The Tree of Knowledge of Gooeyville /  Oil and collage on canvas (2005)

The Living Tree / Community Installation at St. John’s Episcopal Church (2005-2006)

The first art I remember making for public consumption was a poster contest that won me a bike in first grade: after a big ice storm I drew a picture of the trees that had been damaged regrowing and healing.  I’ve always loved climbing trees, touching trees, collecting seeds, feeling how my lungs look like that.   The above images are process paintings I did in studio during the time I was creating a large tree sculpture project.

In 2005, I was commissioned by Pastor Teresa Mithen along with artists Jason Wallace Triefenbach and Patrick Ritchey to collaborate with the congregation in creating an inviting tree-bench to welcome parishioners into the fellowship hall.  Together with community members of all ages,  we created hundreds on hand-built clay leaves. The sculpting took place in nontraditional places such as Sunday school, park festivals, coffee shops, and bars with the intention to ‘publicize’ the democratic, relational act of grassroots design.  We fashioned a tree from native and found materials, fired the leaves, and installed them in a 3-dimensional arrangement from the ceiling, walls, and branches that emerge from the brick corner.  The truck and roots melt into two benches that welcome rest in the tree’s embrace.