My last post from my website journal was on January 2, 2023… Time really has flown! After a year of working within and amidst grief and finding bright bits of joy, I thought I would pop my head up out of the gopher hole and give an update and a preview of what is to come for 2024. I have a lot of optimism for this year and will be much more active on Instagram and Facebook about what I am sharing below, and I hope that you will enjoy some beauty and creativity in 2024!

Patent NOT Pending!

I am happy to share that after 4 years since my application I received my first design patent! Officially known as RABBIT WITH THRU HOLE EYE SOCKET, Hutch debuted in 2019 at the Regal Find in Middleton, Wisconsin for Gallery Night and has been an inspiration for the body of work I have continued to build throughout these past four years.

patent drawing *RABBIT WITH THRU HOLE EYE SOCKET*

While I am at the beginning stages of thinking about how to pursue a manufacturing run, here are a few of my handcrafted rabbits out in the wild!

Public Art Project

January 2023, I found out I was a finalist for a permanent public art installation for the Calvin T. Ryan Library renovation at the University of Nebraska at Kearney!

For many years I held back from applying for public art projects but was moved to apply for this one. The application and proposal process truly gave me a lift as we were entering a very sad time of grieving the loss of our youngest sister, Natalie. With inspiration from Winter's Spring, I developed my proposal, CUMULATE.

After the intense process of preparing my proposal, I presented it at UNK and won! One of the best parts was having so much support from family and friends who encouraged me along the way!

***CUMULATE,*** proposal scale model 3/4” = 1’

CUMULATE is going to be installed in August 2024! Stay tuned here and social media for more about the concept, fabrication process and the creative team that is helping me to bring it to life!

Printmaking

As you know, I love creating three-dimensional work! One of the fun things about my RABBIT PILLOW WITH THRU HOLE EYE SOCKET is that it functions as a sort of two-dimensional piece on a wall and can be in a space as a physical object. I have always enjoyed thinking about fractional dimensions and their in-between-ness in my work. With a commission to create two-dimensional artwork, I began to think about how I could represent my sculptural work by creating something very new to my practice. I found a process that I could dive into by creating my own large format gel plate for monoprinting and explore my color palette and shapes with a fresh perspective.