Some of my sculptures
Ndalla (2022)
Shown here still in clay — and still on the armature — this is a piece inspired by the title character in the novel I’ve been focusing on getting ready for publication this year.
Ndalla is a strong woman, a queen, a warrior, sure of herself but always concerned about the safety and well being of her people. I learned this not only by working on the novel, but also by working on this piece. Whenever I found myself at a loss for words while working on revising the novel, it was a relief to walk away from the page and step over to the clay, where I could lose myself for hours trying to “see” the character in clay that I was also trying to bring to life on the page.
Writing and sculpting have always been a way to “see” the world around me more clearly, and this piece is surely a testament to that truth!
But let’s go back to the beginning …
Working on my very first piece, a hand … (1987)
I finished up my bachelor’s degree (in English) in December of 1979 … and my master’s degree (also in English) in December of 1984. Those degrees were tied to the writing that I knew I wanted to spend a lifetime engaged in.
A few years later, though, I had an opportunity to enroll in my first class in sculpture, and that’s when I realized I’d spent a lifetime in awe of the lines and the planes of the human face and the human figure, and here, at last, was a way to give expression to what I’d spent a lifetime admiring!
A few more of my early pieces … (1987)
These were all created in March 1987, just a couple months after my first piece!
Elizabeth (1987)
This was just the second piece I ever worked on. When the piece ended up looking more like myself than it did the live model we had in the room, I got my first lesson in how hard it is to really “see” what it is we’re trying to “see” in the world around us!
My teacher, a sculptor herself, not to mention being a very patient woman, explained that I’d been “looking” at my own face in the mirror for 30 years by that time, so until I trained my mind to really focus on what I was looking at outside of myself, in the moment, I wasn’t going to be able to “see” what I was trying to see in the world around me.
I was still pretty happy with the piece, even more so when it earned a place in an art show in Columbus, Ohio, just a few years later.
Seeing eye-to-eye with one of my early busts, Mustache Man (1989)
Over the next couple years, I practiced trying to “see” the world around me more clearly. Two of the main features I focused on while working on this piece were the man’s huge mustache and those strong neck muscles.
I liked this piece so much that I decided to use him when I was ready to start exploring the medium of cast bronze for finished pieces.
Father and Child (1994)
I became a mom just a few years after my father passed. And one of the first pieces I created after becoming a mom was this piece that honors the special bond that can exist between a father and his child. I used a white water-based clay for the father’s hand, terra cotta for the child’s hand. The pieces were then fired. When joined together, the two pieces interlock perfectly, suggesting the strength of the bond being represented here.
My first bronze casting …
Mustache Man (1999)
When I started imagining the possibility of working in bronze, I used one of my favorite busts as a kind of “test case.” Installed on a small wood base, this piece sold me on the beauty of bronze, which only enhanced those features I was so focused on in the clay original: the strong neck, the smooth bald head, and the bushy mustache.
Having this piece cast in bronze by the team at The Studio Foundry in Cleveland, Ohio, gave me the chance to learn more about the lost-wax casting method, used by sculptors for centuries and still used today.
Recasts of this piece can be made available for sale. Please CONTACT ME to discuss both the price and the time-frame involved if you are interested. Including the wood base, the piece’s dimensions are 12”H by 6”W by 7”D.
David (2003)
Installed in front of the Child Development Center on a college campus, this slightly-larger-than-life-sized piece honors the teachers and the important work they do with young children. It also honors the innocence, hopefulness, and optimistic spirit of the children themselves, who are encouraged to interact with the piece on a regular basis, so that they understand that art can (and should) remain an important part of our everyday lives.
Paul, the Elder (2004)
Shown here, cast in bronze, and on display at a local art show, this piece was inspired by a senior colleague of mine at the college where I served as a full-time faculty member for 30 years.
I was intrigued by the way this man’s quiet dignity was conveyed by not only his appearance but also the way he carried himself as he walked down the hall on his way to class, his mind focused on what he wanted to get his students excited about in the short time he had with them.
The longer I worked on the piece, the more the piece transcended the individual man, though, and became a tribute to the kind of grace and wisdom we all hope will come with age.
Mother and Child (2009)
Shown here, still in clay, in my studio, this is a piece that was inspired by so many of the students I spent time with at the community college where I taught English for 30 years. Many of those adult students were balancing being a parent with being a student, often while working outside the home, as well. This mom is holding a baby with one arm and a book in her other hand.
Close-up of the Baby in Mother and Child (2009)
The piece was intended, in part, to honor the dedication and commitment shown by so many students who return to college as adults with children of their own to care for.
But as this close-up of the baby shows, the piece was also intended to honor the same parent-child connection that the Father and Child (1994) piece, created 15 years earlier, was intended to honor: the total trust that the child has in a parent, and the tremendous responsibility that a parent has for the well-being of that child.
Ralph Phillips (2010)
Ralph Phillips was a local philanthropist who was well known for finding ways to give to the people and causes in his community that lacked financial resources. When he died suddenly, many of his friends and colleagues felt his loss acutely.
The local hospice group decided to re-name its annual Caring Spirit Award in his name and asked me to create a piece to honor him. When I was started working on the bust, I was handed a copy of the photo you see here, and two things, in particular, were emphasized: the hat that appears in the photograph, which he apparently wore more often than not, and his striking blue eyes.
This was my first “commissioned” piece, and I remember focusing first on the eyes. Never was I so relieved as I was the day that the person who commissioned the piece visited my studio to check on the piece’s progress and declared the eyes … perfect! The hat was my next challenge.
I learned a lot while working on this piece. The main thing I learned, though, is how instrumental the people who knew the person being honored can be in the creation of this kind of piece.
The reason I love working on commissions is that the people intent on honoring the individual have stories to tell, and it is those stories that fuel the creation of the piece!
Young Athlete (2012)
Shown here in bronze in my studio while I was still working on him.
When I started working on this piece, my son was a wrestler in high school. I started the piece in an effort to capture the strength and determination I saw in evidence every time I would go to one of my son’s meets.
But over time, the young wrestler “morphed” into a very different kind of athlete. He ended up being more of a basketball player! (In fact, the finished piece now holds a basketball in his hand!)
Throughout the entire process of creation, I was after one “thing” - the kind of strength and ease with themselves, a kind of confidence, that so many young athletes are able to connect with and then to give expression to … whether it be on the mat, on the court, or on the field!
I see in this young athlete a sureness about who he is that I, an old woman in my sixties, envy!
The Grandparents (2012)
This is one of my favorite composite pieces.
I was approached by a customer about creating a piece to honor his grandmother, who had recently passed. One of the photos he brought me, though, showed both his grandmother and his grandfather being honored at their 50th wedding anniversary. The couple appeared inseparable in the photo, something I tried to honor in my composition of this piece, shown, still in clay, in my studio.
Every time I look at this piece, I am reminded of the power of love and laughter in our lives.
Mother Bernardine McMullin Memorial Bust (2013)
In conjunction with Mercy Tiffin Hospital’s centennial celebration, I was commissioned to create a bust of Mother Bernardine, who, along with her fellow Sisters, established the first Mercy Community in the Toledo Diocese.
Sr. Rita Mary Wasserman Memorial Plaque (2013)
In the process of working on the bust to honor Mother Bernardine, I met with a number of the Sisters, one of whom was getting ready to retire, after having given 60 years of dedicated service in the field of healthcare. And so was born the idea of this 12” by 24” memorial plaque to honor Sister Rita Mary for her service to her community.
The First Postmistress of Monclova, Ohio (2013)
I was commissioned by the Monclova Historical Foundation to create a statue that would honor Claire Metzger for her years of service, from 1915 to 1956, as the community’s first postmistress.
The only photograph I had to work from showed the woman in the pose you see here, her right elbow angled forward so as to convey a definite sense of independence, self-confidence, and an insistence that her word was final.
I was able to work on the piece during the community’s centennial celebration, where I heard many wonderful stories told by some of the older community members about their still-vivid childhood memories of Miss Metzger’s “eccentric” behavior, stories that only served to amplify the attitude that came through in the photo.
Jon Taylor (2014)
Shown here still in clay in my studio, this was one of my most gratifying commissions to work on, as Jon’s father was very engaged in the creation of this piece. He visited me throughout the winter that I was working on this sculpture, talking to me about his son, stroking his cheek as he told me, “He was so thin.” If this piece captures anything suggestive of the essence of Jon, it is because of his father’s investment in the piece.
Jon Taylor (2014)
Paul Claudel, brother of the sculptor Camille Claudel, who was the great sculptor Rodin’s student, lover, and muse, once commented that “Sculpture expresses the need to touch.”
I think of the truth of that statement every time I see this photograph of Jon and his brothers, taken at the installation ceremony.
Gentle Warrior (2015)
After having completed a number of commissions to honor those individuals who were important to my customers, I turned inward for inspiration as I began this piece. Still one of my favorite pieces, he reminds me of many of the qualities that come into play when it comes to living a creative life.
He is a simple man, a quiet man, content to keep his own counsel. His eyes are unflinching, his gaze piercing. He sees deeply but does not get lost in that depth. He is a serious man, yet he clearly understands the value of humor and holding on to a light heart. I keep this piece in my studio, in clay, to remind me of the paradoxical balance that I continue to reach for in my life.
Ralph H. Blum writes, “Always the battle of the Spiritual Warrior is with the self. Funding a will through action, yet unattached to outcomes, remaining mindful that all you can really do is stay out of your own way and let the Will of Heaven flow through you — these are among the hallmarks of the Spiritual Warrior.”
This is a close-up of the piece, shown here in clay. His eyes, I think, are what draw me in, every time.
Gentle Warrior (2015)
And here is what he looks like cast in bronze.
This is another piece that I would be happy to cast a number of copies of and sell to customers who see in the piece what I see.
Including the (somewhat thick and slanted) base shown here, the approximate dimensions of the piece are: 12.5” high, 6.5” wide, 6.5” deep.
Please CONTACT ME if you’re interested in purchasing a casting of this piece so that we can discuss the price and the time-frame involved.
Sam Wade (2017)
Sam graduated from the Police Academy at the community college where I taught for 30 years. After graduating from the academy, Sam served as a police officer for 10 years before coming back to the same college and teaching in the criminal justice program for another 20 years.
The fall that he was eligible for early retirement, having dedicated 30 years of his life to criminal justice work in one capacity or another, Sam decided to stay at the college in order to continue giving his time and expertise to his students.
When he died unexpectedly that same fall, a number of his colleagues wanted to honor his service to the college with a memorial plaque.
This is a close-up of the relief I created for the plaque.
Sam Wade (2017)
Here’s the finished 12” by 24” bronze plaque that brings together the relief and the text intended to honor Sam’s life and the impact he had on the lives of his students and colleagues.
Lily (2019)
Shown here in clay with the inspiration for the piece … Lily herself … while she was still alive.
By the time I met Lily, she had lost both eyes - one after the other - the result of planned surgeries to deal with health complications. It is said that “the eyes are the windows to the soul,” which made Lily a challenging subject … but a beautiful one!
Lily (2019)
Shown here cast in bronze.
Lily’s owner, Aaron, accompanied me to The Studio Foundry, in Cleveland, Ohio, when it was time for the team there to apply the final patina to the bronze. On all my other pieces, I’ve had the team apply the more standard “brown” patina that many of us are used to seeing on bronze statues. But Aaron was intent on seeing if the team could do justice to the subtle changes in the color of Lily’s coat, and the team was up to the challenge!
I give all the credit for how Lily looks as a finished bronze casting to both Aaron, who was on hand for the application of the patina, and the team at The Studio Foundry in Cleveland, Ohio, a team that brings knowledge, skill, and experience to bear every time they work on a piece.
Be sure to check out the CONTACT ME page on this site if you want to discuss the possibility of commissioning me to create a unique work of art designed to honor someone important to you or your organization.