Mary Williams "Bronze Aspen Totem"

It all started in my first home in St. Louis — a 1920s house with an inoperable fireplace. As an art director at an ad agency, I painted a few logs just to add a splash of color to the dark hole.

After moving to Colorado in 1990, I fell in love with aspen trees. Those vast groves felt like a blank canvas waiting to be transformed. As a self-taught artist, I attended workshops where I learned wood carving and painting techniques, and discovered a passion for turning wood into vibrant sculptural artworks.

With this totem, I wanted to explore something different. The base is an actual aspen tree, hand carved into a totem form. While my totems are typically colorful, I was curious what a bronze finish would look like. I used a process called metal cladding. A cold spray application that uses real bronze, most commonly seen in architectural finishes. The result speaks for itself.