For the program’s first year, The Fredericksburg (VA) Arts Commission (FAC) selected four self-supporting, outdoor public sculptures to be displayed in prominent locations in Fredericksburg for eleven months in 2016-17. Funding for the project provided by the Fredericksburg Economic Development Authority.
10′ x 8′ x 5′
Steel with oxidized finish
Dancing Milkweed IV
The Dancing Milkweed Series :
The steel sculptures in the Dancing Milkweed series embody a poetic narrative of the diaspora of seed forms in nature. Seeds are designed to travel and regenerate, and people travel and act in similar ways: during times of great conflict, natural disaster, or personal timing, new options become available and things move. The Dancing Milkweed series meditates on timing, release, holding on, and letting go.
*The City of Fredericksburg purchased this piece.
8′ x 4’3″ x 4′
Steel
Garden Harmony
The work represents growing up on a farm in southwestern Kentucky with my mother and five sisters. It is connected to family life which cycled through many generations of traditions. The memories of gardening, flower and vegetable, are represented in “Garden Harmony”. A garden will encourage a person to slow down and relax. Take a stroll down a dappled path, spend some time in a swing hanging in a shady corner, listen to the burbling of a fountain that lures birds to take a bath, and realize the harmony created in nature. This is found in the pairings in a garden. Caterpillars eat the leaves of a host plant and leave behind a beautiful lacy shell. Bees and butterflies collect pollen and carry it to other plants which in turn are pollinated. The harmony between these aspects portrays the balance found in nature.
10′ x 4′ x 4′
Wood, Resin, and Steel
Pileated Woodpecker Totem
I had noticed this tree on my road a few years ago, and was struck by the drama of its appearance…which just kept getting better and better! When I came home one day to find that the highway department had taken it down to prevent it from falling on the road, I knew I had to get to work. The road crew had cut it into stove-length pieces, so it was easy to move into the studio.
The idea was to string the pieces back together with long, threaded rods, being careful to not disturb the carving done by the woodpeckers. Reconstruction began by building a “drilling sled” that allowed the accurate drilling of two long holes through each piece with a ship auger. Once the holes were drilled, the wood was treated with clear penetrating epoxy resin to “petrify” it. After the resin had cured, painting, masking and more painting was done to highlight the areas carved by the birds.
2016
Steel
7′ x 3′ x 4′
*This piece was purchased by the City of Fredericksburg.
Corps de Ballet
In classical ballet, the corps de ballet is the company of dancers who form the background for the solo dancers. This piece is formed of two couples who represent the corps de ballet. They are made of folded twisted steel plate painted pastel colors representing the twirling dancers.