Full Professor and other stuff....

After 16 years here in Wyoming, I just received full professor and am thrilled to share what I have learned in academia and in the art world.  You learn a lot about yourself in these situations and definitely what you are not.  I am not someone who is willing to step on someone else to get what I want.  Maybe that is the southern in me, coming from New Orleans, but I hope it is the human in me. I am earnest and honest in my work whether in the classroom or a gallery space.  This is not always the case in others I work with and maybe one day this will not surprise me but I have this nasty habit of thinking others should be kind and helpful. Now, of course, this is not everyone, but academia is full of competition for funding and students and everything always seems to have an agenda attached to it.  This may exist in the art world but I see it less where I choose to exhibit. There was only one gallery in New Orleans I experienced this and it was where the gallery owner also was a listed artist in the gallery.  Maybe it is just me, but I don't think you should dip your quill in the company ink. It confuses things.  He begrudgingly wrote me a check when I sold all of the work in my given space and refused to give me access to the buyers when asked.   It may be why I attempt to target kids with my artwork. Kids are rarely not what they appear to be.  Regardless, I am always excited to get comments on my website and when I do gallery talks that my work offers some hope and a silver lining when applicable to someone going through a tough move/ transition or has been through a natural disaster.  You can put yourself mentally in my seeds and imagine floating off into the wind to a new and better situation.

I think about all of the people hit by tornados lately and how scary that must be.

My childhood home in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

The students and I did a small exhibition together that utilized Altoids tins into sculptural works.  This was my homage to my home town and the beautiful french doors in the Quarter.

A daily reminder

So it is April 2019, and the school's end of the semester is in sight.  What a great semester full of interesting questions and delights as students feel their way through sculpture. 2018 was rough as it really taught me how much the college student as we have known them has changed.  I wish I could say that that was a positive thing but not when you feel as if you are working against a wall most of the time. It is exhausting.  This semester has taught me there is hope.  I have great students that are a constant reminder of why I teach.  They want to learn and want honesty in their art-making practice.
I could very well be comfortable in my studio dealing only with energy that is positive and hard working.  Teaching does not always bring this energy, but I do my best to support my students while making work- often times alongside them.
On my off day- I run errands and accomplish things that are quick and I can scratch off of my list which leads to a smile every time.  But I also can't help but plan for the next day of teaching. When I do this I often get ideas for my own work and the two processes feed each other.  It reminds me of artists I have not looked at in awhile like Christiane Haase:

and Daniel Agdag: 

Antony Gormley and Louise Bourgeois live in my teaching world each semester and always inform my work. If you have never seen the Art 21 with Louise- please do! It's my favorite. I love the way she touches her work while she speaks.

Teaching allows me to remember how I teach- very hands-on- fun but full of hard work. Fierce integrity and passion allow me to speak my heart and mind in the classroom and people either appreciate that or run from it.

 4th Biennial Western Cast Iron Art Conference hug with Daniel Hunt and Noah Kirby in Laramie, Wyoming.

The most I can do is throw out ideas to the students and see what they catch and what they let go. Tells me a lot about who they are and what/how they want to learn.

Ideas have homes....



Ideas shape who we are and what we stand for.

2019 New Year for art!!!

Locust the Opera 
happened at the National Wildlife art museum in Jackson, Wyoming in September 2018.

It will travel to Agadir, Morocco for the opening for the XIII International Congress of Orthopterology in Agadir, Morocco, March 24- 28, 2019. 

So excited to be a part of this production/adventure.  I designed and helped to create the costumes and set for Locust the opera with integral help from Aaron Strube and Jamie Lindsey.