About the Artist

I have had the good fortune to be able to grow up around the Northern Maine woods. There, I found a love and respect for nature as I spent my childhood camping, canoeing and exploring the mountains. I also developed a sense for the rewards of hard work and doing things right from helping my Dad on his carpentry hobbies and hanging out on the farm where my Mom was raised.

There was a proliferation of teachers in my family, so it seemed natural for me to head down the academic route. While working on a Master’s Degree in Oceanography, I found myself being drawn to the mystique of natural life that we can’t quite define, and the calming beauty of just being outdoors. I kept thinking of a flower I had carved in an elective wood sculpture course ten years earlier, and courses I had taken towards an art teaching certification. I finally realized that I was able to express the richness I found in nature through art better than through science. I followed my heart, left school and embarked on an artistic quest.

I started carving flowers and learned finish carpentry on the side to keep me going. I now have been a wood sculptor for over 10 years, and am captivated with the expressive qualities of wood. I find it has an inherent energy which, when sculpted, nurtured and given great respect, can be coaxed to bring to three- dimensional life my sketches and inspirations. I am drawn to working with flowers because they offer a great variety of shape and energy. My artistic motivation is, primarily, to create a composition that conveys the alluring spirit of nature and, secondarily, to accurately render features of each individual flower.

I begin each sculpture by repeatedly sketching the flower of interest. This gives me a feel for its patterns and character. I then design a composition to fit the space I’m working with. I select local woods for the particular piece, and sculpt and gouge until I feel it’s done. As a final touch, I finish my pieces with boiled linseed oil, bringing out the natural wood colors. The result is a dynamic expression of nature that calms the soul almost as much as a walk in the woods.

Artist’s Resume

Selected Gallery Exhibitions

Galleries and Shows (contrast with Gallery Affiliations)

Selected solo exhibitions

Selected group exhibitions

2007/8/9/10 Carver Hill Gallery, Rockport, ME

2009/10 Center for Maine Craft, Gardiner, ME

2008 “Maine Craft Association at the Dan Kany Gallery”, Portland, ME

2002/8/9 Thos. Moser Furniture Gallery, Freeport, ME

2009 “Casco Bay Woodsculptors at the Dan Kany Gallery”, Portland, ME

2008/9/10 North Light Gallery, Millinocket, ME

2006 Tidemark Gallery, Waldeboro, ME

2005/6 Rising Tide Gallery, Located in the Messa Verde Restaurant, Portland, ME

2005 “A Celebration of the Art of Wood” Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockport, ME

2004 “Contemporary Maine Carving” Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, Rockport, ME

2003/4 “Providence Fine Furnishings Show”, Providence, R.I.

2004 “Maine Sculptors at the Maine Art Gallery”, Warren St., Wiscasset, ME

2002/3/4 “National Folk Festival”, Bangor, ME

2004 “Nantucket Folk Art and Artisan Show”, Nantucket, MA

2003/4 “Maine Sculptors”, Lewis Gallery, Portland Public Library, Portland, ME

2004 “Philadelphia Furniture and Furnishings Show”, Philadelphia, PA

2003 Thos. Moser Furniture Gallery, New York, NY

2002 “Flowers in Wood”, Vose-Smith Florist, Portland, ME

2001 Best of Both Worlds Gallery, St. John, VI

2000 “Small Works Show”, O’Farrell Gallery, Brunswick, ME

1999 O’Farrell Gallery, Brunswick, ME

1987 “Student Exhibition”, Jaffe-Friedd and Strauss Gallery, Dartmouth College, NH

Competitions

2003 People’s Choice, Downeast Woodcarving and Wildlife Art Show, Wells, ME

2000 Best of Category , Spirit of Wood, Bedford, MA

1999 Best of Category, Downeast Woodcarving and Wildlife Art Show, Wells, ME

Education

2008 “Wood Sculpture”, Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, Rockport, ME

Taught by master British carver and sculptor Chris Pye

University of Maine, Masters work, Biological Oceanography

University of Massachusetts Amherst, BA Art Education

Art Teaching Certification grades 5-12

Dartmouth College, Undergraduate work

Studied wood sculpture with master sculptor Fumio Yoshimura

Organizations

Juried Member Casco Bay Woodsculptors

Juried Member Maine Crafts Association

Publications

March 2008 “Craft of Maine” Maine Home and Design Magazine, Portland, ME

Publicly Dislayed Pieces

2008-Current Dysart’s Restaurant, “Heroes” Hermon, ME

In the Collection of

Dorothea Johnson, International School of Protocol Founder, Falmouth, ME

Richard Rockefeller, Falmouth, ME

Victoria Stevens, Brunswick, ME

President of the National Chestnut Society

Positions Held

Casco Bay Woodsculptors Cofounder