Louise's Leap Studios
Artist Statement
Sewing cards. Remember them? In my first memory, I am on a boat with my dad, who is fishing. I am three years old and threading bright yarn through holes in equally bright cardboard with a blunt needle. A couple of years later, I find old curtains in the basement, and play with them for hours, eventually figuring out how to sew a seam (inside out!), and make gathers (big stitches, drawn tight!). I make a dress for my doll, Cinderella.
I have been thus driven for all of my remembered life. To Make Things. I’d like to think my small works add beauty to the world as well, but my passion is in the process.
Much of my work is informed by my experience with plants, both as a Professor of Plant Science, and as a human observer. Plants are the first step in the chain of sustenance ; transforming the energy of the sun to chemical energy which is foundation of all life; human life being a small but potent piece of that puzzle.
Plants feed our needy existence, providing not only nutrition, but aesthetically rich experiences for all of our senses: sight, taste, touch, smell and sound. While we are literally and viscerally connected to this messy cacophony of life, our civilized lives separate us from it; obfuscating the interconnected nature of our relationship to this complex, brutal and beautiful whole.
Curriculum Vita
Formal Education
Degrees
Ph.D. The Ohio State University, 1984. Horticulture.
M.S.: The Pennsylvania State University, 1980. Horticulture.
B.S. University of Maryland, secondary teaching certification, 1978. Horticulture.
Professional Positions
December 31, 2016 Retired
Fall 2013-Spring 2016 Teacher, Boise City Parks and Recreation
2002-December 2016 Sole Proprietor of Louise’s Leap Studios
7/1/84-4/15/99 Assistant and Associate professor of Horticulture at Rutgers and Penn State Universities. Complete Curriculum Vitae, including publication list, available upon request.
Juried Shows, Service and Scholarship (selected)
July-August 2013 Shakespeare’s Bowls: 1. The Witches Cauldron,
Macbeth. Alchemy 2: The 14th International
Enamel Exhibition. The Enamelist Society.
The Carnegie Gallery, Newport, Kentucky.
November 2012 Fairy. Story. Tinkerbelle and Shakespeare:
Disparate Icons for Difficult Times. Featured
Artists Solo Show. Art Source Gallery, Boise
Idaho. November 1-30.
October-Nov. 2012 The Tinkerbelle Series: 1. New Red Dress. Boise
Open Studios Collective (BOSCO). Visual Artist
Collective, Garden City, Idaho.
September 2011 Primal ‘Night Lily’ Torque Alchemy: The 13th
International Enamel Exhibition. The Enamelist
Society. [This show traveled to several venues,
starting with the Arrowmont Gallery in
Gatlinburg, Tennessee.] .
October 10-Nov. 27 Next Generation Sculpture. Enamelist Alumnus
2010 Juried Exhibition, in conjunctio with Jan Arthur
Harrell’s exhibition Vanitas: The Muse in her
Boudoir. Goldesberry Gallery, Houston Texas.
[For a complete art cv, go to Complete CV]
