More about the piece above: The three panels are re-purposed cabinet doors, the hair is Apoxie-Sculpt®, the face is a plaster mask of my own face that my mother made for me years ago, two mirrors sit behind my eyes (thus the shine of the flash) bringing to mind the reflection that my life is of everyone and everything I experience, everything else is either found objects or are created by me. The left panel commemorates my youth (maiden), the center is dedicated to my mother years, the right panel is looking forward to the yet-to-complete latter years.

I've been arting as long as I can remember. To the left is "Maiden, Mother, Crone" (completed a few years ago). My latest bursts of arting have come since seeing a show by Ken Arthur about a decade ago. I have always loved a collection of media, though I was told (soon after creating Emergence), by a supposed "expert," that I should hone in on one medium, perfect my abilities with it, then stick with that one medium. With Emergence freshly on my mind, I smiled, thanked him for his opinion and left him to his party friends.
   
Let's just say that I'm a huming who has some very strong opinions on a variety of things. I believe that I know my self and my own needs better than others (including politicians, moralists and the medical community). My focus when arting is to best depict the voice trying for reflection and that often comes out of differing media. Looking back from the stance of my mid-50s, the urge to create sculptural collages and paintings makes complete sense. I also love being earth friendly, so creating with found objects is even more exciting for me.

For several years we raised our own gourds (my eldest son and I - file that under unschooling adventures), from seeds in our basement under grow lights, through potted-on seedlings, to rows in the garden, and finally dried gourds for arting or...
   
Though I still have plenty of dried gourds, our youngest son and I restarted our garden (which continues to grow and spread throughout our yard). I have grown more of the varieties I love and look forward to adding varieties I have yet to try... I feel more drums coming...
   
There is something very zen about being in the whole process with the gourds — from planting to cleaning. The cleaning process itself is very meditative for me. To sit in the warmth of the day (though not in direct sunlight) during the summer and scrub clean gourds that have dried and collected mold over the Winter, finding the beautiful tan colors beneath... it just feels so revealing. For me, it's metaphorical of so many facets of lifing. I always look forward to another cycle of it for sure.

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