Archive: Arts & Entertainment

You can often find local artist, Donna Faivre Roberts, exploring the shores of Cayuga Lake at Myers Point in Lansing.  She finds peace and gifts there.  After taking a moment to meditate, to deepen her connection to this place, to take in the sunlight, the breeze, and the air, Donna asks for a simple gift.  Then she walks the shoreline searching, rooting around and there it is - a piece of soggy wood.  In a piece of wood that you or I would likely have ignored, Donna sees wondrous spirits – angels, animals, Goddesses, or birds.  “Spirit of the Wood”, the title of her show at The First Unitarian Church of Ithaca reflects the journey Donna takes with each artwork.

“In recent trips to the lake, I find that I am picking up totally different wood now.  When I arrive I sit and meditate and ask “What gifts to you have for me today? Then I set out looking.  Now, I just know what pieces I should pick up.  Often I get down on my hands and knees to find the minutiae in the lakeshore.  I let the wood tell me what it wants to be.”

Once Donna finds the wood, her favorite part of the process, she takes it home to her studio and there the work begins. Donna’s basement studio is filled with wood that she has collected over the years. In boxes labeled wings, torsos, hearts, arms, etc., Donna knows her tools well.  On workbenches and tables, Donna makes little gatherings of wood that together build the forms that reveal the spirit she sees.  Occasionally this process is fast, decisions are made quickly.  More often it is a challenging three-dimensional puzzle to solve as wood is combined with polymer or paper clay, acrylic paint and found objects.  Donna’s expertise in doll making enters in as she figures out how to unite these various parts into one flowing figure.

In her earlier works such as The Guardian and Angel in Flight, Donna created beautiful angelic forms that float gracefully upon the wall.   Other pieces are inspired by personal experiences, “I created “Torch of Truth” because I always saw this silver blue torch, the symbol of speaking your truth, in the ritual fire.”

“Birds, my personal totems, appear in several works.  In Wisteria, the little black bird or crow is a messenger telling a story to the woodland sprite.  I just really loved the movement of the shape of the torso and two arms.   The fragile piece of bark frames her head perfectly.   I used wisteria pods to form the feathered skirt.  The messenger bird appears once again in the bold and simple sculpture titled Keeper of Birds. Here I combined a found African sculpture head with drift wood body.  She communicates with the little wooden bird on her arm.”  

“Around the first of January I crossed a threshold in my approach and content in my work.  Looking back I see almost two different series.  In my earlier work, I created angels and spiritual women in a more somber tone.  Now I let the wood speak a lot more and create more humorous unexpected subjects.” 


“The dog, Fido, is totally different from anything I have ever made before; it still blows me away at how the teeth I brought back from New Foundland fit so perfectly in its jaw. He is so happy.  How could you not be happy looking at him?  I saw the wild boar in this small piece of bark as soon as I picked it up and he became the starting point for Just One of Those Days.  The dog is running as fast as he can to get away.  I like the movement, the splayed cartoony feet, the frightened eye looking back. He is really freaked out being chased by that boar. The painted background piece turned into a landscape for their encounter.” 

“Once again in Racing To Enlightenment was all inspired by finding this piece of bark that looked just like a Buddha to me.  I pulled the wood out of Cayuga Lake and it was unbelievable how beautiful it was.  The background wood became such a terrific canvas for him as he runs to the sunlight with his prayer beads flying.”

“When I saw Goddess of Cayuga Lake, I realized that I couldn’t really improve on her because she is so of the earth. She was so prehistoric!  She is perfect the way she is and there was nothing I could humanly add that could make her better.  She is a gift. She taught me that what I see is enough.” 

“Spirit of the Wood” features figurative sculptures by Lansing artist, Donna Faivre Roberts inspired by natural forms found in Cayuga Lake. Opening night is first Friday, March 7 from 5:00 to 7:00 pm. The show runs from February 27 through April 17th at The First Unitarian Church of Ithaca, 306 N Aurora St, viewing hours 9-4.

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