I draw my inspiration from the amazing world around me, and want to share the beauty I see in nature in my artwork. Incorporating objects from nature into my work allows me to display rich color and texture in a single formed sheet of paper.
My love for fibers began in my childhood as I watched my mother, a gifted dress designer and seamstress, creating unique garments with an array of fabrics at her Singer sewing machine. Growing plants at home reminds me of my mother’s garden; I have an abundance of lilies of the valley, tiger lilies, roses, lilacs and rhubarb. I press the flowers and petals to incorporate into my papers, and cook the stems and leaves to use as botanical fiber inclusions in my pulps.
I first experienced the exquisite touch of thick, cotton paper in my college printmaking class. Years later, after watching a paper-making demonstration, I began reading books on the subject in my local library. The materials were simple enough: torn paper, water, wooden frames, screens and felts. I immediately felt comfortable enough with the medium to stray from the directions in books when they didn’t feel right for me. I love the process of dipping a mold and deckle into a vat of pulp, and the deckle boxes I’ve made for myself and my students work well in my work space.
I enjoy making visually pleasing designs with simple shapes and colors in my pulp paintings, incorporating my love for drawing by making templates for a series - much like an edition of prints - which I number and sign. My love for cast paper began when I pressed pulp into a ceramic cookie mould. I now make my own clay moulds to cast paper reliefs and sculptures.
Human beings, made in the image of their Creator, are by nature creative. I thrive in the excitement-filled atmosphere when students marvel at the beautiful papers they have just formed. And I love the process of bringing pulp to paper that is, itself, a piece of art.
