Wool Sculpture Statement: My approach with nature is up close and personal, be it animal, vegetable or mineral. It would not be possible for me to get too near my subjects. I even take home pieces of their existence to handle, transform, and celebrate. I visit farms and festivals, and harvest wild and cultivated plant materials for my dye pots. I spin natural fibers from diverse breeds of sheep, goats, camelids and even dogs on my Louet S10 spinning wheel. I sculpt, spin, knit, felt, bead . . . always keeping my eye and hand and heart open to what moves me. Drawings Statement: Out of a longing for animal companionship, I produced these square-shaped pet portraits. It began with working from photographs of my beloved dogs long gone. Thankfully, I had captured countless photographs of each of each of them. Then, a trip to Pope Memorial Animal Shelter to visit the cats led to more photographs and video clips, shared to my Instagram account to help get them successfully adopted. That collection of faces provided ample material for further drawings. Working on paper with drawing materials is my comfort zone. Looking at the sweet, beautiful, individual faces provided a therapeutic “timeout” from life’s day-to-day stressors. I utilized my stash of tools: charcoal, graphite, pastel, chalk. Occasionally, I introduced the “wet” – acrylic, watercolor, even oil or oil stick. Watercolor paper holds up so well to all these options, so it was the ground of choice. I hope you, the viewer, feel the love I feel when making these.