OCTOBER 2003
"Through the Looking Glass"
About five years ago, I realized that the
time I spent daydreaming was my favorite part of the day.
When my imagination began overpowering my thoughts, I decided
to stop peeking through the window of my fantasies and walk
right through the front door! Wherever I was, whatever I
was doing, reality began bending to a will of its own…as
if I was seeing the world through rose tinted spectacles.
I found myself smack dab in the middle of my own faerieland,
and have tried to spend as much time there as I can.
While daydreaming is most often considered
to be a passive sort of thing, I practiced something I like
to call active daydreaming. Creatures can begin to take
form by simply allowing them to come to the forefront of
your mind. By just staring at a bouquet and letting your
mind wander, leaves may become wings, a rosehip may transform
into a tiny dress. A hanging plant outside your kitchen
window becomes a maidens face, the ivy a tangle of flowing
hair. I glance in the china cabinet and imagine there is
a faerie asleep in the bottom of a cool, dark tea cup.
While sitting in traffic I would wish to
sprout wings and fly up over the sea of cars. I wanted to
fall deep into my daydreams to the place I felt I could
truly belong and feel free. Where faeries hopped from flower
to flower, and played leap frog with real frogs. Where friendship
and laughter means everything.
Our hectic lives are filled with stress,
fear, and responsibilities, and it is necessary to find
a release from the pressures of everyday into the fantasy
within. But is not only escapism which leads me to create
faeries, but an overwhelming need to express the joy I feel
in life’s little details. For instance, a sunny smile
from one of my children, or perhaps the mischievous arching
of an eyebrow will send me to my studio. Or the graceful
pose of a dancer’s hands and feet, butterfly friends
closely circling each other as they flitter across the sky.
Children chasing fireflies, or a kitten stretching in a
beam of sunlight… All these things inspire me daily.
As I sculpt I imagine how I would sit if
I were a faerie; what would I be doing and where would I
be? I sometimes assume a pose myself to get the feel of
it before I sculpt. I make faerie like faces in the mirror
and transfer them into the clay. How would I pose if I were
a shy faerie? A sad, lonely fae, or a frolicking young sprite
bursting with joy? A mischievous pixie looking for a jewelry
box to raid, or an elemental who gently coaxes the seeds
to sprout and bloom. Just being my own model makes me feel
close to being a faerie. These creatures become part of
me, or rather, their creation makes me whole.
Coming soon:
"On Sculpting Hands"
