Bell Creative Arts
Wilton

Overview

I’m a transplant from Seattle. Having traveled in a VW bus around the US, living in several cities including DC, Santa Cruz, Sacramento and Seattle, I chose Maine as my place to settle down and get more serious about my creative work.

My work includes

• Multimedia and Up cycled Wall Art
• Welded garden sculpture
• Hand forged copper and iron work
• Sterling and Copper Jewelry
• Custom Work available
• Garden design 
• wildlife and edible landscapes

I’m most widely known for my jewelry made from the copper reclaimed from the Maine State House Dome.

My studio, now fondly referred to as the “Belle” is located in Wilton, Maine.  Formerly known as the ‘Wells Fiddlehead cannery’ which operated for 4 generations canning dandelion greens and fiddleheads.  As I build it out, I will offer classes in blacksmithing, fold forming, pottery, jewelry and more. Please sign up on the website for updates about classes and events.

As a kid, being in my dad’s wood shop filled me with such curiosity. I loved the smell of sawdust and was fascinated with all the different tools. In high school I took a shop class where we made small wooden toys.

In my 20’s I took a welding class. The teacher determined immediately I wasn’t in the class to become a welder. He recommended I go take the blacksmith class, and that was it…I was hooked.

The relationship between the steel, the fire and the human with the hammer is the divine 3. Everything is transformed on a molecular level. To be able to heat and manipulate steel, changing the shape, never fails to fascinate me.

My desire to work with steel developed as I realized that soft isn’t always the way to walk. Own a hammer and know how to use it.
Having worked with clay for years before welding and blacksmithing, the concept of material manipulation was key to my interest that continues today with almost any material.

I’ve worked with different mediums over the years. These include reclaimed wood and found objects, pastels, watercolors, acrylic, and clay- hand building technique being favorite. Copper is my most current steady medium. I find it to be alive with possibility, warm and energetic.

Whether it’s a garden I’m transforming or a piece of metal, I am in a relationship or dance with the material and feel a freedom of expression that comes from somewhere outside of myself.

Heart, Head and Hands-the divine 3- again

Our Products Are Available At The Locations Below

New England sketchbook Newburyport, MA
River Roads art gallery, Skowhegan, ME
Vera's Iron & Vine - Wilton, ME
Wayne General Store Wayne, ME

VIEW MORE LOCATIONS ON MY WEBSITE