Recently, two major life events happened to my dear friend, Kristi. In addition to celebrating 20 years of marriage, her only child, Katie, graduated from high school. Both events were emotional and markers of life's march through time. What Kristi didn't know is that her husband, Tim, chose to surprise her with one of my skimmers for her anniversary. The real trick was in keeping the secret since Kristi and I are in touch almost every day....and from what I hear, Tim, isn't always the best at keeping secrets either. From another project I already had some wonderful photos of Katie from toddler age up through graduation. These images seemed perfect to me to mark these two occasions and a boat was the natural metaphor for life's journey.
This skimmer is made of beaten copper wire and thin japanese paper (gampi) that has been ink jet printed with archival ink. I love that the paper is thin enough to allow light through it....making it very translucent. Looking into the boat, the backside of the images are almost as clear as the printed side. The overall length of the boat is just over 12 inches and it is about 2.25 inches at it's widest point. Remember that you can click on an image to see it larger.
It means a lot to me that via my art I had a hand in helping mark this place in time for dear friends....their lives shared and the launching of Katie's boat into bigger water.
