“I would like to think that sun-bathing on the rocky shore of northern Massachusetts imbued me with a passion for stone; talked to the core of my teenage soul – such as it was – and said 'carve me'. The rocks were warm and I could lay on them for hours staring blissfully at the huge lumpy forms as their shapes were redefined in the summer sun.”
“Inspirational? More likely I was just a lazy kid, but the memory of those ochre rocks and feelings of roughness are still with me today.”
“Although I was good with my hands and always 'made things', like many artists the right medium was hard to find until 1966 when I found a sculpture class.”
“It was love at first strike. All it took was a hammer and a flat chisel and a nice piece of green steatite and I knew that stone carving was for me. The frenetic hammering from the basement made my family wonder at first, but the finished products started to improve and get larger. Animals were my main source of inspiration and my three children were delighted to critique the shapes.”
“For an animal to evolve successfully, the shape or form has to serve a function. An elephant couldn't flash through the water like a dolphin (although hippos do a commendable job at high speed). And it was the process of discovering the beauty, uniqueness or even the humor of an animal's design that constantly challenged me. I liked presenting the animals in an unusual, though natural pose (like Falling Warrior).”
“A different view can often make you see something that was previously unnoticed.”
“I am now married to a wonderful man who was a dentist. He loves my work, can identify 20 different shades of white, has a strong back for lifting and an assortment of rather sadistic little drills from his dental practice which have come in quite handy in a pinch.”
“Our permanent home is in Mystic Connecticut on a pond that's loaded with egrets. When the weather turns cold we follow them down to Florida so I can continue to work outdoors and get out on the water.”
“We have always had pets: dogs, cats, birds, ferrets, hamsters, mice, even a skunk for a brief amount of time. Presently we are the proud parents of one 16 year old ferrel cat, Blitzen, and her nemesis, the gorgeous orange Maine coon cat - Circe by name. I named her Circe because she was the seducer of sailors and my husband did not want another cat so we (the cat and I) had to put a hex on him. It worked.”
“A love of artwork runs in the family. My mother is very artistic, as is my daughter who designed this website. My son is a CAD specialist which requires brilliance and incredible spacial understanding. And my youngest daughter is a writer but doesn't know it yet. And I have some very promising grand children. More on this later.”
Joan Binney Ross, March, 2004