Meeker makes small indentations in a copper panel. She said of her art, "Almost everything you make, you make to move you forward to where you can really do transcendent things."
"She's helped me be able to take what I put into realistic pieces. She's helped me immensely in conveying that spirit in abstracts instead of just trying to do the detail. ... You can convey that same emotion and feeling in abstracts," Dowdy said.
Carver Jennifer Lovejoy said Meeker helped her not only discover her pieces, but gain confidence about making art.
"She created a safe way of taking that step. I was totally intimidated, and she encouraged me to connect to it however I felt," Lovejoy said. "She created a teaching of trust, and it allowed me to respect my instincts to engage myself in the making of something."
Meeker encouraged Lovejoy to display her work, and Lovejoy said the experience was rewarding.
"Sitting back and watching the interaction of people when they came up to my own work. Watch them touch the work. Watch how their faces change when they viewed the work. It just opened up the whole magic of this is why I do this. It has a meaning. It has a value to people beyond me. And I feel like I've given a gift. It really reinforced (the fact that) this is something I value greatly," Lovejoy.
Stone carver Estill Putney said Meeker expanded her definition of what it means to be an artist.
"I had an idea that an artist was very careful, and I'm not that kind of person. She helped me recognize the fact that I'm the kind of person I am," Putney said.
Putney said Meeker not only brought out the artist in her, but in those around her.
"She has the ability to bring out the artist in a person, or the authentic person. Because everybody's an artist, but an inauthentic artist is an embarrassment to the trade. She nurtures the artist in people. She finds it, she knows when it's there, she supports it, she creates and she challenges the person to follow the lines of their own being, to develop their own veins of richness. Which are different in every person and they're different at times of day," Putney said.
THE ARTIST IN EVERYONE
Meeker speaks of her pieces as if they are alive, but considers parting with her art rewarding.
Meeker recalled a young couple buying a $6,000 stone, "Bride" from her, but could only pay for it in $50 per month installments. "Bride" is an Italian crystal alabaster stone of a woman whose arms cradle her bare breasts as her hair cascades from her head and surrounds the entire piece.
"Their sons grew up with that respect for beauty and creativity and commitment to it in their lives. ... They were so happy; it meant so much to them. How could it mean more to me not to sell it to them? How could that be more valuable to me to still have it?" Meeker said.
She said she wants all her creations to have a sense of vitality.
"I wanted to give life in their lives, and when it does it's a blessing for all of us," Meeker said. "When people buy your art, they live with it for the rest of their lives."
Continue Reading: « Previous123
Leave a comment 0 Comments Write a letter to the editor
All letters to the editor must include a name, e-mail, daytime phone number and affiliation to Virginia Tech. Affiliation includes: year and major for students; position and department for faculty and staff; current city for alumni and parents.