inspiration comes to me in many forms. an inner or outer landscape, a poem that confirms or shifts my perspective, resonant words, symbols and energy deeply felt. wherever the muse appears, the use of natural dyes, earth minerals and textiles to create art is a joy making process for me. while sewing is my first love, with collage work, i find great freedom to experiment with shapes and sizes that sewing does not readily allow and a floodgate of new possibilities open up. i love both processes, clean closed seams and raw cut exposed edges, both metaphors for life… switching back and forth stimulates my creative center ever more. the earth mineral collages are made using earth minerals pigments that i blend individually to make custom colors in a base of plant acrylic. i paint multiple layers of mixed colors on flax linen or organic cotton fabrics. once dried, the shapes are hand cut and collaged on wooden panels using natural adhesives. a coat of plant based varnish is applied to the finished work and framed, ready to hang.

westering

earth mineral plant acrylic on organic cotton & linen collaged on wood panel

14 x 11 (set in 15 x 12 wood floating frame)

First, you must realize you’re homesick for all the lives you’re not living. Then, you must commit to the road and the rising loneliness. To the sincere thrill of coming apart. Divorce yourself from routine and control. Instead, find a desert and fall in. Take the trail that promises a view. Get lost. Break your toes. Bruise your knees. Keep going. Watch a purple meadow quiver. Get still. Pet trail dogs. Buy the hat. Run out of gas. Befriend strangers. Knight yourself every morning for your newborn courage. Give grief her own lullaby. Drink whiskey beside a hundred-year-old cactus. Honor everything. Pray to something unnameable. Fall for someone impractical. Reacquaint yourself with desire and all her slender hands. Bear beauty for as long as you are able, and if you spot a sunning warbler glowing like a prism, remind yourself – joy is not a trick.

- J. Sullivan  (from Instructions for Traveling West)

note: please hang away from direct exposure to harsh light (natural/artificial) as well as direct heat source and areas of high moisture