"Low Boredom Threshold" is my only answer to the ever popular question

about my "variety store" of projects.   

What if ?...

    I live with "what if" art bubbles bursting continuously in my head :

    What if that is painted with a new medium?

    What if it were cast in a new material? 

    What if it were made out of glass instead of wood?

    What if the canvas could be stretched in a new way? 

    What if the photo takes in just part of that boat?

    What if I stretch it, move it, carve it, fire it, paint it, grind it, cut it, mold it, cast it, differently?

You get the idea...

"Methods and Materials" was always my favorite class in grad school.  Doing anything the same way twice or with the same

 materials became boring.  There are so many ways to change it!!!

Engineering is in my genes.   If I weren't born into the female persuasion, I would probably have followed my father and brother.  Instead, art lead me down a different road, but with engineering street signs.  Innovation in the creation is where I can make my difference.

Although I already had my Master of Fine Arts Degree in sculpture (with a concentration on sculptured furniture) from George Washington University when I met him, my late husband, sculptor Philip Vickers, really taught me everything.  As well as being a very fine sculptor, he was a master mold maker and established an innovative new casting technique called "Matrix Metals".  I started over as his apprentice - and added a few innovations of my own.  I shall be forever indebted to Phil for his lessons and love. (website: www.PhilipVickers.com)

But life occasionally takes a few turns.  Mine came in the form of a need and desire for more outside stimulus.  I had reached my "Studio Boredom Threshold" and moved on to the world of real estate.  For 25 years, that entertained and challenged me most of the time in beautiful Sedona, AZ, culminating with my own buyer brokerage.

When that bored me, flying and racing my little Grumman Tiger kept me interested.

After Phil's death and a couple sad years, Dr. Jerry Buley, a retiring Arizona State University Professor of Communication, came into my life and, with him, photography - his lifelong passion.  Jerry is a great photographer - and also an innovator of new processing techniques.  So I am again an apprentice with a growing passion for photography.  I shall forever be indebted to Jerry for his lessons and love, too. 

Now it's time to return also to art experimentation in my brand new studio.  I can hardly wait to see what happens!  Stay tuned to this website....

Barbara Vickers