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Jan Wilcox

The Arts Center Exhibitions:

• 'Portals,' Winter Show & Silent Auction, 2011

Artist's Statement, 'Portal to Inner Reflection' - 'Portals,' Winter Show & Silent Auction, 2011

I have been creating things with natural treasures as long as I can remember.  "Birdnest Baskets" was born in 1979 at Strawberry Hollow in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, where I flitted between the porch of our 150-year-old log cabin and the honeysuckle patch like a bird making her nest. Later, with the incorporation of woven wall hangings, feltings, handmade paper, etc., and my husband, Boyd's exploration of his music on the vibraphone, "Birdnest Baskets" was transformed into "Woven Vibrations Unlimited."

My work is an outgrowth of my love for all the wonderful textures and colors that nature provides; an expression of my connectedness with the earth and all that lives here.  I love wandering in the woods or on the beach, collecting the treasures that reach out to me--bits of fiber left behind by plants or animals that don't need them anymore.  It's a joy to combine them in ways that please my heart and my eye, and to send them out to find new homes.