Fall..."and when I fall let me fall like a leaf, gracefully"...each oak leaf, fallen from the tree, is like the death of one member of our community...gently floating to the ground, coming to rest, not spent... re-nutrifying the ground for the new season of growth...the connection with community continues...

Frangapani for Life is reflective of my own feelings for my mother and my connection to the community I live within. Mum lived in the tropics for all of her life, the frangapani is representative of mums community roots. My mother had the strength to withstand tough challenges and we shared an intense love and a ever lasting bond as not just mother and daughter but best friends. Her spirit and immortality through my artwork will span multiple lifetimes. My artworks message is; Being delicate and beautiful doesn't mean you are weak or incapable of rising to meet a challenge.

'Bonds' was created as a reflection on working in age care (low and high care). The strings, knots and ties the small macrame was made of, highlights the many connections that are important to the physical, emotional and psychological welfare of the individuals. The enlarged shadow is an exstension of those connections, but the shadow also indicates the larger network and encounters associated with caring that are often indirect or forgotten.

Our history and ancestors are a major connection to our community. If we understand where we come from and how we got here, we have an identity which helps us communicate with each other in a more empathetic way. Our lives will have more meaning and we have a better chance of feeling that we belong. In today's busy world of living in the "now", we don't allow ourselves to remember where and who we came from. We can feel isolated and alone. By discovering our ancestors, we can claim a connection with our community.

Although her body was slowing failing her, Helen found almost daily joy in taking slow strolls down our street, through the community, to the local park. She would often socialise with neighbours and photograph local flora and fauna en route. I was always amased by her incredible ability to relish and capture the nature beauty surrounding her, especially in the midst of personal chaos. Like so many, the eventually of death brought clarity and focus. Her presence and perspectives were gifts to us all.

I salvage the wing of a Tawny frogmouth on the side of the road. When I discover a piece of driftwood washed onto a south coast beach, I know it is where the wing belongs. Together they form a connected pattern of soft feather and hard bark: a resilient memory of life that also honours the role of death. I sculpt porcelain vessels, a community that observes, and in observing knows that we are all part of the nature of things. Through this connection we are one being, never departed and never alone.