The Start

It all started with an art show called Eye for Art, held bi-annually here in Chatham, Ontario. It was 2006. I wanted to enter. But I don't have a typical art practice. I don't paint flowers or landscapes, and I don't do sculpture. Actually, I don't really have a practice per se. I just like artistic challenges.

A month before, I had found a photo in the garbage and it was calling me to make something with it. I decided that I'd try making an assemblage, or shadowbox, around the photo and see if it would be accepted and considered 'art'. I called the shadowbox "1914" because the photo was of the yearly assembly of the Knights Templar, and it was taken in front of the Parliament Buildings in August 1914 about a week before WW1 was declared. With little pieces that I found in local thrift stores, I made reference to events that occured in 1914, including the catastrophic sinking of the Empress of Ireland in the St. Lawrence River, and the emergence of a bear called Winnie the Pooh.

'1914' WAS accepted. And it sold on opening night! Suddenly, I was an 'artist'. Chatham is a small town. People talked to me about how much they liked '1914'. They asked if I had any other shadowboxes. Could I do it again? Did I want to? I enjoyed making '1914' and I decided to keep going.

And so it began. I made 'Suffragette- Woah Nellie!', which was about the suffragette movement, with a focus on Nellie McClung. It was purchased as a gift for a lawyer. Then came 'Good and Evil', which was incredibly detailed and intricate. It was purchased for a local undertaker and his wife. Then came 'Wedding Circus', which was purchased for a hotel room in a boutique hotel. These weird little shadowboxes were selling!

I do not have any formal art school training. This work arises out of my childhood fascination with dollhouses and miniatures, and works with my skills in layout and graphic design. I find old picture frames and have a handyman build the box in behind. The items in the boxes are found at the local Goodwill, Salvation Army, St. Vincent de Paul, and sometimes my sister will send me neat things in the mail.

I have since found out that Joseph Cornell was an artist who did shadowboxes back in the 40's and 50's, and his work is highly collectible today. His works are inspiration.

So who knows where this will take me? I enjoy making the shadowboxes, they are selling, and in December (2007) my work will be featured in Art & Life, a magazine that is created just outside Seattle. I am teaching a kids' art class on shadowboxes at our local cultural centre, and I've had a few commissions. I'm currently working on an order of 5 boxes for a gentleman from California.

I am thrilled. All because of a photograph I found in someone's garbage, and a chance I took in entering an art show.