In our busy, complex, electronic world I wanted to use basic and simple materials and shapes. Circles being the simplest of shapes, shellac being a natural substance (from beetles), graphite being nothing more than greasy carbon, and natural banana tree paper - seemed like ideal materials.

 

Umbrella series

 

We accept our notions of protection and shelter: government programs, health professionals, parents/family, roofs and walls, even umbrellas, etc . . .

The umbrella drawings are metaphors for the disillusionment of belief. At first glance, the umbrellas seem whole and protective; on closer inspection, however, one finds tears and tattered areas taken from the thin fabric and splintery stems--definitely a fragile and precarious tool.

People often think of light as positive and dark as negative, but for me, there is shelter in the shadows. In the past, like so many others, I have loved the sun, though I knew it was dangerous. Isn’t it interesting how tightly we hold on to our illusions, no matter how many facts drip onto our heads?

 

Umbra series

 

An extension of the umbrella series, The Umbra Series is about perspective. From above, umbrellas are simply circles; one can only assume, but not know, that there is something going on underneath the circles. Under the shadow of umbrellas are bits of unknown life.

 

 

 

Saving That Which Is Precious and Fragile series

 

This series is in its beginning. The things we hold most precious can only be held, if they can be held at all, in the most fragile of containers. For example, in Fragile and Precious A to Z, our Freedom of Speech is wrapped up in a delicate package. Here, we know that something as fragile as our freedom to speak can’t be held in anything stronger than our precarious judicial system that seems to sway in the political winds. We can’t put that freedom in a safety deposit box; instead we have to hope that its delicate package can hold. There is more to this series; it hasn’t manifested yet, but it will.

 

Imperfect Circle series

 

These are metaphors for humans with each of us different, beautiful and imperfect.

 

 

 

 

Little Books series

 

I am not maker of books. I love shellac. I love interesting paper. I made a book.

And it turned out to be small, absolutely precious and quite beautiful. And I couldn’t stop. I became a bit possessed and made 9 books.

The pages of these books were beautiful but lacked words. In speech, I frequently begin sentences with the word, so. So each line in the books begins with the word so. The last line, so what? comes from being too analytical, too worried, too anxious about day to day life. When I look at the BIG picture, so what? seems to be the logical and relief driven conclusion.

The book covers have no relationship to the sentences on each page and the sentences are simply very random thoughts, which have no relationship to each other. Our brains are interesting—how thoughts filter through from nowhere or somewhere not known. I simply wrote the thoughts down. The books are fragile. Life is fragile.

 

 

Other Shellac pieces


 

 

Legends and Legacy series