HG BLOG
5 Million Years of Inspiration
This is a barnacle. It is a five million-year-old barnacle that my son found while fossil hunting along the James River here in Virginia. As I hold it in my hand, I find it difficult to wrap my head around just how old this fossil actually is. It has power, the power to makes us realize what a little blip our time here really is. The texture, the shape the weight all envelope me. It smells fresh like the ocean, its texture is delicate and yet it is hard like a fossil. It is truly beautiful and it sits beside me, on my desk, reminding me and inspiring me. It’s a work of art only better.
We often go fossil hunting and have found many amazing treasures waiting to tell their story. These barnacles happened to grow on the top of a very rare fossil scallop called the Chesapectien Jeffersonius which just happens to be the state fossil of VA. These large scallops lived in the Pliocene epoch between four and five million years ago and can be found in North Carolina and Virginia along the rivers in the coastal plains where my son picked it up one day. He bestowed me with this treasure and I and so grateful.
Inspiration is all around us. A crack in the sidewalk, some rust on a sign, or in my case, a barnacle fossil in the open hands of a child. This spring I created a pattern from my collections of barnacles. It has become one of my favorite pieces to date. Nature creates its own patterns over and over again, and if you are ready to listen, she will tell you her story. May my heart remain open to receive these gifts.
Growing Up Flowers.
As a child, I would stare in wonder at the odd little painting. It hung in an awkward room that you walked through to enter the house in. It was part room and part entrance foyer. The house had once been a small barn so the room was carved out of that renovation. Over the years, I remained full of wonder for its creation and often in contemplation over who would paint such a wonderful work of art on a piece of scrap metal. As I grew up, I learned very little about the artist. All I really know is that she is my great-grandmother Lucie. She died giving birth to my grandmother and she was an artist. While I don’t know much about her, I do know that the artistic gene has continued to run in the family. My grandmother painted lovely floral arrangements mostly for the garden club and my father is an amazing painter who attended art school. I myself found my way through art school and into a creative career. Now when I look at the painting, I feel generations of artistic DNA flooding through and while I did not know her, I feel a deep connection to her and I feel her reaching through me as I create my work.
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