About
The creations on this page are all handcrafted by myself, Peggy Smith, better know to many as the Bone Lady. Much of my time is spent traveling. I have lived out of my car on solitary road trips in the Southwest, I have walked up the spine of the East Coast on a through hike of the Appalachian Trail; I have slept beneath the stars in Colorado and gotten drunk with street musicians in New Orleans. All of this rambling has accumulated within me, and has given birth to a variety of creations inspired by this transient lifestyle.
I scavenge and collect a wide variety of curiosities while on the road, mostly natural items, dead things and rusty bits of metal. Most of the pieces you will see here have a story, relating to the places they were discovered, and every item is unique. I clean, tan and polish all of the bones, hides and raw stones that I use in my work. The idea is to use the materials provided by death to create a thing of beauty.
I paint predominately in oils. My philosophy of painting stems from the idea that the organic world is more perfect than anything conceived by man. Consequently, I am constantly striving to capture echoes of that greater beauty, while attempting at the same time to express my experience of the world on a more personal basis.
