Page 15 - the NOISE December 2012

A detail of Peggy Pollack’s sterling silver leaf creations, featured at Arizona Handmade/Fire on the Mountain Gallery.
ing the First Friday ArtWalk at the Artists’ Co- alition of Flagstaff’s Gallery, 13 N. San Fran- cisco Suite 103, December 7 from 6PM to 9PM. RagingClay.com
CaSTINg FrOM NaTUrE
“I make jewelry inspired by nature,” says Ari- zona Handmade/Fire on the Mountain Gal- lery featured artist Peggy Ellen Pollak. “I take leaves and flowers, and using a modification of the lost wax casting method, replace the plant tissue with sterling silver, destroying the plant part in the process. Each of my pieces is hand- made and one-of-a-kind due to the unique character of natural processes. Did you know that, like snowflakes, no two leaves are identi- cal? When I make a pair of leaf earrings they never match exactly and I like to say that, ‘It’s a good thing that your head is in between the two earrings so people won’t notice that they don’t match!’”
“I started making jewelry by stringing beads, but, encouraged by a fellow biologist, took the metal smith classes at Northern Arizona Univer- sity,” Ms. Pollak tells me. “I soon shifted over to working with silver, shaping it into both exact replicas of natural organisms or fantastical cre- ations using plant organs as the components. I achieve color through applying a patina to the silver or including precious stones.”
“I am a botanist and long-time resident of Flagstaff,” the artist tells me about herself. “I teach several botany courses at NAU and am a master gardener, so it seems inevitable that I would use plants as my inspiration. Since I be- came an artist, I see nature in an entirely new light. I look more closely at the small things.
When I sit under an aspen tree collecting leaves, or an oak tree collecting acorns, I feel close to a Zen state; living within nature, communing with the plants and sky. Fall is my busiest time of year because fall leaves are the best to cast as they toughen up prior to autumn leaf drop, and I need to cast enough then to build inven- tory to last the whole year.”
“While I cannot completely separate my per- spective on plants as art from my science train- ing, I try to keep the two compartmentalized; I make jewelry for fun and as a hobby, while I depend upon my profession at NAU for a liv- ing,” Ms. Pollak continues. “In other words, I haven’t quit my day job yet and don’t intend to because I love teaching as much as I love mak- ing art.”
“My entire family has been drawn into my enterprises,” she says. “My husband and sons set up my booth for me at craft fairs and help me cast. My daughter helps me man the booth and comes up with many good ideas for new pieces. My sister from Oregon represents me there and sends me various leaves and fruits to try casting. I’ve also recently dragged them into helping me sell my excess produce at the Flagstaff Farmers’ Market on Sundays during the season. Flagstaff Foodlink rented a booth there for the season so that backyard garden- ers could have an outlet. I’m proud to say that I am a certified Foodie and a Locavore.”
Ms. Pollak has a few representative pieces at drplant.etsy.com and is the featured artist at Arizona Handmade/ Fire on the Mountain Gallery, 13 N. San Francisco, this December. AzHandmade.com
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thenoise.us • the NOISE arts & news • DECEMBER 2012 • 15