I have chosen my family as a basis for creative inspiration. I had to lose myself and give up my independent viewpoint and replace them with new, mature, unified family focused objectives; completely new life, creating new life. Once immersed, I was able to find myself again, as a new person, one who is a piece of a whole. It would be easy to revile in my old self-centered persona, instead I choose to glorify my place as a vital cell in the living organism known as the family unit.  When I became part of something bigger, my view changed. I was responsible for several other humans, so when my youngest son was born, I felt I needed to make the world a better place for my children. After building a home for them to grow in I focused next on their future as adults. I felt I had a responsibility to do whatever I could to make life more meaningful, for my children. How? I needed to return to myself; alter my focus back to where I was before, make myself a better person, and be someone who leaves more than what they take. I have decided to become a better artist. Create more...Give more... Leave more!

 

Because my family is such an important part of me, it is natural that it is the inspiration I draw from, and these experiences are reflected in my work. A repetitive theme in my work addresses the fact that I have three sons and zero daughters. The amount of time I have to balance between my family and my work is a prominent main-stay of my life, so scales and swings are recurring components as well. My current medium is paper I pulped from my own clothes. I wanted to create this material from my clothing because it is personal and intimate like making babies. So, I decided to make girl babies because I haven't any. I chose a doll as a template for my baby because traditionally girls play with baby dolls. Because I a was using paper as my material I thought it proper to be making paper dolls. I also reference other objects related to babies, such as; blankets, pillows, toys and swings. I want my viewers to relate either because they have children or because my work lends to memories of their childhood. When I am developing ideas for my work, I consider my motivation, the narrative and how others will relate to the piece. I also think about how I will construct and create the piece to completely fulfill my idea. Presented here are the inner-most components of my life which burden my soul, laid out for all to see.