Wood Spirit Studio

The woods have always held a certain fascination for me with all of its natural wonders and mysteries. Growing up, I spent the summers with my Grandmother at our family cabin in the Keweenaw Peninsula of Michigan. My playgrounds were the vast forests full of moss covered cliffs and fungus dotted trees, and the white sand beaches of Lake Superior which were loaded with driftwood and colorful rocks. Everything natural fascinated and inspired me!

My love and understanding of sculpting and forming started at a very early age. By the time I turned seven years of age, I had discovered that under the ground, along the forests’ edge I could find earthen clay. I spent hours sculpting ‘Horns O’ Plenty’ and tiny replicas of animals and then would set them in the sunshine to dry and harden.

Throughout the years, my collection of rocks, driftwood and anything else of interest that I could carry home from the outdoors began to grow; and so did my passion for art.  I began to paint faces onto the driftwood, but artistically I felt stifled because what I really wanted was to bring to life, in 3D form, the faces and characters I saw in each piece of wood.   

After years of wishing to accomplish just that, I was ecstatic when, in 1994, my sister called and informed me about a type of clay that could be cured in the oven, and another clay that could be air-dried! After educating myself on how to work with these types of clays, I put driftwood and clay together and Voila’, my Wood Spirits were finally realized! 

 Hardly a day goes by that I don’t still play in the forests and on the beaches of this enchanted part of the world. I still marvel at, and gain inspiration from, the natural splendor here! Just recently while driving around the Keweenaw, my eyes kept focusing in on fungus laden trees and I was compelled to collect the fungi along my way home. I had no idea what I had planned for them, but by the time I reached my house in Calumet, they had called out to my imagination! By the days end, clay met fungi and my Funky Fungus Faces were born!!  The fun just never stops!