Remembering Laura Spector '76
Laura Spector '76, an artist who coaxed bittersweet vines into alluring and whimsical furniture, lighting and objects, including crowns fit for a druid, before Lyme disease curtailed her practice, died on July 25 at her home in Fairfield, Conn. She was 71.
Reports The New York Times:
"Her husband, Mark Spector, announced her death but did not provide a cause.
"Asian bittersweet is a much-loathed invasive species that was brought to the United States from Japan as an ornamental plant in the 19th century. Ever since, it has run riot along the Eastern Seaboard, choking everything it can wrap its lethal tendrils around.
"The vine, which can kill a tree in as little as three years, is an obnoxious menace and a scourge to gardeners and arborists. To Ms. Spector, it was an irresistible medium.
"Throughout the nature preserves, forests and backyards of Connecticut, she hurled her tiny dancer’s frame into the tangled brush, harvesting her chosen crop with a pole saw. A local land trust and the water company gave her permission to hack through their woods. They were happy, she told The New York Times in 2008, to have her pruning services, as long as she indemnified them in case of injury. (As it happened, she never fell, and the only limbs she severed were the creepers.)"