The first three scales, Leadership, Compassion & Exploration represent the firsts of different stages in the artist’s life.  When we’re young, we are introduced to values from others; these values tend to remain the most highlighted in life. For example, the first introduction to leadership is our parents, but follows throughout life through teachers, employers, and ultimately back to our own choice of leadership. The same is true for Compassion and Exploration.

The second group of three, Courage, Pride & Balance are the second stages of her life.  These are often the values that we give back to the world and are also our first choices to pull upon to enter into the world. For example, Courage is the first thing that we feel when we are left alone with the babysitter for the very first time, and is also the thing we bestow upon our younger siblings and friends. We have also grown as human beings in this second stage, and therefore ignite others’ firsts, for example pride of a younger sibling. And in the second stage we become acutely aware of the meaning of balance and how it’s used in everyday life.

The third stages are Passion, Strength & Trust. In this stage are the values that we choose to guide our lives. There tend to be three dominant values in life that constantly guide and lead us on our journey.

The thunderbird as judge, the wolf as the enforcer and the wren as the history keeper, wrap the outside of the balancing boxes. The Sisuitl is the sign of strength, women are the intuitive understanding, the salmon is prosperity, the mirror is a reminder to reflect and the fabric is the softness of compassion; these images create the containers for the internal environment of Leadership. 

The boxes represent the balancing of non-leadership qualities – the jagged mirror, the non-detail of the outer animals, and the caged beings – with the strong leadership qualities of free movement and space for all personalities to balance, with the intricate backing of a crocheted fabric.

Suspended from the s-shape, the carved boxes display the inner reflective form of Compassion with the outer giving state of Compassion.  The small square mirrors amplify the energy emitted by the life-sustaining sun and life-giving women hanging inside the boxes, with the fabric creating a softening veil that tempers the intensity.  The outsides of the boxes are embodied with the strength of the intelligent eagle, the softness of the intuitive deer and the creativity of the beautiful hummingbird.  All the elements play together to embody the ideologies of compassion.

The boxes within boxes are the movement of Exploration, while the mirrors amplify the intuitive instinctual women and moons and contrast to the outer strong killer whale, quick moving cougar and magical dragonfly.

The bear as protection, the big horn sheep as instantaneous strength, and the butterflies as the soft beauty create the container for courage and hold the inner trees that are grounded and circled by the tenacious energy of the crabs.

Pride is represented on the exterior of the box by the silent strength of the moose, the acute intelligence of the dolphins and the insightful intuitive quality of the moon. The interior of the box is like the heart that holds pride sincerely, encompassing the strong bases of the trees and the horizontal and linear wires that the communicative frogs connect to.

Treetops with the sea urchins on the interior, along with the detailed design figures of eagle, sea otter and sun wrapping the outside of the box, together form the outward facing energy that you give to the world to create balance. The outlying shadow figures on the outside of the box along with the interior bottoms of the trees are the counterbalancing internal energy needed to create Balance.

Passion is embodied by the hard-working strength of the beaver, the sly cunningness of the fox and the slick, providing salmon that create a dynamic balance to the soft, beautiful butterflies and lilies. This work contains silver coloured rods – sturdy for strength and silver for lightness.

The intense volume of the tricky raven, the mystical sea serpent, the strong invisible wind, the ever-surviving fireweed, and the magical dragonfly exemplifies Strength. As the old adage says, what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger. This work contains brass rods, representing strength.

The two cedar boxes balance evenly on the ovoid shape, one with defined design and one shadowing the outer shapes of the animals.  On the outer shell the owl symbolizes the wisdom of life; the mountain goat is the embodiment of trust and family values; and frogs represent the acts of cleansing and communication.  The internal environment has copper rods as the background and the bulrush and bumblebees filling the space.  The creatures symbolize the essence of trust: the bulrush are the timers that explode to spread their seeds; and the bumblebees mind their own business, calmly go about their working lives to create a sweet nectar, until someone captures them and with a powerful sting their life is ended.  Trust is that delicate balance of power and compassion.