That's the detail view of a piece I made last spring, where the individual elements were based on pollen. It was an extremely difficult piece for me to make, which is why the finished piece feels like such an accomplishment for me. The piece is made out of what feels like a million small wooden spheres, connected with sterling silver joints. Before this piece, I'd only carved a few things with a flex shaft, most of which weren't wood. Afterwards, I'd carved a lot more wood, as well as my fingers and fingernails. But what was far more challenging than the material was the concept. Most of my work tends towards the two-dimensional, and my enamels are very pictorial. This piece was all about dimension and texture, which is a more difficult area for me. But I feel like I conquered my nervousness towards those things with this piece. In some way, I've proven to myself that I can work like this, and that it won't automatically be a terrible piece. And that feels good, despite the many many hours I fought with this piece for. Challenging experiments are like that- incredibly hard work, but after you're done, it's like you've created a pathway where before there was only forest. It's only a pathway, and the next trip won't be easy, but it'll be easier. And I'll take any advances I can.
Right now, I've got two goals for my work. The first, which I'm working hardest on, is to improve the quality of my image making. I want clarity and composition in my enamels. The second is to bridge the gap between my enamels and my dimensional work. It's a far harder goal, but if I can find a way to do it, I'll be incredibly happy.
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