“Northern Lights” is a sculpture made specifically for this room in St. Joseph Internal Medicine.  I chose materials that I feel all have a connection to Maine, and there is not a single, fixed meaning to the organization and components.  Instead I was inspired by ways in which we know our home place:  through maps and topography, by daily, visual information in nature (sunlight reflecting and breaking apart light, looking up at the Milky Way, finding algae and moss.)  I'm also interested in areas where land and water meet--coastlines, riverbanks, islands, tidepools… Some hard facts about the piece:  The glass components are kiln-fired and include 5 separate colors;  There are 60 glass castings fired to 1575 degrees fahrenheit; The granite was quarried from Mosquito Mountain in Frankfort, ME and weighs approximately 10,000lbs; the wood beams are pine logs timbered in Maine; The concrete footing and structural steels pins were spec'd by structural engineer Joshua Clapp from UMaine; Special thanks to the following UMaine sculpture students who assisted me in various parts of this process:  Sam Hoey, Tina Heald, Allison McCaslin, Quinn Ramini,  Randima Rodrigo, and from engineering Ronnie St. Pierre.  Also thanks to UMaine alumni Matthew Foster (sculptor).