the 'OLOGIST' series

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Long before I made my living as an artist, I was caught up in the world of biology. In college, along with familiar course names like chemistry, physics and english, I attended classes in dendrology, ornithology and ichthyology. While I floundered a little with chemistry and physics, I excelled in all my 'ology' courses ... eventually getting a degree as a Fisheries Biologist. The 'ology' language just made sense to me. So here I am, over 40 years later, and I am still thinking of 'ology' ... in an art context.

The ‘OLOGIST’ SERIES is comprised of photo etched metal hands that hold various species for study. For example, a Dendrologist studies trees and wooded plants…a Cetologist studies whales, dolphins and porpoise…and a Conchologist studies mollusk shells. My two sculptures represent ORNITHOLOGY ... the study of birds, and ICHTHYOLOGY ... the study of fish. While the hand represents the environment of each species, the red cord is a symbol of man’s interference with nature. As hard as we try, even in the name of science and scientific study, we have a tendency to create a tangle even as we search for balance.



The hands are photo etched copper and the bird and fish are photo etched brass. The ORNITHOLOGIST measures 10" x 9" x .5" and the ICHTHYOLOGIST measures 10" x 9.5" x .5"... the tangle is red waxed cotton cord.

THE ORNITHOLOGIST and THE ICHTHYOLOGIST are both showing at Bainbridge Arts and Crafts ON Bainbridge Island in Washington state through the month of December in a show titled RED.

In the coming year I hope to make more hands for the 'OLOGIST' SERIES. There are so many more that I am drawn to ...
the ophiologist ...the acridologist ...the dinosaurologist ...the neossologist ...to name a few. Stay tuned.