wood & copper nails, 7' x 3' x 1' This piece was created by searching out this Y from a fallen cherry tree. Starting at a chosen point on each limb, copper roofing nails were driven in. Each nail touched another in a continuous spiral up the limb untill they converged at the crotch and continued on to the top of the trunk. The small copper circles form this almost fish scale surface covering the wood. Then the piece was placed in a large fire for 15 minutes to char the rest of the exposed surface. To me, copper has come to feel like a feminine energy, while wood is more in the realm of the masculine. I think of the round-headed copper roofing nails as individual prayers or meditations with their female healing presence. In this sculpture one prayer leads to the next protecting the upper portion of the piece.

wood & copper nails, 7' x 3' x 1' This piece was created by searching out this Y from a fallen cherry tree. Starting at a chosen point on each limb, copper roofing nails were driven in. Each nail touched another in a continuous spiral up the limb untill they converged at the crotch and continued on to the top of the trunk. The small copper circles form this almost fish scale surface covering the wood. Then the piece was placed in a large fire for 15 minutes to char the rest of the exposed surface. To me, copper has come to feel like a feminine energy, while wood is more in the realm of the masculine. I think of the round-headed copper roofing nails as individual prayers or meditations with their female healing presence. In this sculpture one prayer leads to the next protecting the upper portion of the piece.

wood & copper pipe, 9' x 2' x 1', I love the Ys of trees. By turning them upside down, the two limbs rise up to bocome one. This is a locust Y with a canoe type gouge in each leg.(ritual scars) One has been charred with fire and the other has soft copper pipe drilled and beaten into it. I once heard a story about how the plains buffalo would slowly walk into a blizzards to stay alive.They faced the storm. In the spring of 2001 when I was making this piece I wondered if we had the courage to face our on coming storms.

wood & copper nails, 6"x 12"x 12", This piece was a practice sketch for the large hanging piece called "Who Broke The World?" It was the first time I used the copper nails as a visual component in a piece. This is the crotch from a big limb that I've rounded off, so if you turned it upside down it would fit in a large bowl. Then I started driving nails in the center of each of the 3 cut off parts of the crotch, (where the limbs join). From each center the nails spiral out to the edge covering the cut surface. I see the copper nails as protecting, a healing of the surface.

wood & soft copper pipe, 40"x 18"x 18" Up to this point I had subconsciously not worked with copper pipe for it was just too closely related to my family and their plumbing livelihood . Before that moment I still needed some level of separation. For this piece I took 9 old porch posts and joined them together to create a mass, then rounded off the top so the form looked worn down. Next I figured out through trial and error how to get the copper pipe to become one with the wood. I came up with process of drilling holes into the wood and then driving the pipe in. From there I would bend the pipe back and forth, while beating it down, occasionally using a copper nail to hold it when needed, then making sure to fold back over the nail. I wanted only beaten copper pipe visible on the surface. The final copper surface turned out more beautiful then I could have imagined.

wood & soft copper pipe, 40"x 18"x 18" Up to this point I had subconsciously not worked with copper pipe for it was just too closely related to my family and their plumbing livelihood . Before that moment I still needed some level of separation. For this piece I took 9 old porch posts and joined them together to create a mass, then rounded off the top so the form looked worn down. Next I figured out through trial and error how to get the copper pipe to become one with the wood. I came up with process of drilling holes into the wood and then driving the pipe in. From there I would bend the pipe back and forth, while beating it down, occasionally using a copper nail to hold it when needed, then making sure to fold back over the nail. I wanted only beaten copper pipe visible on the surface. The final copper surface turned out more beautiful then I could have imagined.

copper 6' x 9" x 3" Many layers of heated copper wire are wrapped around a ladder made from copper pipe. The wire contracts and tightens as it cools. Sometimes we all just need a little help to see the light.

wood & beaten copper pipe, 7'x 2'x 2' This weathered locust wood tripod stood in one of my gardens for years until I had the vision for this piece.I brought it into my old studio which had just about a 7' tall ceiling. (That's why in that period my large indoor pieces all ended up being about 7' tall.) To make the copper sphere, I started beating 3/4" soft copper pipe flat, then came up with a way to wrap and weave and beat it into a 70 lb solid copper ball. Next, I created a way to crudely pry open the legs and fix the sphere, so it is pinned inside the tripod. When I finished this piece it felt outside of time.

wood & copper pipe, 78"x 28"x 6" Often I come up with an idea and then it may take months or years to find the right piece of wood to make the piece come alive. This sculpture started with an old piece of copper pipe that I put a branched piece of wood into.Then I could not find another branched piece that fit as snugly as the first. I set it aside to work on another sculpture, but often checked on other pieces of wood to see if one might fit.. Then after a year or so I found the right one. I chiseled both pieces of wood lightly so they slid down into the pipe and then used a double ended lag screw to hook the two pieces of wood together with the copper pipe in between them. (see close up)

wood & copper pipe, 78"x 28"x 6" Often I come up with an idea and then it may take months or years to find the right piece of wood to make the piece come alive. This sculpture started with an old piece of copper pipe that I put a branched piece of wood into.Then I could not find another branched piece that fit as snugly as the first. I set it aside to work on another sculpture, but often checked on other pieces of wood to see if one might fit.. Then after a year or so I found the right one. I chiseled both pieces of wood lightly so they slid down into the pipe and then used a double ended lag screw to hook the two pieces of wood together with the copper pipe in between them. (see close up)