franny E adornment gallery

Website: http://www.fstrathern.tumblr.com

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Artist Statement:  

I love how the Russian writer Leo Tolstoy described the importance of art. That it was a "means of union among men, joining them together in the same feelings, and was indispensable for the life and progress towards the well-being of individuals and of humanity."

In the summer of 2001 I attended The Works Art and Design Festival in Edmonton, where an artist creating beautiful lampwork glass beads mesmerized me. I had always been fascinated by jewelry and began to study the composition, shapes, patterns, colors, and meanings behind the objects people wore. That day, I was inspired watching the transformation of raw rods of glass into art. I loved how using only a few simple tools and materials, the artist efficiently created what he envisioned in his mind's eye. My name is frances Elizabeth strathern, and I was born and raised in my present home city, Calgary Alberta. Since I was fourteen years of age, I have immersed myself in experimenting with glass, metal, wood, and lampwork glass beading and this has instilled a passion in me to explore all aspects of art and its history.

When I read the book, The History of Beads: From 30 000 B.C. to the Present by Lois Sherr Doblin, I understood the importance of art and jewelry throughout history. Whether it was a simple necklace of seeds, or an elaborate diamond broach, art and jewelry could define a culture and its people at a moment in time. Art has purpose. It can capture a historical event or an aspect of nature, but it can also symbolize devotion to the divine, protection from evil spirits, the love of two people, a commitment to a common cause, or simply be an object of beauty that gives its viewer pleasure and satisfaction. Art can stir our senses and emotions or call us to action.

I believe that art is needed to preserve the uniqueness of our human spirit. Economic globalization has resulted in a world where everyone is encouraged to buy the same products and think and act in the same ways. Artistic creation by its nature is unique. The art of a villager in Africa is likely to be different from that of a graphic designer in Calgary because their experiences, histories and environments are so different. This variation should be embraced and I expect that art in all its forms will become more important to us in the future. Our hunger for the special, the unique, the innovative, the one of a kind, will become greater as forces try to move people towards homogeneity. Art is the antidote to a bland world.

-frances Elizabeth strathern

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