many paths lead home

My most recent “commission” has long been paid for, over and over and over. It is a picture of my family home, the very centre of my—our—world until… I left. University, love, a new home, jobs, emigration, another home—so many transitions and new stories but whatever “home” is, wherever I am, there is a sense or feeling that has never left me: I know this place, and a part of me feels like I belong there.

I drew the house, the medieval church in the centre of town, the way flowers or a spanner or a horse or rail-tracks fit together to represent us all; each small part symbolic to the whole. I drew a story that describes “home”, this place to which we return, where our lives will always overlap. Funny, I didn’t really notice how the river, the road, and the rails also lead away.

Fluvius Visum (River View). Chased brass panel, custom half-lap alder frame
finished with milk paint and beeswax. 12 x 12 x 2 ins. 2014.

So do I belong to the bricks and mortar? Or to the family and friends I share this home with and the memories we make together? Maybe moving away has become part of the process of creating more stories—pictures—that can intersect, and connect many paths that might lead home.

With love to my brother, his wife and daughter and all the family pets; dedicated to our dear mum who worried and cared and made sure everyone was nourished.

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narrative jewellery: tales from the toolbox book launch

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Artist talk on March 28, at North Mount Pleasant Art Centre, Calgary.

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metal is clay

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