Artist Statement

For my maiden blog post I thought I would start with a painting and my Artist Statement. The painting is a sprouted sweet corn seed in oil pastel on gessoed recycled steel siding and mounted on wood recovered from pallets. This piece is 20 x 10 1/2".

Artist Statement

Almost everything we eat begins as a seed. As a gardener, when I place a seed in the ground, I am filled with hope for a plentiful harvest. My intention is to illustrate the moment of renewal, when the dormant seed initiates it’s journey toward reproduction. The tender and translucent root breaks forth from the seed coat and begins it’s search for nutrients. When I harvest the food that I have nurtured all season long, I experience a sense of peace.

My motive is to encourage the viewer to consider the seed and it’s role in our lives. Originally food was grown to nourish the body, to provide it with vitamins and minerals, protein and fiber. Processing food for convenience has drastically altered the nutritional value of whole food and negatively affected the health of human and animal life. Once the creation of Mother Nature, now a product of scientists. Seeds can be genetically modified to survive applications of poison or to become sterile after harvest. Seeds and food grown from seeds are processed into nearly unrecognizable products.

To achieve my goal I use oil pastels for the image and recycled materials for the support and the mount. The image is drawn on slabs of steel siding recovered from a condemned house on a forgotten acreage. Just like a farmer prepares the soil for the seed, I cut the siding to size and clean and prime the surface to receive the image. When the image is complete, I manufacture the mount using wood from dismantled pallets that are typically used to transport boxes of processed food.