Meet Anna Gregory
Sumac Cottage is introducing you to artists featured in our first group exhibition, Nests. Enjoy brief interviews with the artists involved in the group show and learn more about their processes and inspirations. First up, all the way from Kentucky, we’ve got Anna Gregory.
What is your name and where is your home?
I'm Anna Gregory and I live in central Kentucky in a little town called Midway. Right smack in the heart of bourbon and horse country.
Describe your creative process.
I'm not sure I have a quantifiable process, most of my ideas just come from the act of making. Using and understanding different tools, whether they be hand tools or machinery, unlocks ideas and possibilities. Working on one project invariably will jump start ideas for the next and so on and so on. That's why I can' just sit still and wait for ideas. Also my appreciation for other mediums. I love taking notes from textiles, architecture, ceramics, etc and rethinking them through wood.
Describe your piece in the exhibition and its connection to the theme.
The "Great Blue Heron" is my interpretation of the Blue Heron that's been coming to my family's pond and creek every year of my life to wade and fish. Made of offcut plywood pieces for the body, ash wood for the legs, and dyed in an indigo bath, and standing at 36" tall he's truly a life size piece. It was such a constant, growing up, that I never stopped to think "wow this is special, no one else I know gets to see this" He represents all the things I took for granted as a kid growing up on such a beautiful bit of land chock full of native grasses, flowers, trees, and wildlife.
What could you happily look at every day for the rest of your life?
Moving water. Oceans, rivers, the creek behind my childhood home. Any water.
What is your favorite tool?
I love this question. My favorite tool is an Ash wood mallet my brother made for me as a graduation present when I received my Masters in Architecture. He knew I wasn't going to be sitting in an office drawing on a computer, haha, that I would never stop needing to build and make things.
