When I ask her how her art has changed in the past seven years, since the last time I interviewed her, she laughs. Well, it's obviously gotten more expensive and larger, more detailed. Bear's subject matter is various, including Southwestern and Native American subjects but primarily custom-made pieces. She makes steel tables and steel bases for tables with shaped glass tops. Tonight she is the beautiful bad girl, a combination of femininity, vibrancy and toughness, much like the art she creates.
Steel conjures images of war production and words like hard and cold.
Her job is to transform a hard, raw element into art. Uncompromising, she insists on making everything by hand herself, even if that makes it harder on her. It's hard to compete. It's hard to keep up with the inventory, because everything is handmade. Maybe that's why she is a self-proclaimed recluse.