My first sculpture still exists thanks to my sister Joanne.      It was 1959.  I was 12 years old, and enrolled in Mr. Clark's art class.  At the time, my dreams were filled with being able to fly, able to swim through crystal clear water, and able to catch and keep any, and all animals.  Carving a penguin seemed right.  I chose black walnut because I love dark, figured wood.      I can remember taking the block of wood, drawing the silhouette of a penguin on the side, the front, thinking about Pinocchio, and then

cutting away the excess wood at the band saw.  Then began the carving.      Forty-two years later, I used the same technique to sculpt a sperm whale from a block of wax.  Then I cast it in sterling silver.

Not a lot has changed regarding my love for animals and the natural world.  I don't want to capture and keep animals anymore, but I do like to watch them, find out what it is they do for a living, and use them, and the things they inspire in my art.

My artistic sensibility is rooted in my philosophical reaction to the universe around me.  I like to mix the immutable nature of reality with fantasy and romance.

When I use organic forms, I often like to juxtapose them with the geometric.  I am interested in marbling the abstract with the concrete; the fanciful with the undeniable.  The organic aspect of my work emerges from my romance, humour, and dreams: life is a serious matter, but taking it too seriously can dull its shine, and mute its flavor.  My geometric work is rooted in my love of science, and the unyielding and seemingly disinterested universe around us all.  Because the universe's presence is spherical surrounding us, I've developed a great love for spheres and the constant Pi.  And, of course, I also try to use technique to express a vision of magic naturalism.

I enjoy the process above all other aspects of art.  My work often draws on the microcosms found on a walk in the woods, or a visit to tide pools; miniature worlds under a fallen leaf; plants and animals reaching through the earth; searching for light; trails; shadows.  These views and musings might lead to a snail sculpted in wax, placed on a mushroom leaning against a seashell, or a, and on, and on.  It is so enjoyable.  I will continue enjoying this until my eye is satisfied that I have found the vision of my imagination, my fantasy, and then I will cast my creation in metal.

I use lost wax casting, an ancient art used by many throughout the ages, to stabilize my art in metal.  Anything that does not distort its shape while being burned can be transformed into a precious metal.  When I've carved my wax, attached my mushroom, or twig, or feather, or whatever, to create my model, I encase it in plaster, and slowly heat it to 600C (1250F) for as long as I believe it will take to burn it away entirely.  When burned away completely, the model leaves an empty hollow within the very hot plaster.  Molten gold, sterling silver, or some other metal is poured into the hollow and then cooled.  Like an ancient fossil, a perfect copy of the model emerges in metal.

When you look at my snail-on-plant pieces, or my silver jungles sculpted of wax, twigs, mushrooms, and fantasy, or any of my other work, I hope you are moved to your own daydreams and ponderings in a pleasant fashion.  I want to enrich a moment.  I invite you to look, wonder and share in the odyssey.

Thank you,

EMail

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