About Me
" Aviator Hubcap"
hubcap, porcelain face and hands, snowshoe binding, bells, altimeter case
I made a series of reworked hubcaps with the idea that the viewer could have fun imagining the actual vehicle? "Warrior" and "Mr. Moneybags" were purchased by Columbia Pictures for the set of "Fly Away Home".
My work for 50 years has always been illustrative, decorative to draw the viewer in but focused on telling a story by drawing fantastical worlds and creating defiantly positive artifacts out of the discarded stuff of our civilization.
I have exhibited my "material culture sculpture" mainly in Canada. Local people have usually been delighted to see their garbage transformed. I think my brief, but pivotal, post-art college ( NSCAD, N.S.) career in Canadian Archaeology, sifting through past citizen's 17-18th century refuse, as responsible for this direction. I imagine that my porcelain sheep and dragon heads will become artifacts in some extraterrestrial exhibit of early 21st century Earth objects...high-fired clay can survive for thousands of years.
After the birth of my children, I enjoyed many years of sharing this passion in "junk sculpture" workshops with children and teachers in schools and museums as a MASC artist and creating large public participation sculptures, eg. Moose" for the NCC for Canada 125. Paper destined for the bin was our most common material and requests by teachers for instructions grew into " Sculpture Vultures: How To Make Fabulous Sculptures from Used Paper" (with Jane Ellens, General Store Publishing, 2000).
I am passionate about the natural world and was so fortunate that my friend, well know children's author Jan Andrews, asked me to illustrate "The Twelve Days of Summer" (Orca,2005) and then "The Twelve Days of Autumn" (General Store Publishing, 2014.) I do strive for accuracy in drawing real creatures but have a tendency to present them choreographed, interacting with others from a human perspective.
Just watch squirrels for 10 minutes?
In 2007, my own book was published by Orca, "Lady Ginny's Tea Parties", starring my big poodle serving lovely, somewhat disgusting but authentic, treats to her animal guests.
Now in my 70's, I am painting worlds where everyone stops for a civilized tea no matter what is happening around them and am still enticed by lovely garbage.