March 31, 2022 – Image & Verse

My current, and likely final art project

artists must create
when that expression is robbed
the soul is wounded

Here you see me sorting the small portion remaining of the hundreds of Talisman I have created over the years. Severe arthritis in my hands deemed these will be my last. Here I’m choosing the colors and textures of leather mounting backs I wish to use with each. They will then be prepared for sale, mat-mounted individually in 6” x 8” black lacquered, solid wood, double frames, which I’d constructed.

I created my Talisman by disassembling discarded jewelry parts & pieces, “found” over the years at secondhand stores, garage sales, and estate sales. Each contains 6 to 18 random parts I reclaimed from scrapped jewelry, using jeweler’s tools. Then, using sterling or gold jewelry findings (fasteners, connectors, endings, and wire), I rejoined by hand, again using jeweler’s tools, and upcycled unrelated elements, to create each unique, cohesive Talisman.

These are my final Talisman. Arthritis has already robbed me of my ability to create my Serenity Totems, which I sold for years, at top juried art shows nationwide. 6 examples of the 3’ midsized, and 1 of the large 4’ Totems, you see below. The complex steps to create my handmade Totems were many, utilizing a wide variety of upcycled materials and techniques, including woven elements from my wife. Each Totem featured a completed Talisman as one of its elements.

I also partnered with my wife Kathy for 33 years in our Fibrations Studios. She is a master weaver. I would design and build the creative mounting substrates and unique tops for her pieces. She and I co-displayed at these national juried art shows over the years, selling our art together. I will no longer be able to build for my wife. All these particular joys of creation are now forever lost to me — I mourn deeply.