me & trees
I have always been fascinated by nature. I love the smell of rain, the crisp chill of a fall morning & even the bitter beauty that comes with winter snowfall. I find it all so beautiful.
My most vivid memories of the outdoors as a child, is time spent exploring the grove around my grandparents' farm. The trees were literally my playground & I would spend hours moving, collecting & arranging things around my outdoor home. Pulling bricks & rusted rings around in the metal, misshapen wagon from one edge of the plot to the other, was a common occurrence for my cousins & me. Collecting sticks to stack as chairs or carrying burn-pile couches into the heart of our outdoor homes, was not unlike us. We would spend hours setting up rock frames to define living areas, picking weeds out from our dirt floors & trying to train trees to grow & disguise the entrance of our outdoor oasis.
Since my time spent on the farm, I have grown into broader & more adventurous explorations. Hiking the mountains of Colorado, backpacking through the bush of Canada & canoeing the waters of Minnesota: my interests have stretched.
Through the stretching & growing of my life & experiences, I am learning of the expanse of what I call home. Though I will never outgrow the time & memories spent in my grandparents' grove, the time spent learning & growing in my home, or my summer spent living in the middle-of-nowhere Minnesota; I have learned through my love of nature & the comfort of my Creator in the peace of the woods, that maybe my home is just me & trees.
evergreen reflections
pine tassels, mirrors & farm wood
Over the past year I have learned the importance of reflection. Taking time to pay attention to yourself, your happenings and the world around you. I have realized that even actions of the past can continue to be reflected upon; that though seasons may change, reflecting makes them ever-green.
fall
rummaged window & leaves
Though I love parts of every season, my favorite part of my favorite season is the changing colors of leaves. God is such and artist, and I love appreciating his handiwork by collecting and pressing dozens of leaves throughout the season, and I believe his work also deserves to be noticed and displayed.
me & trees
oil paint & canvas
I completed this self portrait as a layers assignment. I first painted the picture of myself in front of a shed at the farm, and overlaid it with a log pile photo I had taken while in Colorado. To me this painting says a lot about me, the farm, the outdoors, and the way God speaks to me through His word, are all things I really enjoy.
farm chair
old farm chairs, twine & paracord
Though I spent a lot of time in the grove while at my grandparent’s farm, I also spent a lot of time sitting at the dinner table eating, playing cards, and coloring with my grandma. This is one of my grandparent’s old chairs I recovered using paracord.
Artist Statement
grandma’s house
lilac stick, fishing line & doilies
What about doilies does not scream “grandma’s house”? I know that both of my grandma’s loyally used doilies to adorn their dinner tables, side tables, and shelves. I tried to take the old stitching into a new light.
pieces
my grandparent’s old clothes
This piece is what inspired my show. When my grandparents passed we were left with a lot of old clothes and instead of throwing them away or donating them, I thought it would be fun to turn them into a pillow. Seeing this pillow reminds me of them, of the farm, and of all the memories I had there.
grain light
grain ventilation tube & lamp stand
This grain ventilation tube is from a vacant grain bin at the farm. Walking past this broken tube, I could not help but pick it up and do something with it, and now I think it will make a great floor lamp for a future home.
entry bench
rummaged table, pallet wood & paracord
An entry is the first room you walk into when coming home. It is a place you take your shoes and coat off, a place, at our house, where you keep all of your outdoor equipment. I want the entry of my home to be a similar place, and I think this homemade bench will be a great way to invite others into my home.
mountain scape (triangle piece pictured above)
deck wood from the farm & pallet wood
I believe that the farm is where I first realized my love for spending time outside, but I was reminded of that love during my first trip to Colorado. The beauty of the mountains captured me and continually reminds me of the wonder of our Creator.