It’s all about the medium! Using materials that would otherwise be discarded is a subtext for my art. I have a personal and professional commitment to conservation of resources.
My art work is composed of: beer caps, scrap wood, license plates, beer cans, and beer tabs—all recycled—. Three dimensional art pieces have substructures of scrap wood. Two dimensional “canvases” are also made of discarded wood. Beer caps are flattened and fastened with 5/8 in. wire nails.
A steady supply of these raw materials has been channeled to me ever since people saw the type of work I was creating. Bags, cans, and boxes of beer caps regularly show up on my door step. At times I have enlisted the help of the neighborhood children to sort and categorize my thoroughly washed caps. Their efforts are appropriately rewarded.
My training and career in the life sciences influences my choice of subject matter immensely in the beginning of my “beer cap” art exploration. I saw beer caps as fish scales immediately and set out to create a fish. License plates were an easy choice for fins. 2-Dimensioanl and 3-Dimensional fishes were followed by birds, gorillas, snakes, and other animals. The great variety of breweries in this country trying to get our attention with colorful caps and cans provides a broad palette from which I work.
