Race To A Green Thumb

When green thumbs were handed out in my family, there were definitely enough to go around. I just think I got the celadon thumb - not necessarily the "greenest" of all the choices - but still within the acceptable range of green. So while my Mom, sister and both brothers have the most beautiful, vibrant interesting or well-designed gardens, my gardens fill the space I've provided for them, and make our yard a nice place to hang out. 

Gardening, and farming in particular, is part of my family heritage. My great grandfather, after all, was the "melon king" of Milwaukee. Last year my sister passed on to me what turned out to be a journal of my family's planting history, started first by my great great grandmother, and carried on after her death by my great grandfather's sister Flora. I was immediately drawn to the entries written in German, as well as the ones later in the 1960's that documented current events such as the assination of JFK.

I used those journal pages, along with my Mom's obsession with capturing and "moving" rabbits (or squirrels) out of her neighborhood, to create this piece I call Bunny Hutch. I found this German game board as part of a multi-game collection - not too old but a lot of fun to discover.

Composition

As a virgo, it's not always easy for me to be spontaneous about anything, let alone my artwork. I pretty much get an idea in my head and don't stray too far from what I had envisioned it would look like. This work is different. My only plan was to use the cigar box, and to use the bird. The German theme came on a whim. Instead of displaying the piece as a box as I originally intended, I decided to take it apart and join the two halves together.

This is my favorite piece, the one I don't think I can ever part with. The message is simple -  a fun German girl is certainly worth singing about!

Fun Inside My Head

I wasn't sure what to do with the all the boxes of nostalgia inside my head, until I started to create. I'm thankful every day that I have a partner who encouraged me to do what I love and challenged me to allow a mistake or two. What started out as artist trading cards quickly morphed into an obsession with creating three-dimensional pieces. When I discovered I could incorporate my love of vintage objects, my weekends at the flea markets became treasure hunts for collage. At times I feel really stuck on a theme, but there are so many birds and fish and games inside my head.