Animal Sculptures

I see these small sculptures as companions, little spirits. Most recently I have begun tothink of them as Forest Spirits, based on my Finnish mother telling me as a child that there were spirits living in the woods. I loved them and would spend hours pretending and playing with them. As I grew older I became afraid to go into the woods by myself after I saw the trees being cut down and the animals trapped by my father as that was how he made a living for us. When I became an artist and supported myself by teaching, I found that I needed to make these little sculptures for myself. I have done them all my life, mostly just giving them away. Now I sell them as spirit protectors for others who need protection from the consequences of what we have done to our environment.

Each one evolves on its own and takes on its own character. I began to exhibit them a few years ago. Three of them recently travelled to Finland in a show of Nordic American textile artists.

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