The Conversation

What did I want to say to people through my work?

In an earlier blog, I wrote about my last mentorship with Les Potter and how I was introduced to the work of Henry Moore. A well-known British sculptor, Moore placed one of his large sculptures in a farmer's sheep pasture, He explained how he enjoyed the changing nature of the sculpture as it interacted with the sheep, the landscape and the changing light. I became fascinated by the idea that a sculpture's relationship to its environment, in particular, light, affects how the viewer perceives the work.

I had decided that the main emphasis of the show would be the interaction of sculpture, light and the viewer. Martha and I discussed how to develop this theme between the individual pieces. She spoke about approaching the creation of each work with the idea of capturing and manipulating light. That in doing so, the body of work should relate to each other in the end.

Martha also talked about process and how she developed her ideas. She talked about the "research phase". Martha collects various images that speak to her about the idea/concept that she is working on and posts them on her wall in her studio. She lets them percolate through her subconscious, drawing ideas from them, mixing them up and spewing them forth in her own unique way. She also suggested that I take my drawings from my small sketchbook and draw them large and put them up on the wall. I followed her suggestion and found it to be a very good way to work. I have adopted this system and now have a wall of continuing changing images on my wall in my studio.

I love the existence of the internet. It provides an unending supply of incredible images.