By Kevin McClintock
Globe Staff Writer
AVILLA, Mo. —
By Kevin McClintock
kmcclintock@joplinglobe.com
Local artist Rachel Wilson dabbles with stick figures.
Not the common kind of stick figure, though.
“I think people are drawn to my sculptures because they are unique and the medium is very recognizable,” Wilson said, “Everyone can relate to the stick laying out in the yard, but the idea that those sticks are good for something always seems to amaze them.”
The Webb City native pieces together her sculptures using collected chunks of Osage orange wood. Wilson loves to describe her sculptures as a “beautiful solution to a brush pile.”
Now those unique sculptures can be found outside the Titanic-Branson Museum in Branson, which has quietly become one of Branson’s top visited attractions.
Fresh from winning first place at an artCentral exhibit last year in Carthage and the subsequent media coverage that followed, Titanic-Branson owner Mary Kellogg-Joslyn read about Wilson and her sculptures “and she loved my artwork,” Wilson said. “I was floored. This is the highest profile exhibit I have had to date.”
The wood comprising her art pieces are collected herself, often walking through a forest or copse, selecting individual pieces.
“I came to this medium because the price was right. It is hard to come up with the money to create large works of art. I found the Osage orange wood to be the perfect answer. It is naturally bug and rot resistant, plentiful ... not to mention it has been used for years on the farm as fence posts so I knew it would be able to stand up to the elements.”
Wilson realized her love for art at an early age.
“I would sit at the (television) on Saturday mornings practicing drawing cartoon characters and then sell them to my friends for 25 cents at school,” Wilson said. “While I was young and anything seemed possible I dreamt of being an artist. As I grew up and went to college I realized there were a lot of people who had the same dream. It has only been in the last year that I have had a new sense of ‘I just might be able to make this work.’”
Despite the success of the artCentral win and her exhibit on the Branson Strip, “there is still the dream, but dreams don’t just happen,” Wilson said. “You have to work for them. I’m not there yet.”
Having a family of four kids makes that challenging, however. Some artists face greater obstacles in that they are forced to balance their art with the needs of their families. It can be difficult, and it’s why some gifted artists put their careers on hold until their kids are in school, Wilson said.
Wilson has managed to balance each of the aspects equally, working on her art three days a week, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., -- unless she’s on a deadline.
“I love what I do and I could work all day, every day, but above all else my family comes first,” she said. “It is very hard. I have to hold myself back in some aspects by limiting my exhibits and turning down opportunities that won’t fit my schedule, but my kids are only young once and no show is worth my marriage.
“In three years all of the kids will be in school and I will have more time for work.”
Still, her art can -- or has -- grown into a family affair.
“My husband (Kyle) puts just as much work into moving (the art pieces) all over Missouri as I do building them,” Wilson said. “My children (William (8), Lauren (6), Jenna (4) and Sarah (2)) used to be so excited and always wanted to help me pick up sticks. That lasted three months. Now they are kind of over it.
“It’s (now) just that thing mommy does now.”
Wilson’s work can be seen at the Titanic museum through Aug. 15, and two more exhibits showcasing her work will be held in 2011.
She hopes people who view her art pieces “are inspired to try something creative and unexpected. I hope they bring good feelings to everyone that sees them, just like they do for me.”
