museum - Every Room Full of Delights” so I took from that concept and doodled three line drawings that would give them an idea of which directions I could go.

Three sketches sent to the customer to choose from.

They picked the third drawing and then told me they liked a few other elements from the other drawings so I planned to add those in as I created. They told me to just let my creativity go and see what happened as they loved my work and couldn’t wait to see what I came up with (every artist LOVES to hear this when they are doing a commission because when you are in the midst of creating you want to feel free to follow your muse).

My protocol is to ask for half down so once we settled on a price range they called in with a credit card (I also do PayPal). Then I started to create! As I worked on the piece I sent them photos of the parts and pieces. If there were ever any changes that needed to be made I was happy to comply but this couple was happy with each photo I sent.

One of the first photos I sent of work in progress.

I made sure to take lots of photos of the piece before I boxed it up because the only hard part about commissions is that they go away so fast and as a creator I don’t get to enjoy them long. Then I took the second payment and went to work on the boxing up of the piece which as you can imagine was nearly a work of art on it’s own.

This was the largest single part piece I’ve ever done (other large pieces I’ve made have been in multiple parts so I can haul them to art shows) so I learned a lot about shipping. My husband Josh had the idea of building a wooden crate around the box to make it extra safe from all the shipping hazards. Then we attached it to two pallets. This thing was so solid it could have withstood a stampede of elephants!

The biggest box I’ve ever shipped!

And when it did arrive without damage I was thrilled! I sent them a template to make hanging easy and after a phone call about how to pick up the piece they were able to hang it in the space that it was made for! What a perfect fit!

The finished piece “Every Room full of Delights in Flight” in its new home!

Cognitive Dissonance and Polymer Clay

As we head into our third year of the pandemic and watching the war unfold in Ukraine many of us are looking around us and thinking about what we can do to make the world a better place.  We read about how we as humans are destroying the environment and looking at our own lives to see what we can change.  But it’s not an easy fix.  Many of us are stuck with a cognitive dissonance about how to have our lives the way we want them and also make the world better for generations to come.

“If Memories were Birds”, 2021

I have been working with polymer clay for nearly 30 years- it’s a plastic- I love it- it appeals to my innate need to squish colors in my hands.  But it’s a plastic and all around us we hear about how evil plastic is and how it never goes away.  The more I hear this I try to talk myself into giving it up but I also know the joy my work brings to people.  I tell myself my art is not plastic pollution or one time use like the tons and tons of plastics produced by large companies.  But still how do I create art that tells a story about getting rid of plastics and other harmful materials while I am using the very same material.  This is the struggle I am facing as I create my next body of work.

One of the directions my work has taken since the beginning of the pandemic is to use more found objects- especially those that I already have in my house or that are given to me.  Some found objects come from thrift stores and antique stores but are never purchased new.  I am especially challenged by using a material we all hate- styrofoam.  I have found that the large forms of styrofoam in packaging are really beautiful shapes and it has some very positive qualities when it comes to sculpting and adding other found objects to it. 

“The Rhino with too many Ideas”, 2022

I would like to explore this “cognitive dissonance” that I am feeling and I expect many of us are in this world that we are both trying to save and live our best lives in.  My next series I’m planning will be to creating pieces based on animals that are affected by the way humans interact with the environment.  I’m imagining these pieces will be of varying scale from life size to larger than life size and be made of found objects and polymer clay.  My most recent piece “The Rhino with too many Ideas” is an example of how I will use a variety of found objects to these animals.  I’m just starting a giraffe piece which will be about 8 feet tall. I collected many of the pieces from thrift stores and as I create my main question to myself is how am I balancing the use of polymer clay with the found objects.

My good friend Barbara Bridges introduced me to the concept of cognitive dissonance and she always says “Embrace it”. As I head into my next body of work I will certainly be repeating her mantra because it seems this is the only choice I have!

Layout plans for my giraffe. I took photos of all my mixed media pieces and printed then out to collage then together. Keep an eye on my social media platforms to see this guy come to life.

"It's an Arts Festival!"

If you would have told me in February of 2020 that I would only do 7 art fairs in the next two years it would have blown my mind.  I would have been super sad and scared because I was so used to the routine of almost weekly art fairs year around. In fact at the beginning of the pandemic, as I realized over the course of three or four months that I wouldn’t be doing an art fair for a long time I was pretty worried.  You might think I was worried about my income but honestly I was worried most about my artistic motivation.

“The Unexplainable Whale” was one of my first large scale pieces made at the beginning of the pandemic”.

Most artists don’t have an unending drive to create as the myth goes.  We need to have a reason to create.  During art fair season I have the motivation of filling those Pro Panel walls with art after work has been sold the week before. Without this push I was worried I would languish- but luckily this did NOT happen.  See my previous blog about giving myself assignments, titled “Art Assignments”.

Some of my recent ornaments.

I was able to do some “stocking up” but mostly I made elaborate extreme pieces that will be shown at gallery shows and also be “showstoppers” in my booth.  I was happy to find that I was totally motivated to make more small pieces (mostly ornaments- check them out at www.claysquared.com) when the art fairs were approaching.  There is a certain kind of excitement that comes when a deadline is loaming and you are trying to make as many cats and unicorns as possible (and many other animals but you can never have too many of those two!).  

View from my corner of my booth at the Three Rivers Arts Festival

And then at last the art fairs came!  I can’t tell you how much it feeds my soul to put my work out for the many art fair attendees to see.  I like to create my booth like an installation piece that takes you to another dimension.  At my last art fair in Covington, LA I saw people connecting to my work in a much more in depth way than I remember from the past.  I felt like people were drawn to the uniqueness and creativity of my work and really taking time to examine my more elaborate pieces.  I also soaked up the joy I felt from everyone.  I will never forget the little girl in a T-rex hat (left over from Halloween?) running up to my booth calling out gleefully “It’s an Arts Festival!!”.  I felt the exact same way and I think a lot of other people did too!

This ornament was inspired by the young arts enthusiast I met at the art fair.

The Twist in the Plot

“Root of the Problem” one of the pieces I sold at the Loring Park Art Fair.

We were all quarantined for 15 months, no festivals, no fun, and then at last a vaccine to save the day! I filled up my fall schedule with shows and festivals. I had my first two shows- one in Michigan and one in Minneapolis. People were out and buying and buying and buying!  Art was finding happy homes at last!   We all thought there was going to be a simple happy ending to the narrative of the year without art fairs. BUT there is always a twist in the plot!

As you all know it’s the Delta Variant.  I had my third large festival in Milwaukee, the Morning Glory Art Fair.  On the Friday before the show while sitting in my Airbnb I listened to the news and heard an expert say, “we should not be getting together in large groups for festivals”.  And on and on about the dangers of getting a breakthrough case even if you are vaccinated.  I vowed to wear my mask, social distance and eat all my meals at my Airbnb. I made it through, but the crowds were smaller, and the worries had set in.

Looking at five more festivals ahead I had to make some tough decisions.  In my 28-year career as an art fair artist I have only cancelled out of one show and that was because it was 50 degrees and pouring rain and I had my 2-year-old and 5-year-old with me (I drove there and changed my mind while sitting in a restaurant, realizing I didn’t want to torture my children).  Otherwise, I’ve gone to every show I have ever committed myself to.  

But I did my research and considered the impact of bringing back the virus and getting my husband and his employees at the tile studio, Clay Squared, sick while they are in full production and already 8-10 weeks out on a pile of projects.  I looked at the vaccination rates of the places I was going in the next two weeks and the protocols of the festivals.  One wasn’t too big and might have been fine, but the weather was looking dangerous.  The other was a huge festival in Salina, Kansas, which I LOVE, it’s one of my all-time favorite festivals in the country but I was staring at 47% vaccination rates, and I knew I had to be smart and cancel.

It was easier during the first 15 months of the pandemic to accept that shows were cancelled.  I didn’t have to make the decision myself, but now with this twist in the plot I am facing the decision weekly.  I am studying the numbers and coming up with my own rules- I won’t go to counties where the vaccination rate is lower than my county.  Seems smart.  And of course, I will mask and social distance if I do go.  Who knows what the next twist in the plot will be- but you know there will always be something unexpected.  

My booth at the Morning Glory Festival this year.

Epilog: I have made the very tough decision to cancel out of a third festival. The Riverfront Festival of the Arts in Northfield has been the one show I have done every year since I moved to Minnesota in 1994. I’ll greatly miss not being in my usual spot under the bridge by the river showing my art to new customers and followers that go way back.

Composting My Imagination

Sometimes our kitchen compost is a work of art.

The other day I realized my imagination is a lot like my compost pile. All sorts of things go in and get compacted together and mixed and dissolved until it is a juicy mixture ready to feed my ideas and eventually become actual pieces of art.

 All through the pandemic I have been using the resources I have around me to add to my imagination “compost.”  I’ve pulled out old art books and devoured new ones like ART = “Discovering Infinite Connections in Art History” from the Metropolitan Museum of Art which became my pandemic “museum” fix every morning for breakfast through much of the winter. I read old arts magazines, especially Art Forum and ACC Magazine which friends gave me.  I perused my own photos from past museum visits and researched several artists online to see more of their work.  And then there are my old sketchbooks which I dip into periodically for inspiration.   

All these things and more were the nourishment for my pieces I’ve created over the past year.  I feel like I was able to create many pieces that had been just seedlings in my mind for a long time.  The series of over-the-top teapots has been something I have wanted to do for about 3 or 4 years now.  Making a 12-foot piece was something I thought I would need to wait until I had a commission to do, but it was finally time to spend nearly a month on one piece without the distraction of stocking up for art fairs.  (Here is a video of that piece.)

My friend Martha at the Minneapolis Institute of Art and the huge “Swan” head from India.

Now that I am fully vaccinated my friend and I finally got to go to an art museum after more than a year.  While wandering around the Minneapolis Institute of Art she asked me, “So what’s happening with your work right now?” and I answered, “This!” pointing to what we were doing.  I explained that I was to the point where I really needed some fresh inspiration and how hungry I am right now to see art in real life!  The books and the photos and the web pages have sustained my “compost” pile of ideas but now I need some really strong “activators” mixed into the heap.  There’s nothing that competes with being in a room with art that I can get close to and far away from and study whatever parts intrigue me at the moment.

I also look forward to more than just art museums to rejuvenate my imagination.  On my list is everything from going to thrift and antique stores, to road trips across the country, taking in the landscape.  My hike through the Badlands in May was like a flood of visual nourishment. I’m already feeling the seeds of ideas starting to take root so keep an eye on my social media to see what sprouts!

  I’d love to hear what other artists and creatives are doing now that we can get back in the world, and what helps fill up your well of ideas. 

There are so many shapes and textures to be inspired by in the Badlands National Park!

Here are some of the artists I was studying through the winter that you might like to check out:

Sarah Sze

Deborah G. Rogers

Paula Rego

Juan Pablo Garza/

Betye Saar

Sofonisba Anguissola

Artemisia Gentileschi

Izumi Kato

Gary and Maryann Carlson

Ilana Savdie

Jennifer Mannebach

Close up of “Turtle Creator’s Infusion Sewing Machine Teapot”. One of my latest wild teapots.

Always Looping Back Around

As a visual thinker I have this image of the trajectory of my artistic journey as a line ever looping back around. I feel like I am always trying to get back to the most creative times of my life. Each time I bring all the skills and knowledge that I gained in between these peaks of creativity, and my work evolves and carries forward the same elements from the beginning.

The first time I felt extremely creative was during my senior year of high school. I had completed most of my required classes, which allowed me to spend more than half my day in art classes doing independent studies. I was lucky to have an open-minded art teacher, Chris Amend, who is not only a teacher, but also an incredible artist. During my senior year I built what I called 2 1/2 - D sculptures. Many of them were drawings and paintings on illustration boards which I assembled into a sculpture. The standout piece was a 3-foot diameter carousel of exotic animals made of boxes.

After this dream year, I went on to learn more skills in art school. I created outside of my assignments, but it was never that full immersion of creativity that I had in high school. When I was finally free from academia I let loose again. Recently I have been re-reading my journals from this time of my life and I can clearly see how energized I was with ideas! I was creating “story art” that included story vests, chairs, quilts, suitcases and more. I look back at these pieces and I am still inspired to push myself to be this imaginative.

“Dreams of a Duck Prince” created in 1994. Look I used polymer clay to make a bathtub! The rest is mixed media including tape to make the characters.

“Look See Tree” 1999 at the Phipps Center for the Arts

Eventually I settled into a more productive even stream as I created lines of work that I sold through artist reps and art fairs. I then learned that I needed a reason to loop back around to that ultimate creative mode. Showing my work at art centers, especially for solo shows, turned out to be that reason. In my early years as an artist and a mother I really needed this outlet in order to be forced to carve out the time to do more elaborate works. My solo show “The Look See Tree” in 1999 at the Phipps Center for the Arts in Hudson , WI was one such opportunity when I was able to create over the top pieces such as the title piece - a 10 foot wall hanging that was a fabric tree of mixed media glasses the viewer could actually try on and then draw pictures of how the world looked through these glasses.

When my daughters were toddlers, I moved into polymer clay and this was another time of education and skill building. Of course, there was still a lot of creativity in my life but not on the scale of that senior year of high school which will always be my barometer of creative output. But I built my skills and pushed myself to create pieces that were outside of the picture holders that I had discovered sold at art fairs and in consignment shops. In 2010 I started making larger wall pieces, so I submitted to show at Artistry in Bloomington, MN and I was chosen to show in their 2nd floor gallery in 2012. When I saw the space, I would need to fill in the next two years I knew I would be “looping back around” to another burst of extreme creativity! I will always think of that show titled “Fresh Baked Stories” as another turning point in my art career. I made over 30 polymer clay pieces several as large as 3 to 6 feet.

“Just Think How Books are Like Birdhouses” 2012

Now I find myself in another loop back to full on creative output. This time caused by the pandemic and a forced sabbatical from art fairs. Now I am getting into the groove of creating pieces that are more involved and time consuming than I’ve let myself make in a long time. The winter of 2021 has been focused on sculptural teapots that take me at least a week to create which may not seem that long but when I sit down to cover a teapot with the canes I already have, I can finish a teapot in a day. Having this expanse of time is giving me the freedom to push the limits and explore new ways to make my visions come to life.

Being in these moments of full-on creativity is incredibly fun but it is also challenging. Right now, I am working on a “monumental piece” that will be about 12 feet long. I am working with a lot of mixed media pieces and polymer clay which means inventing construction techniques that not only look right but also hold together physically. Will it all work and will my concept carry through when it’s complete? That’s the big risk but no doubt it will push my art to evolve AND loop back around to what I have done in the past.

Over the years the pieces that I create in these moments of extreme creativity have multiple similarities. As I look back, I can see how my creative process of playfulness and intuitive use of materials carries through from my high school art career to now. I know I can’t stay in this peak of creativity all the time, but I’ll stretch it as long as I can and it will be exciting to see what comes to life.

Domestic Sculpting

Check out that odd shaped one at the bottom- I dug it out of the ground!

My whole life everything I’ve done has taken an artistic turn. During the pandemic I am getting time to do a lot of home domestic activities and I am discovering that I cannot help but turn them into a sculpture project in some way. This summer I landscaped, every day I cook, and this winter I am excavating our basement treasures. I get great enjoyment out of because I am using my same problem solving and creativity skills that I use when I make my art.

When I decided to put in a stairway on our back-yard hill, I went to YouTube for some guidance but I found nothing like what I planned to do. There was too much planning! Then I thought of when Josh and I hiked the Inca trail to Machu Picchu and how the Incas built the stairs from stones that fit into the contour of the mountain. So I channeled my “inner Inca” when I carved into the hill. I had a collection of “used” landscape stones and pavers so I started with them but to my great delight right away I found some perfect stones that were buried where I was digging. The landing at the bottom actually had a perfectly placed large flat rock that made me wonder if there had been a stairway there before. It was a fun challenge to make the stairs fit into the hill. Each stair is unique.

Then I decided to dig to the left of my stairs and put in a few terraces. It’s a good thing that I was working freeform because I hit a buried ancient foundation (well as ancient as anything in Minnesota can be. Probably about 120 years old, since our house was built in 1896). I channeled my inner archeologist and dug this foundation out and made it part of my terrace, discovering some interesting artifacts along the way, including a Minneapolis trolley token!

My sculptural pasta experiment. Don’t worry I only use this pasta machine for real pasta- I have a different one just for clay at my studio.

I also realized how much I love to cook things that are actually sculptural too. Of course I love to make anything involving dough- bread, tortillas, dumplings, and fresh pasta. The other day I thought I would try to make my own shell shaped pasta- it didn’t turn out very beautiful but it was a fun challenge and very tasty thanks to the amazing cheese we get at the Co-op. My sister recently sent me an Instagram link to Helen Nugent who is making very artistic sculptural food. Maybe by the end of the pandemic my own edible creations will become more picturesque.

When I’m not cooking I’m doing a lot more cleaning and organizing than usual. With no chances to collect interesting objects at antique stores as I travel I’ve been looking at objects I already own. My latest piece is a shadow box and a frame that I had kicking around my studio with lots of other found objects, including old jewelry my mom sent me when she cleaned out her closet.

I also ended up turning one of my old shoes into a sculpture titled “Results of Closet Cleaning during Quarantine.” I have a feeling there will be many more experimental pieces like these coming to life over the winter. And who knows how my sculpting in the yard and the kitchen will inspire my newest creations.

“Overloaded” has a lot to look at and discover, plus some empty spots that can still be filled.

I was just about to throw out this shoe when I thought, “no it needs to be a piece of art.”

Art Assignments

“The enemy of art is the absence of limitations.”- Orson Welles.

Most people think you need to have endless options to be creative but, in reality, if you don’t set yourself some kind of parameters, you will find yourself floating around the studio with no direction. When I could do art fairs I would always have weekly assignments because I needed to restock whatever sold out the weekend before. I kept a list of animals to make as ornaments or sculptures each week. I am still going to this list periodically, especially when I need to fill leftover space on a tray that’s going into the oven to bake. But with these new, long stretches of time to fill, I felt I needed to give myself more interesting assignments.

A scrap pile waiting to become something… maybe fish!

One job I often give myself is the clean-up-the-work-table assignment. This really appeals to my 10-year-old self that was always told by my mom to clean up my project space. I always dreamt of the day I wouldn’t have to do that anymore, but since then I’ve turned the duty into something enjoyable. I challenge myself to create with whatever is leftover on the table, trying to use up all that is there. This is, of course, a much slower way of cleaning up, but much more fun!

Earlier this month I started with this clean up concept on my corner table which has become a landing pad for all kinds of things, including my old title labels for pieces that have sold. They are made of clay in order to make them waterproof at outdoor art fairs and are colorful; I just hate to throw them out. Often they go home with the buyer but not always. I have a large pile now from sculptures that sold at galleries or from when the purchaser didn’t want the tag.

Pile of unused title tags waiting for new pieces…

Recently, I decided my next assignment would be to make new pieces with the same title but they had to be completely different from the original. For example, if it was originally a wall sculpture, it would be a teapot this time around or if it was a small piece before, I would aim for a large piece with totally different techniques. The challenge was to take the limitations of the title as a launching pad and see where it would take me. One of my favorite titles was from a piece that sold to a preschool in Miami entitled: “Are There Doorways in the Waterfall?” I applied this title to a teapot!

Left: “Are There Doorways in the Waterfall?” 2014 Right: The teapot version, 2020

Now I’m working on a piece called “Protecting the Three Puddles.” The original piece was a small sort of “doodle” with clay. This upcoming one is going to be about 5 feet tall and include a large owl with its wings “hugging” three puddles: each slightly more detailed, with the last showing microorganisms that live in ponds. My musings on this title and concept has lead me to think about the story that is emerging from the sculpture and how the number three is an integral element of fairytales. As a result, I’m thinking my next assignment will be to create a series that continues to focus on these common fairytale and folk tale components and to experiment with how presenting these universally innate qualities of story in my art can prompt the viewer to imagine their own stories.

I’m excited to see where this next assignment will take me! I‘m lucky to have additional time in the studio to create new works which I hope to exhibit in several gallery shows in the future. Stay tuned to see what emerges!

Close up of the microbe in one of my “puddles.” Keep an eye on my Facebook page and on Instagram to see the progress of this new piece and series.

Time Lapse Millefiori

For many of us the markers we usually use to note the passage of time are not available this year. Annual celebrations, monthly meetings, weekly get togethers just aren’t happening.  For me, I’m missing the art fairs that usually occur on the same week every year. Now I find myself either thinking time is going too fast or the opposite: “I can’t believe it’s already the beginning of July.”

What are you using, in your own life, to mark the passage of time during this pandemic? Now that I am spending so much time in my garden I find myself using our plants (including our pear tree) to measure time as well as “how long can we manage to last between grocery trips?” 

Another measure of time that I’ve relied on over many years is the accumulation of my canes that I’ve made. I usually make my canes during art fairs. I love making them so much I don’t let myself do them any other time so I don’t end up with too many to use. Plus it’s really fun to show people the process and to watch their jaws drop. If someone visits my booth over the course of a festival weekend, they will see a pile of various clay colors morph into long tubes of clay with pictures inside every slice. 

Canes I’ve made in the last few years. Most become parts of my sculptures the rest I sell as Silly Millies at www.claysquared.com/layl

For years people have been asking to see this process in a time lapse video. So now, due to the time I’m spending in one location, in my studio, I am finally able to make that video! I set the camera up to capture each step of the cane-making process, allowing viewers to experience the action without having to make repeated visits back to my festival booth. 

The process usually starts with several days of mixing colors.  I get the general palette ready to go ahead of time, but I find I often need to mix additional colors.  In my video I start with a photo of all the clay ready to be turned into a cane.  I also show a drawing of the design I made.  Usually it is just black and white but for this one I did a color drawing because the customer wanted a work of art done with the drawing I used to make the cane. This drawing is then set under a piece of plexiglass so I can work right on top of it.  Then it's all about building the image, piece by piece, like an elongated puzzle.  Finally, when the picture is complete and I've rounded it out with background designs, I start to squeeze and stretch the chunk of clay out.  This process is called reduction.  On the video I skipped filming most of this process because it is literally hours and hours of slowly working the clay around and around until it softens enough to start to stretch evenly. 

It’s fascinating to see this cane (which actually took about 25 hours to create) appear in less than ten minutes! But honestly when I watch the video the timing looks about right to me. I love making canes so much it feels like time goes that fast!  Check out the video here: https://youtu.be/vrktEUVWzvk

Essential Joy

In these unprecedented times we are all thinking about what is essential.  It seems the first thing that everyone thought was essential was toilet paper which made for a lot of very creative art and jokes.  We then started to think about our stomachs and filling our pantries. Then we worried about our mental health, trying to figure out how we can get through the stress that overlays everything.  

A lot of people find stress relief with puzzles so I created this one, available on Zazzle.

For me the waves of worry started with thoughts of my art career.  My main vehicle for bringing in income has been art fairs which have all been cancelled or postponed.  In my nearly 30-year career as a full-time artist, my primary goal has been to make enough of an income to allow me to make art. When I think of not making money I equate it with not making art, which is essential to me.

Then I realized these initial thoughts were self-centered, since the rest of the world has been struggling with more important issues. 

I can’t stop making things. It’s what I do. I must take things, transform them and then somehow share them with the world. But is that essential right now?  This crisis has made people think about what they do and how they can find meaning in their lives while also trying to survive.  

A beautiful backsplash created by my husband at Clay Squared to Infinity.

My husband Josh’s handmade tile studio and showroom provides the other half of our business. We have had to figure out what is essential there, as well. Our showroom is closed but we still offer an e-commerce side which, as it turns out in Minnesota, is considered “essential.”  During the first few weeks of the state-mandated shutdown we pared our employees down to only those that could work at home. This meant I was the logical choice to fill in as our packager.  It was interesting to learn that side of the business, but now that we have been approved for a PPP Loan we can bring our employees back in, at least part-time, in separate rooms.  It will be so good to see them again, even at a distance! Now I can return to my studio full-time (or close to full-time).  

Little creatures I made thanks to suggestions from the viewers during my Facebook “Live Open Studio” event. It was especially fun that my brother-in-law helped my nephew make a play dough elephant at this event.

Much of my studio time now is spent exploring ways to connect virtually with others. I was on a podcast last week called Art Fair Radio, to talk about our business receiving the PPP Loan.  I joined in webinars from the American Craft Council and studied the email I’ve been receiving to discover more ways to survive in this new economy. But my favorite online time is when I get to reach out to others through Facetime, Zoom meetings and good, old-fashioned phone calls. I have begun hosting “ART365 Virtual Open Studios” on Facebook Live and held my first Online class last weekend.  I think most of us are beginning to realize how essential these connections are.

I’ve been posting lots of “made to order” ornaments on www.claysquared.com with the help of my assistant Louise who works from home.

Back in pre-Covid-19 days, I connected directly with hundreds of people at art fairs and classes every week.  I saw the joy on my customers’ and students’ faces over and over which fed my soul. Is that essential? Was I providing essential smiles and essential joy?  I now think of my art hanging in hundreds of houses all over the country and can only hope that it is out there providing a little essential joy. I know the art I surround myself with does that for me.  In fact, not traveling as much has given me time to hang some art, rearrange it and then spend time enjoying it, which I have to say is essential to me. No matter what, I will keep making art and determining new ways to get it out in the world.

Luckily I am well stocked up on vessels of all sorts to cover: this creamer turned into a very happy little bird.

Obsessed with Obsession

I was able to go to six different art museums in the Miami area this past week, allowing me to take in a lot of amazing art created around multiple themes. There was a entire exhibit about happiness at the NSU Art, in Fort Lauderdale. There was a great deal of incredible contemporary art by Caribbean artists at the Pérez Art Museum in Miami.  At the Wolfsonian, on Miami Beach, there was an exhibit of very odd propaganda in the style of Art Deco. I was, as usual, in awe of all I saw and learned about, but several pieces really stood out. I was curious to step back and ask myself “Why am I so drawn to these particular pieces?”

Elliot Hundley “the other side of the house” Detail image.

The first piece that took my breath away was “Precarious” by Cecilia Vicuña at the The Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami. Vicuña had spent years collecting various bits of debris that had washed up on the shore to make these delicate, yet powerful, collection of sculptures. Another piece that captured my attention was the “the other side of the house”, by Elliott Hundley which was a leaning tower of mixed media with layers of texture, at the Pérez Art Museum.

A major uniting factor in these pieces was that each of them looked like they took a lot of time to create. I thought, for a while, that was what I was drawn to. Many people admire art that looks time-consuming, yet art that takes a lot of time to create isn’t always the best indicator of quality. Artists do get tired of being asked “How long did this take?“ I feel that the exact measurement of the time it took to create a specific piece doesn’t take into account the planning, thinking, training, practice, missteps and preparation it took me to get to the point of just starting a new piece of art.

After further pondering I wondered if it’s the obvious obsession that goes into the work that I admire and relate to in these pieces. I get obsessed just looking at them. They make me want to live vicariously through those artists. Which is crazy because I live that life already, compulsively creating nearly every day of my life. Or maybe it’s that they are using different materials, like different flavors, so that I can partly taste that substance which feeds my own mania, inspiring new shapes or compositions in my own work.

Leonardo Drew’s “Number 163” 2012

I definitely felt obsessed when I saw/took in/experienced/devoured Leonardo Drew’s piece at the Perez. It’s  a huge wood construction (about 25 feet by 20 feet) with hundreds of large, random pieces of wood cantilevered at the top, aged and distressed by hand and pieced together in a repetitive, yet varied, compositional grid. Drew even admits that he is a “crack addict of art”.

Liu Shiyuan’s “As Simple as Clay” 2013

I felt equally obsessed when I took in the large installation of found photos by Liu Shiyuan at the Patricia and Phillip Frost Art Museum. Her approach to art making is fascinating because it mostly involves searching the internet for photos.  Doing this type of work has a strange appeal to me because of the infinite expanse of the images to be discovered on the web. Understanding her process added to the impact of the message her work held for me, allowing me to imagine what it would be like to create this way. It definitely gave me a new view of the Internet as a vast pallet, used by at least one artist to make her art. 

Carlos Estevez,

Lowe Art Museum

I was thrilled to see a whole gallery of Carlos Estevez’s large-scale paintings at the Lowe Art Museum. I had just discovered one of his pieces the day before at the Pérez and fell in love with his way of making patterns that have beautiful variation. My favorite piece was all about time, which brings me back to my thought that humans are just drawn to art that looks like it takes a lot of time.  Most people are aware that it takes a lot of patience to make these involved pieces. But really, maybe the art we like best is the art that shows the all-in-all engulfing obsessive love of creating.

Close up of “Swirly Bird Teapot” by Layl McDill

My Feminist Narrative

A couple of months ago a young student, Sydney Stevens, from the U of M Journalism department contacted me about an interview for a feminism assignment she had on art and on WARM. I’ve been involved with the feminist arts’ organization, Women’s Art Resources of MN (WARM), for the past 20 years and am currently serving on the board as vice president.

Before the interview I thought about my own life as an artist in a way that I have not in the past. Previously, when I considered my career as an artist I often concluded I couldn’t think of any time when I had been discriminated against because I was a woman. Instead, I felt that I had more opportunities, not fewer, because there were organizations like WARM that helped me in my career. I still feel this way, but when I reach further back to earlier events, my “Feminist Narrative” changes.

When I was growing up I always said I wanted to be an artist in one form or another. I had the idea that maybe I would be an art teacher in elementary school because I wanted to make it more fun, so kids wouldn’t groan when they “had to go to art.” Thinking back I realized this was when I had a female art teacher which may have helped me imagine myself in that role.

Then I contemplated being a photographer or a puppeteer or even starting a tourist attraction in the Black Hills with my Smurf village! But as I got closer to high school graduation I decided I would write and illustrate children’s books. About that same time I was exposed to pop and abstract art at the Smithsonian. It's interesting, now, to look back and ask “Why didn’t I decide to be a fine artist after seeing this art?” I was overwhelmingly inspired by this art. In my senior year I was able to have three hours a day of independent study where my fabulous art teacher, Chris Amend, encouraged me to make wildly creative sculptures and dimensional wall pieces. I think of that time as my peak of creativity, which I am always trying to attain again.

Pop art giraffes created in high school. One of the few surviving pieces from this time. It now hangs at my parents house in Colorado.

But back then I never let myself dream of being a fine artist. Now, looking back with a feminist lens, it occurs to me that none of the artists who’s work inspired me in that museum were women. I was enthralled with Red Gooms, Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns and others. I studied them further and memorized all their names; it seemed obvious that you had to be a man to be in museums.

Robert Rauschenberg, Reservoir, 1961, oil, wood, graphite, fabric, metal, and rubber on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc., 1969.47.70

So I went to art school to become a children’s book illustrator. There were plenty of women in that field AND it looked like something I could make a living at. Well, a funny thing happened: I became a full time, professional artist instead. And how did I decide this was even possible? By going to an art fair to see women making and selling all kinds of creative work! While in art school I attended the Columbus Art Festival the first summer I stayed in Columbus. My mind was blown. Immediately I set the goal of having a tent on the street some day and selling what I created!

A page from “Frances the Fashion Frog”, a book I wrote and illustrated while in art school but never published.

Then the opportunity to sell at the Columbus College of Art and Design (CCAD) student sale came along. I began to allow myself to make a lot more work that was outside of my assignments. I sold the work that I made! I made enough money to pay for 10 months rent. (Rent was cheap in Columbus, back in the 1990s, but still!)

I took my watercolor paintings from class, ripped the up, doodled on them and made “Story Scraps” which I sold at my first art fair and a few years after .

Now, looking back on my career, I realize how important it was for me as a young person to see career possibilities in real life before I plowed ahead. Of course there are always lots of things that complicate who and what a person becomes. Would I have set out to get my work in New York art galleries, at the beginning of my career, if I had seen some female names on the wall of the Smithsonian? Hard to say. But, either way, I am hopeful that the young women who meet me will discover they can actually make a living creating what they want. Possibly these young women will be inspired to head towards lives as a full time artists.

My booth this past summer (2019). This is my 26th year of doing art fairs and I still love it!

Fanciful Animals Head for the Hospital

About a year ago I was contacted by Aesthetics, Inc., an art consultant firm which I had worked with on several previous projects for the Minneapolis Children’s hospital in 2012. This time they asked me to first create one 30” x 40” playground piece and then, this summer, I was commissioned to do three additional 30” x 30” pieces, all for the Stanford Lucile Packard Children's Hospital in San Diego.

I love thinking about how these pieces will be enjoyed in a hospital setting. I can see how they would serve as a much needed distraction for a family going through a tough time.

Below are the artist statements that went with each piece.

“Watercolor Waterfall Bird”

Artist Statement: This sculpture started from a sketch of a bird that I saw on an ancient piece of art in a museum. It was a very loose sketch that I doodled over later. At first it was just an "ordinary fanciful" bird but then I thought of the concept of having his feathers be paintbrushes. Later, while I was traveling in San Antonio, walking on their River Walk, seeing all the small waterfalls gave me the idea of adding a waterfall to my "watercolor bird". I love the idea that this bird has his paints and brushes wherever he goes along his own waterfall to help him create his own amazing watercolor paintings!

“Transportation Alligator”

Artist Statement: If you hang out with a toddler for any length of time you know that they are fascinated by all things with wheels. I was lucky enough to spend a week with my 2-year-old nephew, playing with him and all his trucks and trains and then going with him to the zoo where we saw all kinds of animals. That's when this alligator came to my imagination with multiple kinds of transportation on his textured body and, of course, riding his own bike!

“Puppet Show Moose”

Artist Statement: One day while drawing a picture of a moose it occurred to me that the average moose is very tall - so tall that it would make a great marionette stage. I made marionettes as a child and I always wanted a stage for them. I never imagined that a moose would be an ideal stage!

It’s been interesting to create pieces for this project because the process is so much more controlled than I am used to. I often create with just a vague idea in my head. Sometimes I have a doodle that starts my creation, but it is never fully figured out. With this project I had to design 6 full-color sketches for submission and then wait to hear which three they would choose. Once they chose, I had to stick closely to my submitted design when making each piece. Admittedly, I did take some artistic liberties. Most were not a problem, but after submitting the final images of the new pieces, I found there was one feather I had forgotten on the chin of the Watercolor Waterfall Bird; the piece did not match! Luckily this was an easy fix.

I’m very much used to having total artistic freedom, working to sell each piece to the right customer, so this was a very different way of working. Did I like it? Well, I had fun making these pieces, for sure, but I must admit the pieces I enjoyed making the most were the ones that were less planned out. Still, when it comes to making public art, it is more of a group effort and less that of an individual artist working alone in her studio. A lot of good things can come from this method-- like three happy animals making kids smile in San Diego!

All six, original submitted sketches.

Inspiration from my Grandmothers

Recently I’ve been pondering the influence of my grandmothers on my art style. Each has since passed away but during my childhood they were a strong part of my life since my family visited them often. When we lived in Fort Collins, Colorado, it was only 45 minutes to see my Grandma McDill in Cheyenne. Those trips seemed to take forever as we were always so excited to see her. Eventually we moved to Gillette, Wyoming, making it a 4-hour drive, but closer to my other Grandmother who lived in Fort Collins. We would often visit both Grandmothers in one trip. Thinking back, I realize now how much those visits influenced me as an artist.

My Grandma McDill

My Maternal Grandmother GB

Wayang Kulit puppets

A few years ago someone commented that my art reminded them of Indonesian art. This was a major revelation—of course! My maternal grandmother, aka G.B., spent many years in Indonesia while her husband worked for an oil company. One of their work benefits was free shipping back to the US. Wow, did my grandmother take advantage of that! She shipped huge pieces of handcrafted furniture back by shipping container, full. She collected everything! And then, once back in The States, she decorated her house with all of her fantastic treasures. Most intriguing to me were always the Wayang Golek puppets and the shadow puppets or Wayang Kulit puppets. When you look at the way these figures are covered with swirly, fanciful designs it’s easy to see the connection to my work today.

The Box of Office Supplies from Grandma McDill

Growing up in Wyoming, I didn’t get to go to many museums; they were too far away. But visiting G.B.’s house was like getting to spend the night in one. If you were the lucky grandkid you even got to sleep in what we called the “princess bed,” a large, canopied Chinese bed from the Qing dynasty. I’ll never forget laying there mornings, studying the carvings of dragons, mountains, clouds and figures. I am sure the many nights spent in that bedroom had to have inspired my own creative spirit. This furniture, and other pieces, also must have fed my love for small drawers. Come to find out now, from my historian sister, those drawers would have been used for opium!

“Bird’s Cupboard of Wonders”

Grandma McDill, my grandmother in Cheyenne, lived much more modestly in a tiny post-war Veterans house with very little room to move around, let alone have dinner together. But she also had fabulous drawers; full of office supplies. I hadn’t really thought much about how much I loved to play with her office supplies until recently when I inherited one of several full boxes. In the box was all the usual stuff, along with some unusual things, like rubber letter stamps to make personalized return address labels, and old label makers that indented into hard plastic strips and stencils and tube paint. Seeing all these ancient office supplies reminded me how generous and open-minded my Grandma McDill was. She always let us rummage through these drawers and play with all the fun supplies, anyway we wanted. I learned my love for the everyday object from these sessions, how to see them as mysterious and magical.

My grandmothers were very different, but their taste, and their way of living, influenced me greatly as a child. It’s hard to know what I would be like as an artist without the inspirational seeds they planted all those years ago. I still have such a love for all Asian art and seek it out at every museum I visit. I continue to get excited about interesting found objects that are really just a simple tool or office supply.

“Powered by her Ancestors”