Address
6085 W. Q Ave.
Kalamazoo, MI 49009
Join us on May 7th for an open studio event! I live off of Q ave right down the street from Texas Corners (closer to Portage). I live down a long driveway, you can’t see the house from the road. I will have a balloon and sign at my mailbox. Don’t be scared! Come visit my studio and see my work in person! I would love to see you.
The Texas Corners Farmers Market opens on this date! If you come before noon, you can go to the farmers market, too!
Wait until the end! She has a surprise addition that will make you gasp!
I so believe in omens, whatever name you want to give them. For me, they usually involve animals. And sometimes they come at me in quite dramatic ways, unfortunately. This one happened when I was standing outside my studio in the spring taking a smoke break and enjoying the sun, when a gunshot came out of nowhere. I live in what I would call residential-country. I have an acre and 1/2 of land. There are houses all around and my kids play outside (they were at grandma’s at the time). A police officer then rolls up my driveway to inform me he had just shot and deer on my property. I was taken aback and still in shock. He caught me smoking pot, something that had just become legal in Michigan. So, let’s just put it this way—I didn’t ask questions. The officer left without saying more, and I was left with a body ( I assume the deer had been hit by a car first). I knew I was meant to watch over this deer. This piece was inspired by what I saw over the next few months. I collected fur when that was all that was left, and a few days later an old oak tree fell on where the body was. When I made this piece, I mostly thought about how humans interact with nature. How we impact it with our actions. And how the cycle still wants to happen, even though our impact created a ripple. How fragile nature is. How beautiful and perfect it is. How broken we are.
The deer is made out of the handmade watercolors that I make out of my grandmother’s antique jewelry. It has embedded crystals, moonstones, beads, glass, and a lot of 24k gold. The piece is 3 dimensional. A real cicada husk was embedded and gilded with 24k gold leaf, and the fur of the deer that inspired this piece was used in it, as well. The piece is sealed to protect the organic components.
I pulled the bandaid and did something I was terrified to do. And now I am going to do it every Friday at 7:00pm Eastern! Because all of my events and exhibitions have been canceled for the foreseeable future, I will be doing more digital events! More dates and venues will be added, but for the time being this will be a consistent thing. Ask questions and peek inside my studio! Save the date.
I have just been so busy with art fair season. And it is finally over! Yay! That means I will have more time to paint, and write, and do the things I should have been keeping up with. It’s harder than it looks, you guys. I wish I didn’t require sleep. Because then I might be able to get half of what I need to get done, done.
She was exhibited for several months, and now she is home with me! When I exhibit in a gallery I have to share between 40%-60% with the gallery. Now that she is home with me, I was able to drop the price a bit! I spent 3 intense months on her and she is made with a LOT of 24k gold, gems, and other mixed-media. I have shipped prints of her all over the world, but there is nothing like the original. She sparkles, shines, and glows. She is an experience. Full price includes a frame of your choice, but on sale she comes without a frame.
Statement for the Nest:
First, there was the Deer. A painting that was inspired by an incident that involved a deer that was shot on my property, and the subsequent months that followed, watching the animal return to the earth. When only fur was left, I collected some, but left most of it. The day after I collected the fur, a giant oak tree fell on where the body once rested. Months later, in early spring, the pandemic had started and I spent more than a month inside. Scared. Finally, I forced myself to go outside and explore the woods. And that is when I found it. A bird had made a nest out of deer fur! The Deer’s fur. This piece was inspired by the feelings I had at that moment of discovery.
Using a variety of techniques, I create artworks that explore themes of natural history, historical occurrence, memory, and cycles. My materials are found and handmade—my most precious material is my grandmother’s antique jewelry that I crush and use to make handmade watercolors. This piece also includes rubies, emeralds, 24k gold, deer fur, geodes, and glass.
View the piece in action on youtube: https://youtu.be/1aG3WBkRUIk
I seem to always start and end with a Bumblebee! This is day 100 of My 100 Days of Gold. It is a sweet, elegant, golden painting! Made with handmade watercolors that I made out of my grandmother’s jewels and 24k gold. It comes in a double mat that will fit in a 5’’x7’’ frame.
Don't let the glitter deter you. These pieces are elegant, delicate, and special. Each sparkle represents the magic in nature. My work is supposed to represent things we see everyday that we often over look. I want these pieces to remind you how special our natural world is.
My pendants are slowly coming out of the bath, and they look so good. These are tiny handmade watercolor paintings that are adorned with 18k gold leaf. They are then permanently encased in copper. They are so hard to photograph! They look soooo much cooler in person. I am going to patina them black, so the gold pops. I hope to have some legit photos, soon!
Today’s #marchmmeetthemaker is #workspace! I already showed you my messy studio last week. And I have to say, it isn’t MUCH better, yet. I am still organizing pigments. I need a couple more shelves! 😲 It is getting there though! I have been so much happier since my move into the bigger space!
I guess my last post would have applied to yesterday’s #marchmeetthemaker, which was motivation/goals. I have so many goals, I don’t know where to begin sometimes! But in the end, it all seems to work out. Right now my goal is to get these pendants finished! As for motivation, that would be my family. They keep me running.
I’m all about that texture.
These pigment prints are printed on handmade paper that I make myself. They will be shipped in 2 weeks time from ordering. If you need something by a specific date, email me and I will try to speed up the process.
The 11’’x14’ and 17’’x22’’’ are statement pieces! I have to recommend one of those. But I want to make prints affordable, so I have smaller sizes. Please note that detail is lost the smaller the print. This is a limited edition pigment print on handmade paper. Based off of my painting the Nest.
Prints are signed and each one is one of a kind due to the nature of the handmade paper.
Prints can come matted and ready to fit in a standard size frame.
5’’x7’’ / 8’’x10’’ Double Mat
8’’x10’’ / 11’’x14’’ Double Mat
11’’x14’’ / 16’’x20’’ Mat
(New!) 17’’x22’’ /24x36’’ Mat
Statement for the Nest:
First, there was the Deer. A painting that was inspired by an incident that involved a deer that was shot on my property, and the subsequent months that followed, watching the animal return to the earth. When only fur was left, I collected some, but left most of it. The day after I collected the fur, a giant oak tree fell on where the body once rested. Months later, in early spring, the pandemic had started and I spent more than a month inside. Scared. Finally, I forced myself to go outside and explore the woods. And that is when I found it. A bird had made a nest out of deer fur! The Deer’s fur. This piece was inspired by the feelings I had at that moment of discovery.
Using a variety of techniques, I create artworks that explore themes of natural history, historical occurrence, memory, and cycles. My materials are found and handmade—my most precious material is my grandmother’s antique jewelry that I crush and use to make handmade watercolors. This piece also includes rubies, emeralds, 24k gold, deer fur, geodes, and glass.
View the original: https://youtu.be/1aG3WBkRUIk