Using, "all that stuff"

Some of us seem to be born with a gene that compels us to save everything. We may save many things because they have family connections or remind us of an event or experience. As an artist, I can't help saving things that I, " just like", because of the workmanship used, it's material, shape, texture, or color.

I thought that I would share with you a few pieces of art I've made, using some of the things I couldn't part with. I love texture and color, and find that using items I find around the house, often gives me inspiration for a new piece.

Cuff Bracelet- steel, silver and aluminum, about 1 1/2" wide, forged & welded. I made this after watching Ken Burns documentary, "The war'. Both my Grandfather and Uncle saw heavy duty in WWI & II which had a big influence on our family.

Pendant- aluminum, silver and a found vintage piece of enameled copper. I was experimenting with heating aluminum, and loved the way my torch shrunk and distressed it.

Round Bobbin Case Sculpture- welded & forged steel with vintage sewing bobbins & wire, about 18 X 18 inches. It represents the development of the bobbin case which was a huge mechanical development (still studied in engineering schools today) and important for women worldwide. After the bobbin case was invented, which allowed the sewing machine to use two threads, the use of the home sewing machine spread throughout the world. It was the first labor saving device for women and the first thing to be sold on an installment plan. The first Singer sewing machine cost $3,000, which was years pay in 1850. Men wouldn't buy it because it was too expensive and also, "women are not fit to operate mechanical machinery". Singer started to sell it on the installment plan. Now only did it save women time but for many it gave me their own source of income and another way to express themselves creativity. I often thing of how excited a women, way out west, must have felt when the railroad brought her first machine.

Yellow Wall Sculpture- torched & hammered copper, painted with translucent oil paint on a wood, with torched and hammered aluminum. It represents artifacts, from the towers at ground zero, on display at the state museum in Albany, and the mystery that an object that has been misshapen with age or damage holds, 14 x 14 inches.