King Neptune and Salacia

Royalty of the Sea

King Neptune and Salacia are the royal couple of the sea. Equipped with his famous trident, Neptune is controlling and fierce, determined to win the hand of a reluctant Salacia. By contrast, Salacia is carefree as the calm sea she represents and resists surrendering the good life of a sea nymph to assume the role of Neptune’s queen. The chase ends in marriage and the couple reign together over the sea. Battling stormy seas or celebrating calm waters, theirs is the timeless battle over control and surrender.

While making this piece, I envisioned a king holding up a trident exerting his primal power.  By his side stands a queen, whose beauty shimmers like sun on water. Surrounded by tides that shape a salty bay, I watch the mighty currents created by reversing tides, and I consider the force that created them. Tides represent the opportunity for self-renewal and also signify good timing. I am just discovering how to go with this flow. Without the magic of Neptune’s trident, I must rely on common sense, intuition, and patience. Sometimes I’m better off waiting for the opportunities brought in with the tide, and that wisdom is applied to both making art and living life.

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Meet Loki, The Shape Shifter

shape shifting in mid flight

shape shifting in mid flight

Loki is a famous prankster in Norse mythology. He is a master manipulator and his shape shifting gets him out of trouble time and again. He is tolerated by Odin mostly because he is endearing. He maintains a pleasant nature, even while stabbing you in the back. He puts himself first, always, but when he is on a mission to save his own skin, he may just accidentally become useful.

Loki presented himself while I was carving into this horse’s sacrum. I carved in the lines, but somehow the piece was screaming for something more prominent. I chose to enhance the grooves by using a burning tool, a process known as pyrography. The end result was clownish and mythical. Looking at the sculpture, I imagine Loki shape shifting into a raven. He appears to hold a smaller package in his clutch; perhaps it’s another gift for Odin.

Prince of Tides Series

1st of “Prince of Tides” series

Prince of Tides Series – March 4, 2016

I have always been drawn to Native American symbols. The Y’ei mask is particularly interesting. The geometric shapes are deeply symbolic. The name Yei derives from the word Yeibicheii meaning the Holy People.

I began creating these masks as a way of teaching myself metal work. Once I discovered how the Y’ei masks complimented the etched bone sculpture, I gave it a copper face and created my first mixed media sculpture. 

Ironically, my first piece was created on the day Pat Conroy died, March 4, 2016, and so I named it “Prince of Tides.” It gives a voice to these jawbones and sets them in a human posture with their arms waving as if floating mysteriously in tidal water. It all fit together so nicely that I call the sculptures the “Prince of Tides” series.

There are ten  sculptures in the series so far: Prince of Tides, Trumpeter, Medicine Woman, Sedna, Narwhale, Twins, Royal Couple, Walrus, Odin, and Pretty White Bird.

Thor’s Shield

This is hot off the press without a pro photo, but I couldn’t wait to share it. I call it “Thor’s Shield.”

Odin, the Mighty

a protector in dark times

Calling on Odin…

I know that I hung on a windy tree

nine long nights, wounded with a spear,

dedicated to Odin, myself to myself,

on that tree of which no man knows from where its roots run.

No bread did they give me nor a drink from a horn,

downwards I peered;

I took up the runes, screaming I took them,

then I fell back from there.

From an Old Norse ‘Sayings of the High One’ Larrington (1999)

Meet the Little Prince

Living in a world of make believe.

The Little Prince represents that inner child living in a dream world. He wants to wear masks,  get a laugh, and be free to play without shame or judgement.

Medicine Woman

Shaking away evil spirits with a golden rattler on her chin.

Home for a visit, Medicine Woman is blessing the new year with a shake of her golden rattle. May all who see her feel the energy and soar into a new year free of evil spirits. She resides in Liberty Maine at the Davistown Museum. Here is the link:

Davistown Museum

Ghost Dancers: Forgotten Spirits Resurrected

spirits dancing in the night

Birth is a pathway to eternity. Bones remain the sole witness of a mortal existence and provide a narrative of our earthly life.  My work shows that death is not morbid, but simply the end of growth; I strive to resurrect forgotten spirits and recover stories of those deceased. In my sculptures, bones have a voice; they can now forever speak for themselves.

I dedicate this piece to my nephews Matt, Mike, and grandniece Amber, gone but not forgotten. 

Pretty White Bird

In white waves of bliss, she flies.

Alone, and rejected from her tribe, Pretty White Bird

dances in the moonlight, the only light she’s ever known.

Cast aside for her difference, embraced only by creatures of

the night, she is stranded between loyalty and self preservation.

 

 

 

 

Royalty of the Sea

Prayer to Gods of Sea

In swells of glory, and droughts of despair,