This is a styrofoam carving done at the request of friends in 1997. It was designed from their vision (or was it a hallucination?) to serve as a masthead of a ship for "The Crooked Toad Tavern" at the Three Baron's Faire in Anchorage, Alaska. It is 8 feet high. If you want to see "Ethel Mertoad" in person, the Anchorage Faire runs the first two weekends in June. After consuming a few dark ales at the tavern she will no doubt tell you tales of the mysterious pond from which she arose. Be sure to tell Captain Red Legs and Fricasse Frolic Hello from her creator!
The mertoad gained another life when she appeared on the commemorative beer mug for 2002.
I lived in Alaska for 10 years. I wanted to work with whale bone, a medium native Alaskan Indians use for sculpture. This mask is carved from a fossilized disc of cartilage called an oozeva which is located between the vertebrae of the whale. As a non-native I am only allowed to sculpt this medium and may not sell my work. The hair is horse's tail, it hangs straight down during display (I had to curl it up to get it on my scanner). Mask is around 7 inches in diameter.
My favorite class in college was an art history class: Calligraphy of China & Japan, taught by Stephen Addiss. One story he told us was of a mad monk who used his long hair as a brush to write characters on the walls of the monastery. At the end of the semester we were required to present a piece for exhibit in the art library. I decided to use my own hair, long at the time, to write the character for "hair on head" --- after I did the piece I cut off the end of my hair and mounted it with the work.
When I moved in with my grandmother I just had to splash some color around her white house. I got permission to paint the birdhouse and a door.
Raku 1980's
This is a self-portrait taken in college. My sister added it to this page when she deleted some other pages to make room for her horses and family genealogy.
