Digging for Gold: A Reliquary for the Dandelion

I carried this "dandelion fluff" around in a jar for over four years before making this piece. I harvested it on the family homestead in Wisconsin. I tend to have a lot of things like that hanging around to feed off of for my reliquary creations, although many times I have to have my items to contain specially shipped in when the idea finally comes to fruition. This sometimes makes for an interesting scavenger hunt for my friends, family and people I contact out of the blue. Most are up for it, but some never call back or just walk away.


The main part of this vessel was raised from one sheet of copper, hammered to resemble garden trowel shapes. Leaf embellishments and collars for the wooden shovel handles were added later. I carved all the wooden handles by hand because I was too lazy to turn them... that seems wrong doesn't it.

Packaging Packaging

Packaging Packaging: A Reliquary for the Styrofoam Peanut comments on the transient nature of society today. People frequently relocating and families spread out across the country are common situations prevalent in our nation, thus necessitating the use of this particular object. The idea of taking great care in the elaborate packaging of what is usually used in packaging other possessions is a way to give recognition to this helpful, useful and often taken for granted item.

Arizona Ouch!

Arizona Collar: A Wearable Reliquary for Sharp Pointy Things

When asked to create a piece with Arizona and it's gems as the inspiration my mind could not help but turn to not only the minerals found throughout Arizona, but also the ever present abundance of sharp pokey things. My work usually takes the form of reliquaries or sculptural containers. For this piece I created a necklace by linking seven small containers, each containing spines from different cacti collected near Ajo, Arizona. The range of color was beautiful and the different degrees of viciousness significant. Peridot was my stone of choice to incorporate since this color appeared most frequently in plants that I harvested from.