The Walk Installation at Desert Dairy Artist Residency, 88 x 88 x 8 feet, porcelain, stoneware, rocks, Feminist Image Group 2020
What does the day in your art practice look like? It varies, I have 2 studios one at home for my ceramic and sculpture, and one at Space 4 Art for painting, drawing, classes, writing. I go to the studio at the Space normally 5 days a week 6 to noon or later depending on what I am working on. I spend Saturday and Sunday mornings in the ceramic studio. If I have a larger project in ceramics going, I will spend a couple of hours with it in the afternoon. I do my emails first thing, look at any research I am doing then work on what’s up in the moment. If I am not in my ceramic’s studio in the afternoon, I do a lot of reading and thinking then. Might be writing or might be painting, writing a grant, or doing some ink drawings, ceramics or whatever I am up to. Every day is the same but also very different. I work.
What would Live be like without art? Drab.
What is the hardest part of creating your art? Finding enough time to get it all done. I get exhausted and have to just stop for a little while, self-care needs to be more in the program.
What inspires me? My internal life and nature. I do a lot of work around the topics of incest, rape, and spousal abuse, all of which I am a survivor of. Telling the story of what is happening behind closed doors in our society keeps me pushing forward. The hope of making a difference in others life by being open about abuse. I love flowers, I go to the desert every year to experience the desert blooms, I have a lot of flowering plants in my yard. They feed me with beauty.
Meditation Self Portrait #8, oil on canvas, 2 x 24 x 24 inches, 2018
What advice would I give my younger self? A difficult one to answer. I would say give yourself a break and work towards healing rather than hiding.
Who would I most like to collaborate with? Why? Kay Sage, her style of painting and the depth of her content with minimal imagery is amazing to me. I would love to hear her talk about her process and how the ideas flow. I would like to build a landscape in the style she worked in and in an interactive way for the viewer. A 3-dimensional depiction of her inner landscapes.
What is the best advice I have been given? Do not give up and know that you are a master. An art promoter Dan Kramer took me to Switzerland to work at a bronze foundry to do a piece there. That was his advice, my self-esteem is not always very strong and he would always tell me that I am an artist and a master. It always felt good. I do not always believe it but I keep saying it to myself.
Evocations, Memories, porcelain, wire, 1 x 72 x 90 inches, 2022
If you could change anything about the art world, what would it be? The strange hierarchy of importance, rather than who you are being the most important that the art would be. Women, People of Color, LGBTQ+, would all have an equal place in the work that is shown to the world.
What do I do to keep myself motivated and interested in my work? Residencies to look at my work from a different viewpoint. Reading about women and their place in the world, Feminism. Belonging to the art groups I do. FIG (Feminist Image Group) and Allied Craftsmen. Talking to fellow artists to hear and see their work.
If I had a chance to live during a different artistic movement other than now, which one would I choose and why? The Feminist art movement of the 70’s. I did live during this time and could have done college at Fresno State for the Women’s art program there. I did not go to college and did not discover art as a way of being until the late 80’s. The activism and discovery for women during this period would have been amazing, if I could go back that is where I would wish art would start for me.
Wind Whispers Installation in Mojaveland, 4 x 16 x 8 feet, pinch pots, native clay, porcelain, wire, glass beads 2021
How has personal experience influenced my creativity? I have used past traumas to inform my work. As an incest survivor I give a voice for the voiceless with my work. As a Rape survivor I look at the consequences of that trauma and use it for fodder for my work. As a spousal abuse survivor, I speak for others that have had to experience that trauma. My gardening and love of flowers is where I began to teach myself how to paint by painting the flowers I grow.
What do I wish to accomplish with my art? I would like to make the world a more beautiful place to be. I want to change the patriarchal constructs that keep women as sexual objects that men use. I would like to have a chance to give women a more powerful platform to be in.
What are your words of wisdom for someone starting out in your field? Stay true to your story, follow your own path and show the world your reality.
How do I make the leap from an idea in my head to the action I produce? I worked in engineering for many years before I began to work in art. The project management and development of a new product that I learned helps to keep me on point. When I have an idea, I start with research about the topic and artwork that has been done in the past about the topic. Then I start playing with what the topic looks like to me and keep moving on from there. On the other hand, sometimes, I just get started and see what comes out. I have found that my hands know more than my head for some work if I can just let them work to find the image.
Cover image: Linda Holi celebration during open studios 2022 in my studio
My Feminist Timeline, or My Story in Color #1, One of Three, Oil on Canvas, 2 x 13 x 38 inches, 2022
Don’t Shut Up #1, graphite on rice paper, 9 x 12 inches, 2021
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