Conversation Starters are collectible salt and pepper shakers that serve as an introduction to my larger work as a sculptor. Each shaker is uniquely crafted, and the shaker pairs are grouped into six playful and engaging themes. The shakers are functional, yet artistically and conversationally stimulating. As is typical in my work, these sculptures have a narrative, tell a story and carry a message. They express my concern for a human connection with our ecosystem, my desire to educate about environmental care, animal awareness, and smart decisions for a healthier planet.
The Shaker Themes:
These creatures serve as reminders of the beauty, love, support, friendship, and companionship that healthy civilizations have always treasured in animals.
Recognizing both the power and the vulnerability of the human heart, healers are messengers of kindness, warmth, compassion, hope and understanding.
These whimsical beings, with their fanciful adornments, are the protectors of all fragile creatures — bees and butterflies, flowers and seeds — as necessary building blocks in the natural order on which we all depend.
Their prominent ears remind us of the importance of listening to each other as we share our insistence on our values – life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Inspired by knights, soldiers, and Mexican luchadores (wrestlers), these masked warriors fight not for entertainment but for the preservation of the earth.
Through ritual, these spirit people connect our modern, materialistic world to the healing wisdom of Mother Earth and the worlds we cannot see.