Paddling across Lake Norman, artist Jane Cherry combs the waters for inspiration, collecting pieces of driftwood whose shapes call out to her. She sees the beauty in the wood before she even touches it. After cleaning and drying the wood, she spends hundreds of hours sanding, carving and oiling the wood into sculpture. “It’s like being lifted on a wave,” she says. “It consumes you.” Her reverence for nature shines through in how she treats the wood, using her tools to bring out its innate patterns, grace, and texture. “It’s a microcosm of the beauty that you see in all of nature,” she says.