Wisdom

I was recently asked: How much time do you spend on a piece?

I usually have five or so works in progress and on a good session,

I may touch three of them.

I don’t work long hours in my studios

But I do lock-in

So it’s hard to say.

Some works get more attention

And others

Lean against the wall for awhile

Along with other pieces that I just don’t know where they’re going

Such was the case with Wisdom.

They were probably the fourth in the series of pine sculptures I did where I

Cut a linear cavity through the inner portion

later be filled

I love working with this old yellow pine,

It’s soft wood curves as I wish

I knew I wanted it stained black

It’s nice to have a handsome form,

but what does it mean to me and what am I trying to say?

I had on hand

Some mahogany furring strips of various thicknesses

Unfinished

Rough but rich

Like they’d seen some things, you know?

It pleased me to layer them

With their own inner shadows

Time to play

I collect Virginia quartz,

That veiny white crystal that pokes through our soil

And remembered a blessing from a sweat lodge

Rocks hold the wisdom of the earth

And so the work was born

Wisdom

Born of our darknesses

Our bottoms

Our failures

Our hardest times

because of these experiences,

We are gifted the opportunity of

Growth

Compassion

Humility

Wisdom

Wisdom

2022

Stained pine, mahogany and quartz

82" x 8"