A new project

"This activity is funded in part by a grant from the Five Wings Arts Council with funds provided by the McKnight Foundation.” 

I am so fortunate to live in a place that supports creatives. 

It would be challenging for me, nearly impossible really, to create the body of work that exists in my head without help. I’m a single mom with three teens at home, I work for a busy nonprofit, and I live in a well-loved but aging home. This grant allows me to purchase supplies that would be out of reach for me, and not worry about whether I was taking food out of my kids’ mouths to do it. 

For many years I worked in felting, but in the midst of the pandemic I found myself burned out on it. When I was introduced to monoprinting on papers, I found I enjoyed the process and the end result. But when I sat down with those papers and a pair of scissors to make a collage, that’s when something inside me lit up.  

I have, until now, been sourcing the wood panels for my pieces at thrift stores, repurposing decorative signs by sanding and gessoing over the previous designs. This approach, while frugal, leaves me dependent on luck for sourcing my panels, and doesn't allow for consistent sizing from which to make a cohesive display. The paints that I prefer are  often out of my price range. 

Over the next several months I will be creating a series of 10 paper collage pieces on 36 x 48” wood panels depicting pollinators and plants found in Minnesota. (Bees, beetles, butterflies, plants are some of my favorite things!) These paper collages will be made of paper I have printed myself, one at a time, through monoprinting. 

I’m going to learn so much throughout this process…about pollinators, about how to work large in collage, and about my ability as an artist… I can’t wait to share.