Mid 20th century
Artist and Educator
“For the artist, the discipline of the craft must always be maintained. That is, the understanding of space, color and form. You the artist, must be dedicated to the task you have set for yourself. Despite its heavy and relentless demands. It is a task from which you would never wish to be free.”
“I am not a competitive artist. I am not interested in being better than anybody else. The person I compete with is myself. I am happy when people like my work, but if I am not satisfied, their compliments will have no meaning for me. It is impossible to be a free, creative human being if you try to satisfy someone else’s standard of what is good. I have always set my own standards and gone my own merry way.”
“I am not an artist who says “let people get what they can out of my art.”
I want the world to see my work, to understand and love it. When I put something down in stone or clay, I am sharing my insights into nature, my feelings about humanity.”
“My art reflects my fundamental concerns and values. My sculpture represents the integration of traditional ideas of social justice, moral and ethical concepts with a personal interpretation of their application to contemporary life in our world today.”
“The creative process gives meaning to life. When we finally learn that we are creative, we have an altogether different feeling about ourselves. When we feel good about ourselves, we feel good about our neighbors. This can lead to a peaceful world, where artist can create for the aesthetic pleasure of all people.”
“I love the human figure, it’s organic design and engineering perfection. The part reflects the whole; in the leaf we see the tree, in the cell the future is born.”
“I believe that human beings are essentially creators. There is no limit to their potential, or to the heights they can reach if they align themselves with the creative energy in the universe.”
“I have always been liberated. At a very early age, I discovered that I was an artist, and had a natural talent to share with the world. That was the key to my personal freedom. However, I think many young female artists today need to be in the feminist movement. I'm all for young women if they don't get fair treatment, having co-op galleries, showing their work and speaking out. I don't blame the women who want their work to be seen; I blame the people who come to exhibitions not to look at paintings, but to see who's going to be there, to see who is and who is not showing. We have put value on the wrong things.“
“Years ago I was paid less than a man despite the fact that I was at the top of my field and had brought with me a great deal of experience. Of course, things are much better for me now. But along the way, as a woman, I have had to prove my worth more times than was really necessary. It will have to change, and it will change. I am very optimistic.“
“It is important that the female artist never forgets that she also has a most marvelous role to fulfill—that of a mother. My experience with my two children is one I would never give up. Struggling along as an artist while I was raising my children, I learned so much about life. I became a richer artist and a more fulfilled human being. Women can express certain things that men can never reach, because women have the gift of bearing life“
“When I walk on Rocky Point beach, and the children who have been to my studio come running to me with stones they have found and tell me what they have discovered, I am delighted. Stooping to pick up a stone, one realizes that lying on the beach they are neutralized by proximity, lost in their numbers. Isolating one stone from the group reveals its uniqueness. Everything starts with nature. Add yourself… your imagination, your good mind, your wonderful hands… and you can create something marvelous which has never been known before.”