About "1000 Objects of Desire and Mirth", Jewelry and Painting:
Drawing, painting and hand fabrication of jewelry go hand and hand for me. My love for ornamentation was first realized in painting. Later, as I acquired the skills, in precious metal. I create one-of-a-kind, handcrafted jewelry, with a crossover from my figurative, textural paintings and drawings incorporated into the design of the work. More recently, I have been creating miniature ceramic and mixed media figurative sculpture that I call "Objects of Desire and Mirth." At times I am not sure if my paintings inform my jewelry, or my jewelry informs my paintings. Over the years the lines have blurred.
My process is usually cooked up in my head, and then I go straight to the materials I have chosen to work in. I’m not big on sketches beforehand, though I draw all the time and often build on what I’m working on after I start something. I’m continuously taking in ideas from artifacts I like and collect, past work, current events and the natural world. Inspiration is everywhere. There is always a strong visual crossover in everything I do no matter what the medium.
For the past several years I have been working on a project that has brought me great joy, “1000 Objects of Desire and Mirth.” Miniature, 2-sided ceramic figures. One day out of nowhere, I remembered that there was some clay in my studio and I thought I’d make a few small figures. Soon tiny anthropomorphized figures started to populate my workbench. Looking at them brought me delight. My mind went wild imaging how to decorate and complete them. To date I have finished 500 of the 1000 Objects of Desire and Mirth, which has taken me almost 4 years. I imagine the next group will take even longer. The figures are small, generally 1 - 4 inches tall, and made of high-fire clay, paint, metal, semiprecious stones and wood. They are completely different on both sides.
Everything I’ve ever done has led me right here.