Liz Ames is a consummate art educator. Her own artwork is influenced by living along the coast of Maine. Her artwork is influenced by her favorite places in the marshes and along the beach. Liz enjoys collecting things brought in by the tide and casting them with materials that are natural and biodegradable and/or recyclable.

Video conversation with Liz What Liz talks about…

Liz talks about her lifelong interest in the details of natural things: the way a shell curves or the movement of seaweed underwater. She uses plaster to preserve the realistic details of things. This process was used for hundreds of years by scientists; it gave them the ability to study nature in each stage. Liz got the idea to use plaster from watching her husband who is a restoration plasterer. With a little research, she began evolving the process in order to capture nature in a more artistic way. She begins by figuring out a composition using seaweed, shells, and other items collected from the ocean, recreating the composition in a mold and pouring in a special mixture of high grade plaster. She lets it dry, sands, seals, and adds different wax to give the final piece a patina that pulls out the details. The piece becomes a relief sculpture that can be hung on a wall, propped on a shelf or wherever as a little reminder of the Maine coast. It is important to Liz that the materials are used (and packed with) are natural and are able to biodegrade or be recycled. Zero footprint art!

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