This is Nautilus I and it continues my use of nautilus shells. There is something about the shape and elegance of these forms that keeps drawing me back to using them, again and again. The task is always how to get the ingredients, in this case a shell, to give up its individual identity to become part of a larger whole. For a shell to be, no longer just a shell.

When using an element that I have used before, the challenge is also how not to repeat yourself and keep the piece feeling fresh and new. This gets even more daunting when self-imposed limitations further restrict many options. Working in a box or with the same color palette is not unlike the limitations in music. There are just so many musical notes. So it is not the ingredients themselves but how they are “played”. The elements can give a work its identity but it is also my artistic style and sense of balance that produces a “Foundling”. These sensibilities keep me on track with how these works emerge. The process is slow but with time I do get to where I am trying to go. It is a struggle to create. It is a struggle to find your voice and share it with the world — whether or not the world responds. But I have a need to create, so I do. The struggle is worth it.