Artist's Statement

My fat-bottomed girls are inspired by my own personal walk through life. Fortunately, I realize I am not alone on this path, so while there is a serious side to my work, there is an equally frivolous side to lend balance, encourage laughter.

Through my female figures, I have tried to demonstrate the beauty and intrigue of physical imperfection.

Women are compassionate, forgiving creatures, except where their own bodies are concerned. Young, old, we always feel the need for improvement!

My job in China was supervising the production of shoes. I spent many long hours traveling the poor roads to and from the factories where we made our wares. I often brought my sketch pad along to relieve the boredom of those long drives. Mostly I sketched the rural scenery, pleased with the distortion that the bumpy roads added to my drawings.

One day, having been drawing females of late, I started a sketch as we set out. The jolts and jars of the journey soon made it impossible to form my perfect women, but I continued anyway to kill the time. What soon became apparent was that my figures, with their distorted features, were much more interesting than those I drew at home.

Though it was the accident of a pothole, something inside my subconscious had broken free. Since then, I have never tried to create something perfect from something that is not. More accurately, I have never tried to change something that is already perfect into an illusion of perfect.

Upon my return to the US, I began to work in clay. I found I developed a much deeper intimacy with my three-dimensional figures . The result was a stronger emotional expression, in myself, and in my work. All of my moods  are reflected in my women. In combination, they are my alter ego.

My “fat-bottomed girls”, as I have dubbed them, make me laugh. They make me laugh at myself, my vanity, my absurd expectations from life. Laughter, therefore, is the reaction I seek from anyone who views my work. As long as I can evoke a chuckle, smile, or humorous comment, I feel my work is understood.