Heart of Maine
It all started with a bunch of wooden blocks I found in the barn with price tags on them, indicating a candy table of some sort. I organized them into the shape of Maine. I worked on this piece for about 8 months. Everything is from the house, leftover by the previous owners, Thornton and Cynthia Osgood.
The metal background is an old furnace. The Rope and barbed wire are from the yard and barn. The nails are from the replacement of my old roof.
The backing, painted to resemble the Delorme, is another piece of scrap from the garage. The bolts for assembly were puzzled together from the parts room in the garage. You’d be surprised at the volume of bolts and nuts that aren’t easily fit together. That alone took some time. The copper heart was forged using the wood stove in my blacksmith shop, I then applied the patina.
Like solving a puzzle to discover how pieces fit together. To assemble what others may consider junk and would likely discard as having no value. I can relate to these items, and express something deeply personal.
As a child, I spent weekends with my dad hunting through old barns for replacement parts to repair whatever project he was working on. A barn full of ‘junk’ is a barn full of treasure to me.
How I came to live in Maine:
In 1999 I visited the coastline of Maine, falling more in love with the area at every campground, breathtaking view and Working Artist I met along the way. I knew I belonged here. I buried that dream in the back of my mind, not giving it any light, completely forgetting about it.
In 2013 I hosted 2 travelers from Maine, to live and work, at my educational Farm in Seattle. Conversations about my forgotten dreams to live in Maine were sparked by a single photo, displayed in my studio, of my daughter on a rock at Penobscot bay. Were it not for the graciousness and support, I would not have been given this opportunity, a once forgotten dream, to move here in 2016, and establish myself in the Farmington area. Follow your heart, I’ve been told. So I did.