I regularly work in collaboration with Trisha Kyner under the name of Grendel’s Mother.  This name was chosen out of sympathy with the female monster from the famous medieval tale Beowulf, who is never given a name of her own.

 

Trisha and I met more than two decades ago, as instructors at the Crucible, a school devoted to linking arts, industry and community in Berkeley, CA. Trisha taught ceramics while I taught welded sculpture.  Our first collaborative project, “The Big Red Dog”, involved leading a group of our students and volunteers in the fabrication of large paper mache sculpture for a public arts festival.  The success of this experience led us to form Grendel’s Mother.