After adding to the top, I have all the “sails” attached. Now to work on their textures…

Here’s the finished Spiral #1. 

I routed out space in the pecky cypress base for the lazy susan turntable to drop into, that way the Spiral seems to float and spin. The turntable is attached to the sculpture and sits into the space in the base so it’s easy to lift out for transport.

Base is 12” dia x 2.5” tall

After further contemplation, I decided that the sand dollar and it’s birds (and all those shells) were just too much stuff added to this piece. I chose instead, a sliced shell that reflects the shapes in the body and supports how we are all similar on the inside. 

This is on a box frame, so the edges are 1.75” deep. The middle image shows what I have done on that edge. It is blue glass bead to add light play to the edges as the viewer approaches the work and add the sense of water.

Thinking about titles like “Contemplation” “Reflection”  “Going Deep”  “Curiousity”  “Exploration” “Extrapolation”

We’ll see what sticks :-D

Here I have put the sand dollar together leaving a section out so the “birds” can fly free. The birds are the bones of the sand dollar! The missing piece can be found at the bottom of the work, nestled in with small shells. I wanted the viewer to be able to see into the inside of the sand dollar, as it is really incredible!

Notice the silver lines on the sand dollar where it had broken. They mimic the silver lines in the figure, illustrating how when we put ourselves back together after a “break”, we are frequently stronger and more beautiful than we were before. They also show that all living things are connected.

This is not the final placement for the “birds”, they will be placed more randomly (they are all stuck to one piece of plastic bag so they are safe until placed & protected).

So here’s the fruits of my labor over the Women Contemporary Artists retreat. Such an amazing experience to work with 30 women all together in one big room, each of us doing our thing! The energy was powerful and the exchange of ideas enlightening!