the dirt

Yesterday afternoon, my art went out on an adventure! A crate of sculptural parts is on its way to Sweden and I’ll be meeting it on the other side in a few weeks. Fingers crossed that it makes it there ok!

I know I’ve spoken about this before but the pressure of creating installational artwork is always a thrill. I really never know if it will all work out until it has. This installation in Sweden is no exception. I’m shipping all the parts which I hope will arrive ok, then I’m counting on my team in Sweden to help me assemble and install this piece in a place I’ve never been before. I’m also trusting all of my testing and consultations with experts that the clay will be able to survive the winters there. All the moving parts of this project make for a slew of opportunities where everything can go wrong, but that’s all part of the fun!

More to come on this project in a few weeks!

I’m so thrilled to be making and installing a permanent sculpture in Mariestad Sweden next month, but it is no easy feat of logistics. I never installed a piece internationally in a place I haven’t been to before while working with people I’ve never met, so it’s exciting and nerve wracking at the same time!

So far, I’ve tackled international shipping rates, logistics of travel, concerns over the clay being in frozen temperatures, crate building (which really the credit goes to my husband Nate for this one), working between the english and metric system, the physics of installing a top heavy sculpture without potential injury to the general public, and oh yeah, making the artwork. When you have to ask questions like, ‘Will the ground be too frozen to dig a hole for the base of the sculpture?’ or ‘Will the wood on my crate make it through customs without an agriculture concern?’ or answer ‘Yes. Yes, I am boiling my clay in a crock pot to test its absorption rate.’ you know you’ve entered a whole new realm of sculpture installation.

All that said, I’m feeling confident that the artwork will look great, that the team I’m working with will be fantastic, and that the logistics will all fall into place. I also think this is a great learning opportunity for me and it’s been fantastic to be able to reach out to my peers and clay colleagues with questions about their own experiences, it makes me realize that we’re all learning as we go and that the challenge is all a part of the fun! Stay tuned, more to come on this art adventure!

I’m excited to announce that I have been given the opportunity by the city of Mariestad Sweden to create a unique permanent sculpture for their Off Season Art Gardening program! I’m working on creating two large Umbel forms that will tower over head in a park setting, these will be built in a similar style to the ones I made for Sculpture IS: exhibit this year (see photo on right). The flower buds for the new sculptures will be a repetition of the shapes of the metal structure and will be glazed in a rich bright red reminiscent of the color used on many of the buildings in Mariestad. I hope that these pops of bright color will contrast against the greens and blues of the natural landscape. This piece will be installed early December, so stay tuned for more photos!