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Colour and construction have dominated my life. Growing up in an urban industrial setting, I had as my playground an auto painting shop on one side of our house and a lumber yard on the other. I was trapped - and inspired, I mixed chrome, wood and paint to form my childhood fantasies. In some respects little has changed, I now work in glass, metal and paint, but I am still ever alert to the fantasy and the phenomenon of creation. Discovering the pure colours alive in glass was a revelation - colours that can insinuate, saturate and glow - colours that can shift throughout the day and change intensities throughout the seasons. My design work evolves like a conversation with a friend. I initiate the idea. The form, colour and texture suggests a mood or application, or they challenge their role within the design. I listen, learn and reply with care. Thus, the dialogue proceeds. Perhaps this is why I am never lonely in the solitude of my studio. As the works develop character and presence, they need less and less of me, until finally they separate, exist on their own and leave me free to begin new adventures. The art of fine craft work deals with more than just the mastery of the visual and tactile. It speaks of the ideologies of the makers and of a community who value the quality of the human touch. It revels in the metamorphosis of ideas and materials into objects which are gloriously more than the sum of their parts. I am increasingly fulfilled by playing a part in the phenomenon of craft production. |
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