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Interviewed upon her twenty year anniversary as a professional artist, Ms. Garner
had these reflections on her work:
"I suppose
the heart of each of these creations is its connection to the natural world and how it interacts with the spiritual and emotional
worlds we create.
With my jewelry, the natural stones and metals have
long been associated with particular attributes, for example rose quartz is the stone of love, and supposedly draws love to
the wearer, garnet is a stone of constancy and fidelity, and so on. The jewelry is a connection between nature's creations
and the human creations of love, fidelity, and our inherent desire to connect with the spiritual and emotional powers we so
often have little or no control over, or at least we feel that they have control over us! The stones also have unique qualities,
but the one I like best is that they hold body heat...when you wear one for a time, they absorb the warmth of the person wearing
it, and even after they are removed, they hold that "echo". It is a very powerful symbolism.
For
the pottery, it is a connection with ancient potters, turning the earth itself into a tool of man. The connection with Crathes
Castle is a reflection of the connection with my family history - the Burnett clan of Scotland. Again, the spiritual and emotional
theme continues, with a story of my own writing that weaves the ancient whispers of supernatural spirits that once roamed
the earth. Scotland is a land full of such stories, and I have incorporated that penchant for the ethereal into pottery made
from ancient earth by a descendant of an ancient land, giving voice to a story of ancient spirits and their relationships
to my kin - again a theme consistent with the emotional and spiritual "echo."
As for
the painting, it is a third way of portraying what is seen and felt, sometimes in actuality, and others as a reflection of
emotion and joy. I seek to evoke a sense of the earth's power over our emotions and memories. I love the lowcountry
and coastal scenes because it is a combination of the three essential elements: land, water, and air. Sometimes it is a pure
reflection of the scene of nature alone, and other times I include signs that we co-exist with that powerful natural world.
Boats, docks, lighthouses and other signs of man are occasionally part of my paintings, but the raw essence of nature is so
powerful, and speaks to so many people on an emotional level, that it continues to take priority in the scenes I paint. In
my abstract works, the joy of color as it plays against color, form along with flow of line, and the sheer reaction we all
have to visual stimulation motivate me to create. It is an exercise in the balance of design with the interplay of color
that excite me, and lead me to experiment.
If an artist cannot reveal their
soul through what they do, if they cannot portray honestly that part of their "sight" given only to them, then the commercial
side of it is only a sham and it is nothing more than an exercise in commerce. The real beauty of the artist/collector relationship
would be to elicit the commerce to ensure that the voice of the vision is heard."
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