Artisans' Guild Gallery

I grew up in West Florida when it was a wild and unsettled region. There at an early age I became interested in the plants that produce durable and figured woods. Much later, after my husband and I had built our home and a 52-foot Sharpie Schooner, he helped me gain technical skills in woodworking and woodturning. Sailing to distant places and enriching my knowledge of plants has led to an interesting wood collection. I do, however, use principally local hardwoods scavenged from right-of-ways, backyards and storm damage. Wood has restrictions within which I must work to express my ideas of form and function. I am influenced by nature: a seedpod; a spider's egg case; a bird's nest. In April 1993 I received a grant to teach wood- turning to Mayan woman in the Yucatan, an on going project.