Carolyn Fritz

For as long as I can remember, art has been a part of my life. It was no surprise to my parents that I chose Art Education as a career so I could share my passion with young students. I’m celebrating my 30th year as an elementary art teacher with the San Juan School District.

Through the years, my medium of choice has evolved. My current art form uses found objects to create masks. The idea for the medium came painfully. It all started with a trip and subsequent face-plant into the sidewalk during a run.

To get over my fear of another crash, I started to run with my eyes glued to the ground and began to notice all the little bits of junk littering our streets. So, I started to collect some of these little gems as I jogged through surrounding neighborhoods. One day, I passed a derelict wine barrel with a “Free” sign on it. I was inspired that the individual staves would make an ideal canvas for mask making.

Collecting all these little elements is a wonderful distraction from the monotony of exercise, and it feeds my need to create. There is a certain exhilaration arranging facial features to reveal the personality within. I hope you enjoy the same sense of discovery wondering what some of these elements were in their prior life and how they came to be a part of my compositions.