ABOUT creatif RED SKY STUDIOs and WORKSHOPs
We have spent years searching for the perfect home, we have finally found a wonderful house on acreage surrounded by hills and a sky that constantly changes. Our days now often begin and end with a vibrant sunrise or sunset that compels one to reach for the watercolors! As a huge added bonus, there are wonderful studio spaces and workshops begging to be filled with creativity!
Born in Africa, my soul still roams the Savannah. I gently yearn for the wide skies, unique smells and vibrant design and colors that abound in the region. These regularly insert themselves into my work, often unbidden but frequently totally intentional. I have spent some time researching the timeless artwork of the Pacific Northwest and Southwest and find that it blends very seamlessly with my African esthetic to create a new tribal energy.
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My creative process is wide and varied, I paint in oils, acrylics and watercolors. I draw in pastels, ink, charcoal and many other media. I weave, sculpt and lino print. I have created a line of charm jewelry and sorority products, published a grown-up coloring book and opened a fashion boutique. The boutique encouraged me to begin designing and hand painting garments and creating one-of-a-kind jewelry. My current pieces are crafted from gorgeous organic materials, making them a joy to wear in so many ways!
In more recent years, a surprise gift of a woodturning workshop turned into a passion and I am totally hooked on this dramatically creative process! There is something uniquely satisfying about peeling away layers of wood to find the hidden vessel within, which in turn provides a unique canvas to be carved, airbrushed, painted, marbled, burnished and generally decorated! I use rescued wood, wood felled by weather or necessity, destined for the fire. There is something uniquely special about taking a chunk of a much loved tree, carefully reshaping it and returning it to the original and delighted owners in its new form.
Wood turning is a wonderfully immediate process, where even the tiniest move has instant and sometimes dramatic results! Wood is warm, organic and, to me, infinitely unique and pleasing! No two pieces are ever the same which provides for endless possibilities, a concept that I love!
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OUR LOGO
I have hand-drawn our logo, it is a modern, conceptualized image of a Chiwara, the antelope figure of the Bambara peoples of Mali. The Chiwara represents crop fertility and growth.
A wooden carved headdress representing the Chiwara is worn and danced through the fields to encourage good harvests.
The dancers leap and turn, moving their heads and feet in a traditional dance, infinitely ancient, in the way of the antelope.
Fertility is ensured, the spirits and ancestors are honored and lessons of morality are passed to the next generation.
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You will find this symbol featured on many of my bowls, paintings and other objects.