The design of Family Delights was informed by fond memories of me and my parents. I wanted to communicate the same joy that I would experience when my parents would swing me by the arms while we were walking together. With that, I wanted to create something that was fun, had personality, and that could exist harmoniously in an outdoor setting, where I could re-introduce the lamps to the environment, but in a new way. I think of it as a challenge of our expectations of these everyday objects. The title of this piece is a double entendre of sorts, playing off of the joy (delight) of the moment captured, and a combination of the French word "de" (of) and English word, "Lights" (Family of Lights).

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Originally, my color scheme was red, blue and purple to serve as a direct allusion to parenthood since red and blue make purple. However, I later switched the purple to yellow to serve two purposes. The first being that parenthood is so much more than just genetics. As a piece of public art, being presented to larger community, I wanted to be more all-encompassing to the diverse array of families that might encounter my work. I felt that my initial concept could still succeed without such a direct allusion, so in changing from purple to yellow I was able to accomplish this and the second purpose which was creating a cohesive color scheme that contained a focal point. The yellow draws attention in a much stronger way than the purple did, and the new primary color scheme feels more appropriate for the concept.

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Exhibited in: Laurinburg NC, DownEast Nationally Juried Outdoor Sculpture Competition (Greenville NC)

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This piece was purchased by the Wahl-Coates Elementary School of the Arts at the end of the exhibition in Greenville.

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