Art and Science!!

Please come and see the show PROOF: curated by Lorna Nakell at Beppu Wiarda Gallery located at 319 NW 9th Ave in the Pearl District of Portland. The show opens on Thursday, March 4th, 2010 from 6-8pm. Chrystal and I will also be giving a lecture, "Intersections: Fining the Art in Forensic Science" on March 14th from 3-5pm! For a complete list of artists and events please visit the gallery's website.

I have long been a fan of the sciences... My friend Beth Jacobsen and I were straight A Chemistry students, we were so straight we were the only ones that got to skip the final exam and eat rhubarb crisp and ice cream! I think if I hadn't discovered a love for art I would have gone into the sciences. I've especially loved the images of science- x-rays, biology, zoology, anatomy and botany. Yes, I sometimes collect dead things. I don't kill them, I just find them and keep them. I have a couple of hummingbirds, a butterfly collection, lots of feathers and wings from various birds, bones..... I can be creepy, I admit it!

When I was invited to participate in this show I had just met Chrystal Bell who is a forensic biologist at the Oregon State Crime Lab. We met when she contacted me about my art! So, she was a natural choice for me to partner with for the show. I got to go to the Crime Lab and have a tour. It was FASCINATING! I think I was there for 4 hours and gleeful. No, it wasn't like CSI! Well, kinda, but not as glamorous and without the mood lighting.

Chrystal showed me specimens of sperm and vaginal fluid, we chatted about blood spatter patterns and DNA, she brought me to see the racks of firearms and weapons, the drug department, the fiber and hair department. The people were so sweet and answered all of my questions! The bone department was awesome! They had just brought in a set of bones and she (the fabulously funny bone scientist!) laid them all out and she showed me how the crime might have happened and discussed the science behind the determination. Of course, there were things I was not allowed to see, afterall, some is evidence in active cases!

After going on my field trip with Chrystal, I was completely overstimulated with new ideas. I had been caught up on a DNA trip and let that go... I then thoguht I might do a blood pattern piece, but that seemed a bit too abstract for someone sooo literal like me. I wanted to have more dialogue and depth in the piece as well.

As I am a total procrastinator, I took my time to think about the project. I liked the relationship of veins and vines, the similarites and what they represent and knew i wanted to play on that, I also knew I wanted to collect "evidence" and incorporate them into the piece. Once upon a time, my art had a lot more mixed media componentry then it does now. I still have boxes of objects that I love too much to part with that I could glean from, so I dove in!

I ended up finding most of what I wanted- feathers, a butterfly, fibers, and bones. The handwriting sample came from an old seamen's journal written during WWI. It was hard tearing out a page of someone's thoughts, but it was so perfect I did it! The blood sample is my own, I pricked my finger with one of my exacto knifes (yes an unused one!) and cringed as I poked it! The bullets came fromm my friend Joe who loves guns, thanks Joe. The last thing I needed was a hair sample and mine was too dark. I called on my friend Joi and she willingly provided a lock of her lovely strawberry blond hair to be forever encapsulated! It was perfect, thanks you, Joi!

There were moments of pain with this piece and moments of pure happiness when things came together better than I could have imagined! In the end, it is my new favorite piece.

Cerebral Commission

Sometimes people see art and fall in love then are disappointed because the piece is sold! That is exactly what happened in this case. A gentleman named Kyle fell for this piece called "Migration on the Mind" and someone else had already snapped it up.

Kyle came out to my studio during the Art Harvest Studio Tour back in October hoping to find something that made him swoon. He almost bought this piece entitled "Out on a Limb", but when he called back the next week about it, it too had been sold!

So this time, he decided to commission me to make a piece just for him. He is a brain surgeon, so we decided the brain was a natural subject matter. After working out some details, this is what I came up with. I find commissions to be satisfying, they tend to push me in directions I would not have normally gone, they can be challenging, but are usually rewarding as well.

If you have a commission in mind, email me and we'll discuss!

Topographical, Anatomical and Whimsical

Inspired by the holiday season and these fantastic maps that I found in my hunting, I bring you some new small work.

Each piece is unique, not just the cutting, bu the maps are one of a kind too. The varying tones of dark reds, pinks and greens are perfect for the holiday season, but look good any time of the year.

Available at Guardino Gallery and on my etsy site. They retail for $50 each, keeping it real this season! They've been flying out of Guardino Gallery, so snap your up before it's too late!