Winter Flower

“Winter Flower” was created from the field jacket of an Apsideretes soft-shelled turtle found in Sweetwater County, WY in the Bridger Formation. The Bridger Formation represents a variety of landlocked sediments such as sandstones, mudstones, siltstones, and shales deposited from surrounding mountain ranges during the Eocene Epoch approximately 48 million years ago.  During much of this time, subtropical forests existed in much of Wyoming. It represents the emergence of the first modern mammals. Reptiles, like this softshell turtle, were also common. This fossil is held in a private collection.

Ahhh… Winter Flower is created from broken pottery of mine, as well as a few shards from other people. Living in Laramie, Wyoming, I am privy to many months of winter and therefore, dormant plants. This Dinosaur worked its way into being one summer while I was hot and dreaming of snow… Being a Wyomingite, I don’t like hot weather and so when I garden, I winter garden. I try and create a landscape that will be pleasing to the eye during our sometimes seemingly endless winter. A light dusting of snow, a windblown drift on top of dormant plants, or even just interesting seed heads make their way into this sculpture in one form or another.

Dinosaur Mosaics are about recycling. I create them on plaster jackets that were used to transport fossils safely from the field, back to a lab. The pottery was all broken or chipped, no new materials were used but glue and grout. By bringing science cast-offs and broken pottery together into mosaics, the end product is my artwork, intended to create beauty from no longer wanted, broken, or otherwise un-useful objects.

Special thanks to J-P Cavigelli and Russell Hawley, Tate Geological Museum, Casper College, WY

Aspideretes Soft-shelled turtle

Found in Sweetwater County, WY

Bridger Formation, 48 million years old

Eocene Epoch

This specimen is in a private collection