the blue windmill / moulin à vent bleu /molino de viento azul /

     Smaller trees that have been choked by vines are Donna Dotson’s raw materials. She collects them from  her farm in Scott County Virginia where she has lived with her family for many years. She uses sassafras, cherry, poplar or any tree, as long as it bears the serpentine scars from the  entwining vine. From there she carves and wood burns the snakes, birds, fairies or whatever she feels the natural design dictates. Hidden in the pieces are subtle touches; black sapphire eyes in snakes and occasional obsessive details in the burning.