About Alice
Artist Statement
The whirling movement of dance, the take-your-breath-away beauty of color-filled gardens, the glow and colorability of copper — all these inspire my sculpture.
Imagine a small girl in a pale green silk tutu with green ribbons in her hair, whirling and dancing through a misty Southern garden filled with wisteria and azaleas. The light filters through the ancient oaks and gleams on her copper curls as she imagines she is a faerie princess dancing for the Queen of Faerieland. This was me at age six and is still the inner dancer of my dreams, the source of my inspiration. I am driven to convey the wonder of this seminal memory and the profound delight I experience in every dance and theatrical performance I see through the dancers and fanciful figures I create from copper.
I do tiny gesture drawings during each of the many performances I attend and then work on the details of the dancers’ hands and feet when I return to my studio. Once the drawing is complete, I form the figure from copper (the perfect metal for making my life-like garden dancers), adding my signature copper curls. The blues and greens and purples and reds and golds of my various patinas and enamels are inspired by the many gardens I have explored all over the world, not the least of which are the Southern gardens of my childhood.
Is there anything more magical, more joyful than dancing in a garden?
Background/Training
My artwork is informed equally by my training in the visual arts and in literature.
I studied drawing and painting as an undergraduate and since graduation have taken additional courses in jewelry and metals and workshops in enameling. I also studied literature as an undergraduate with a highlight being my Shakespeare studies in Stratford, England. I was awarded a scholarship to the American Shakespeare Institute after graduation. I also hold a doctorate in American Literature from USC and did post-doctoral work at Duke University in religion and literature. My dissertation was on the role of the artist and artist figures in film, painting, and novels and the impact of mythic and religious paradigms on the artist’s creative process. In my own work, my inspiration often begins with an old myth or ancient story, but then I change it so that it fits into my world view. Celtic myths and travels to ancient sacred places in Ireland in the last five summers are a new source of inspiration. A more recent trip to New Orleans and a growing interest in the blues and jazz are recent sources of inspiration. The new pieces I designed for a Dublin, Ireland, garden portrayed faeries and other woodland creatures as promoters of sustainability. I have just started working on a new series of dancers and faeries for the 2010 Philadelphia International Flower Show where the theme is “Passport to the World.”
Exhibitions
My artwork has been featured in both national and international art and garden shows.
Because of my love of gardens, I especially focus on the top garden shows in the US which jury the artists featured there in the same way that art shows do. In 2003, the Philadelphia Flower Show, by all standards, the very best in the US, featured twenty of my dancers and faeries in a central garden designed by Jamie Rothstein; it was called “Flowering Dreams of the Night,” and I was awarded one of the top two ribbons in Botanical Art. Once again in 2006, my sculpture was featured in another of Jamie’s gardens, this one called “Enchanted Spring.” In 2009, I also was awarded the second place ribbon in Garden Accessories. My artwork (including many commission and life-size pieces) has been featured nine times in show gardens at the Cincinnati Flower Show, the only show in the US linked to the Royal Horticultural Society. From 2004-2006, I was the only American invited to exhibit at the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show in London. Also in 2004, The Wall Street Journal ran a quarter page image of one of my faeries in an article about all the garden shows in the US. In 2005, my dancers were featured in a show garden at the Northwest Flower Show in Seattle. In 2007, I was invited to exhibit at the Chelsea Flower Show in London and returned in May 2008; this is a phenomenally prestigious flower and garden show and features the best in botanical art and art for the garden. Also in 2008, my artwork was featured in a show garden at a fabulous new garden show in Dublin called “Bloom.” The garden designed by Sheena Vernon was called “Awaken the Magic.” Twenty of my faeries were set in a “faerie glade” that Sheena created under ancient yew and ash trees in Phoenix Park in Dublin, Ireland. After the show the garden and my faeries were moved to the National Garden Exhibition Centre at Kilquade in County Wicklow. I have also exhibited for a number of years at a magnificent antique and garden show at the Chicago Botanic Garden. I also occasionally exhibit at shows that benefit community groups such as the fabulous Junior League show in Austin, Texas,.
I exhibit at many different art shows in the United States. My schedule changes every year, so anyone interested in purchasing art work can either order through my website or email me to find out if I will be in the area during the year.
My artwork has been featured in many magazines in the US and in England.
Business Name
My business name is Ace of Spades Garden Art. Copper Curls is the registered trademark for my sculpture. Each piece of my sculpture is officially registered with the US Copyright Office.
The whirling movement of dance, the take-your-breath-away beauty of color-filled gardens, the glow and colorability of copper — all these inspire my sculpture.
Imagine a small girl in a pale green silk tutu with green ribbons in her hair, whirling and dancing through a misty Southern garden filled with wisteria and azaleas. The light filters through the ancient oaks and gleams on her copper curls as she imagines she is a faerie princess dancing for the Queen of Faerieland. This was me at age six and is still the inner dancer of my dreams, the source of my inspiration. I am driven to convey the wonder of this seminal memory and the profound delight I experience in every dance and theatrical performance I see through the dancers and fanciful figures I create from copper.
I do tiny gesture drawings during each of the many performances I attend and then work on the details of the dancers’ hands and feet when I return to my studio. Once the drawing is complete, I form the figure from copper (the perfect metal for making my life-like garden dancers), adding my signature copper curls. The blues and greens and purples and reds and golds of my various patinas and enamels are inspired by the many gardens I have explored all over the world, not the least of which are the Southern gardens of my childhood.
Is there anything more magical, more joyful than dancing in a garden?
Background/Training
My artwork is informed equally by my training in the visual arts and in literature.
I studied drawing and painting as an undergraduate and since graduation have taken additional courses in jewelry and metals and workshops in enameling. I also studied literature as an undergraduate with a highlight being my Shakespeare studies in Stratford, England. I was awarded a scholarship to the American Shakespeare Institute after graduation. I also hold a doctorate in American Literature from USC and did post-doctoral work at Duke University in religion and literature. My dissertation was on the role of the artist and artist figures in film, painting, and novels and the impact of mythic and religious paradigms on the artist’s creative process. In my own work, my inspiration often begins with an old myth or ancient story, but then I change it so that it fits into my world view. Celtic myths and travels to ancient sacred places in Ireland in the last five summers are a new source of inspiration. A more recent trip to New Orleans and a growing interest in the blues and jazz are recent sources of inspiration. The new pieces I designed for a Dublin, Ireland, garden portrayed faeries and other woodland creatures as promoters of sustainability. I have just started working on a new series of dancers and faeries for the 2010 Philadelphia International Flower Show where the theme is “Passport to the World.”
Exhibitions
My artwork has been featured in both national and international art and garden shows.
Because of my love of gardens, I especially focus on the top garden shows in the US which jury the artists featured there in the same way that art shows do. In 2003, the Philadelphia Flower Show, by all standards, the very best in the US, featured twenty of my dancers and faeries in a central garden designed by Jamie Rothstein; it was called “Flowering Dreams of the Night,” and I was awarded one of the top two ribbons in Botanical Art. Once again in 2006, my sculpture was featured in another of Jamie’s gardens, this one called “Enchanted Spring.” In 2009, I also was awarded the second place ribbon in Garden Accessories. My artwork (including many commission and life-size pieces) has been featured nine times in show gardens at the Cincinnati Flower Show, the only show in the US linked to the Royal Horticultural Society. From 2004-2006, I was the only American invited to exhibit at the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show in London. Also in 2004, The Wall Street Journal ran a quarter page image of one of my faeries in an article about all the garden shows in the US. In 2005, my dancers were featured in a show garden at the Northwest Flower Show in Seattle. In 2007, I was invited to exhibit at the Chelsea Flower Show in London and returned in May 2008; this is a phenomenally prestigious flower and garden show and features the best in botanical art and art for the garden. Also in 2008, my artwork was featured in a show garden at a fabulous new garden show in Dublin called “Bloom.” The garden designed by Sheena Vernon was called “Awaken the Magic.” Twenty of my faeries were set in a “faerie glade” that Sheena created under ancient yew and ash trees in Phoenix Park in Dublin, Ireland. After the show the garden and my faeries were moved to the National Garden Exhibition Centre at Kilquade in County Wicklow. I have also exhibited for a number of years at a magnificent antique and garden show at the Chicago Botanic Garden. I also occasionally exhibit at shows that benefit community groups such as the fabulous Junior League show in Austin, Texas,.
I exhibit at many different art shows in the United States. My schedule changes every year, so anyone interested in purchasing art work can either order through my website or email me to find out if I will be in the area during the year.
My artwork has been featured in many magazines in the US and in England.
Business Name
My business name is Ace of Spades Garden Art. Copper Curls is the registered trademark for my sculpture. Each piece of my sculpture is officially registered with the US Copyright Office.