CASTAWAY STONES

15 March 2009
I have sent my application in to the TOAE and had to write an Artist Statement the hardest thing I've ever written so I am including it here. ARTIST STATEMENT: I began my Castaway Stones project in the Fall 2008 to explore through nature and encaustic painting the proverb Ecclesiastes 3:5 and it’s metaphor for life. I have worked in the encaustic medium (pure beeswax and pigment) for the last 15 years and have spent most of my life hiking and studying wildlife. I have joined my interests in nature and encaustic painting, and for those who take the time to explore the outdoors, I hope to create sculptures that will travel through time and space. To this end I have utilized both scavenged and manufactured materials to express the image of my favorite creatures. Released back into the wild and inscribed with my blog or e-mail address, I use the blog to track the progress of each piece as it weathers the seasons or is transported by human or natural forces. Of man, I ask that if pieces are found, their stories are continued on their blog site http://wildencaustic.blogspot.com ; through email; or maybe even a photo of their adventures. Even if they are simply tossed into Lake Ontario, and indeed I have created skipping stones for that purpose, my project will continue through time. Of nature I only ask this project be an addition to rather than a subtraction from it. Beeswax is extremely resilient and can survive extremes of heat and cold. It weathers and degenerates slowly. The pieces are representational. Those made of stone represent constancy. They have no inherent inertia as they sink beneath the water and require the greatest participation if they are to “be gathered”. Those made of driftwood represent the contemporary. They float obligingly on the waves and can travel great distances. They provide shelter for small creatures and, unlike some of the larger stone pieces, are relatively easy to carry. However; they do suffer greater deterioration than the stone. The pieces that incorporate manufactured items represent the ephemeral. They are the most affected by the environment and without shelter can deteriorate quickly. They can be gathered efficiently and quickly. They are the most readily identifiable forms and require the least participation. These are early days in this project many of the pieces are still in production. I have tried to represent, with these few completed pieces, the three themes of my project. The sculptures are all three dimensional. Unfortunately, all could not be shown in their entirety with the limited number of images.