To say this was a monumental winter is an accurate description. Maybe even an understatement. Here in Central Oregon, it was the heaviest snow accumulation on record since 1993. It was our fortune that it was the first full winter we've spent here.
Lucky us!
For all the years we've been going back and forth from Hillsboro to Bend, traveling across the high desert on Highway 97, I've enjoyed absorbing the landscape. Iconic in this landscape are the irrigation pipelines. The repetition of the wheels along the pipe are mesmerizing. A perfect design inspiration for art.
This winter I took some photos out of the car window on our travels and used them as the basis for my most recent piece. Brainstorming with Bob on the title (I am not an inspired titler of my work!) we settled on Winter Repose. I made this piece to contribute it to an auction in Sisters, Oregon that benefits the art education program in the Sisters school district. I am excited to support the amazing work that the Sisters Folk Festival's Americana Project does to bring performing and visual arts education to the kids of Sisters. Among the programs they support are classes where high schoolers can learn to build guitars and ukeleles! Kids have classes in songwriting and performance. And new to the program, every 5th grader in Sisters will learn to play piano! The annual auction and party, My Own Two Hands, will be held on May 13.
At right is a detail shot of the work in progress. I walked into the studio one day when the light was coming in the window such that it cast shadows perfectly on the sky. The winter of my discontent was magically turned to joy!
detail in progress, Winter Repose
Winter Repose. Smalti, slate, thinset, electrical wire, marble dust and adhesive.
20 x 16 inches, 2017.