For artists who believe the makings of art are found everywhere - in nature and landfills, in stories and memories, inside and out – it’s fitting that the moment you enter Veronica and David Bennett’s house, you’re smack  in the middle of a studio. It’s a total immersion experience. Why put art in the back of the house when it’s front and center in your life? 

The Bennetts’ life, art, and love is a three-spoked wheel that’s been spinning together for roughly 26 years, since their undergraduate days at Sierra Nevada College. Together, they’ve created a language in their glass art that’s an original blend between Art Deco’s graphic formalism and found art experimentalism. Along the way, they’ve also mastered the art of collaboration.

“We’re on the same wave length,” David explains.  “Veronica’s the innovator. She’s not a dictator, but she is the chief. It works because neither of us has a big ego.”

They enjoy an easy back and forth. Asked about the glass works’ three-dimensionality, their reply illustrates the fluidity that’s at the heart of their expression, verbal and artistic.

            Veronica: “It’s sculpture.”
            David:  “We call it found object art.”
            Veronica: “Mixed Media.”
           
Look at their piece, Cosmic Bebop, and it’s easy to see that all categories apply.

The colorful rectangular work flows from an organic construction. The glass is melted, shaped, layered and manipulated to serve the overall design that incorporates saxophone parts, glass curls, circles that float like bubbles, and even a glass doorknob. The dynamism and levity of Cosmic Bebop defies its weight, which is formidable, requiring both artists to hoist the work into its metal stand.

“With Bebop music, the notes are unexpected, off the wall,” David says. “We don’t really analyze our work, but this one has a musical feeling that’s cosmic.”

It’s a busy time for the couple who moved from Alaska to Winston-Salem in 2003 and quickly became exhibiting members with Piedmont Craftsmen. They’re making 19 glass windows for the new Mellow Mushroom pizzeria in Greensboro. It’s an “exciting” project for the Bennetts, who feel deeply inspired by the natural world, lowly mushrooms included.

“For twenty years we lived in one of the most beautiful and brutal places on earth,” David says. “We like natural raw things – fossils, bones, crystals, and stones.”

Each window transcends the literal and moves into something inviting, more evocative than descriptive. Deep and contrasting colors, the easy swirl of lead, and their signature circle pieces combine to produce a look that is both abstract and realistic.

Adding to that engaging duality is the varying perspectives used to depict the mushrooms. The underside of a mushroom cap is visually enchanting in the hands of artists trained to see potential in the everything that’s found everywhere and anywhere. Playing with point of view adds an element of surprise and movement to work that, in lesser hands, could easily lapse into something kitsch or banal.

Commission work appeals to David and Veronica who feel slightly road weary after decades traveling from art show to art show. What’s next isn’t clear, but as artists they’re comfortable with the unknown, having survived for nearly two decades making art that “makes us happy, and makes others happy.”

“Our eyes are always open,” says David, and then, pointing to a pile of discarded computer hard drives, Veronica adds, “As you can see, we don’t throw anything away.” At that, they break into laughter.

When did you know you would live a creative life?

V: I always wanted to, and assumed it would be that way. 
D: It wasn’t a decision. Who you are is how your life is.

Where do you find your inspiration?

V: Life experience.
D: From the environments where we’ve put ourselves – there have been harsh lifestyles which have been glorious too. 

What do you to do to overcome a creative block?

D: Go back to what I already know.
V: I don’t think I’ve ever had a creative block.

What do you think of failure?

D: We’ve never failed because we’ve never quit.

What do you admire in other artists?

V: Putting a different twist on things.
D: And being humble.

Which artists do you most admire?

V & D:  Narcissus Quagliata, William Morris, and Miles Davis.

What would surprise people about you?

D: Veronica is hilarious, she’s quiet but hilarious, and me, well, who I am is pretty evident.