'About the Art'
The art is about you.
When you see my art, I want you to react. That reaction could be a warm feeling, remembering something from the past, raise a question or just put a smile on your face.
I like it when people interact with the art. When they see it, they just have to touch it to see how it feels.
That's what I want from my artwork and sculpture!
About the Art
The art displayed on this website is all hand made by me and each piece is an original. Each piece is fabricated to the best of my abilities and will be the most beautiful piece of art I can produce. When you touch it you can tell a lot of time was put into making the art feel 'just right'. And, you do not have to worry about the safety issues your art could impose when being displayed in a public space.
The fire from within...
I design and produce art to satisfy this 'creative ability' embedded in my being. This 'inate ability/urge' is how and why I design and create original fine works of art and sculpture.
My Style
I'm primarily a metal and wire sculptor. That's what I'm good at and what I like to do.
I produce interesting and beautiful sculptures from new metal or pieces of junk metal. Important issues when working with larger sculptures:
metal type, thickness, condition (amount of rust, scratches, bends)
size of the sculpture (how to actually work on it)
it's weight while progressing from small to large to complete
how it balances left to right and foward to back
surface preperation (grinding, deburring, sandblasting)
desired color or special effects
durability and weather protection
installation issues
safety and security.
As an artist I have developed a unique style and art form. I migrated to this style over time and by trying different methods suited to my working style and my desire to create a unique artwork. An example of uniqueness in my artwork is how I use 'metal painted like a canvas'. The bullhead and the school pictured above are examples of metal painted like a canvas. I am the only artist I know that uses this technique and process. The advantage of this specialized art form (painting on metal) is that it can be displayed outdoors once powdercoated.
I am a real advocate for powder coating in my artwork. It enables me to create works for outdoor display. The other real advantage is the use of color. With a piece of artwork/sculpture and the right color I can grab your attention from a long way off. And with the proper process, I know I will get many years of color fastness and weather protection from powder coated artworks. When it's an outdoor piece of art, doing it right is everything!
I use metal as my primary medium, but I also have the desire to create sculpture in a variety of different media. The end product, the sculpture, is what is important. I usually get the idea first, then I try to figure out what medium I want to use to create the form.
I have created art and sculpture from the following mediums:
Because I am interested in our environment, I do try to find materials that can be recycled and made into artwork or sculpture. Everywhere I go I look for junk and/or old metal that can be recycled.
Safety is an important issue for me. My artwork can be very heavy and/or awkward. Due to the size, weight and balance issues of the sculptures I have to be extremely careful when working on the artwork. When the piece is sold, the art owner must pay attention to the size and weight issues so that those issues are not an issue to the art viewer. I work with the art owner to ensure these issues are addressed and understood.
Safety is a primary concern and is well thought out on every piece of art. Where you plan to display or install your art is important to me.
Security is also an important issue that has to be thought out and designed into the fabrication of each piece. When installed the sculpture must be secure and cannot be easy to steal.
Again, everything I create is original and will be the best piece of art/sculpture I can create. I pay a lot of attention to detail, quality, safety, installation issues and 'touch'.
Studio
My studio is 2,000 sq. ft. of space designed especially for the creation of metal artworks and sculptures. It's large enough to produce a pretty big piece of sculpture. The features I like most are the skylights and the two sets of big 14 ft. doors on two sides of the building. I get natural light during the day from four skylights, and can slide the doors open to appreciate the lake setting out the north door or the garden scene through the east door. It makes for a nice setting in which to create artistic visions.