2012 was also a year focused on drawing. During February in New Mexico, and working on a table outdoors, I clocked the intense sunlight and sharp shadows moving across the white page, I drew sticks with peeling bark, and the young buds of poplar trees. When I returned to my studio in Maine, these drawings became the basis for the majolica decoration on large terra cotta bowls.

In September, I took my pencils and paper to a residency on Islesboro, ME. There, the roots of cedar trees intertwined, grabbed onto each other for support as they leaned away from each other; growing toward the light. This push/pull metaphor exactly mirrored my own feelings about family following my father’s death. We needed each other, yet sought our own sunlight, away from complicated sibling history and entanglements.