Artist Statement
Like all artists, I have a need to create and I happen to use stone because it is such a permanent part of our planet.
I see art as a permanent part of mankind’s journey on this planet. Art enriches me and allows the opportunity to give form to my feelings and senses. And stone, while here forever, is constantly changing so the making of art from it seems most appropriate. I like the 3 dimensional aspect of sculpture that allows one to walk around it and absorb it under different times of the day and times of our lives.
I have many ideas coming and going and I work on capturing a moment that I want to reflect on. Something unique about a moment in my mind. Most of my work is figurative, the shapes of which are a basic part of our existence. We interact with people from the time we arrive until we leave.
Some of my work is political in form vs. figurative and this again is driven by events in my life affecting me and other people. As I think of a feeling I want to capture, I run it through my mind repetitively constantly refining the approach. If it isn’t over ridden by challenges I can see no solution to, or by other new ideas that seem more exciting, I will move on in my mind working my way through the construction of the idea. Size, weight, practicality, costs, techniques, tools are many of the things affecting this dream like process.
I will start a piece with some rough pencil marks on a stone and start to rough out how it will be. During this process I will move to a new direction, quit entirely, or come up with changes as it develops. The end work is driven by the interaction between the material and my mind as well as my sculpting techniques.
How long does it take, it has taken my entire life to get to this point and I am constantly learning. I get great satisfaction from seeing the raw material, along with carving lines up to the finished sections of my work. Because of this I always try to keep some elements of the original stone in the work even if I make a mold and pour a bronze of the art. When going to bronze it is especially important to retain some of the unique stone markings so I can see the connection back to the stone.
Our times we live in are recorded by many including artists. My work in a collective total will reflect the times I have lived in as well. My work is not driven by school a, b, or c. Rather it comes from within me. I am convinced that if I find a subject of interest, others will as well.
Artist who I have trained with include John Fisher from northern California and Antetne Marinovic (Maestro de la Pietra) from Vela Luka, Croatia