My work reflects my response to the natural world

and to its layers of relationships and interconnections. I am inspired by the dry riverbeds of deserts with their carvings of wind and water, their layered outcroppings where people, animals and floodwaters have left behind ancient fragments. Being immersed in nature - in my garden surrounded by old trees, at my retreat SpiritSong, or on vacation at the ocean's edge - nourishes me and renews my profound sense of connection and awe. My human relationships provide another lens through which I focus and which subtly inform my work.

In the studio, intuition guides me as I let the work flow through my hands. My clay is hand-built by pinching and paddling, imprinting and layering. I create openings to expose interiors allowing patterns of light to move through them. In the ongoing Navigation Series, boat forms emerge during times of personal transition. Large open Vessels seem to fly out of my hands after a deeply moving interaction with another person.

Working with Monoprints color is the impetus as I layer pigments and textures onto rag paper. The spontaneity of this process excites me.

In contrast, my mixed-media Assemblages force their way out of me slowly, sometimes mirroring significant life experiences, often weaving together old and newer parts of my life. Juxtaposing various materials enlivens me and draws out surprising new ideas.

Collaborations with composers and choreographers have led to extraordinary generative experiences, culminating in dynamic interactive public performances.

The strength and solidity of bronze has offered me yet another way to connect and transform diverse materials. Working with bronze was a new challenge and I became a beginner again. My first bronzes, The WomanSpirit Series, came directly from the inherent gestures of the earlier Ancient Vowel Series. These elemental figures in clay and bronze - witnesses, guardians, angels - embody for me the union between the forces of earth and spirit.

My passion is to communicate and share, through my work, my sense of reverence for life's extraordinary wonder and beauty.