Theme: SEA FABLES

The inscrutable depths are at once familiar and as foreign as a strange land. Many of my pieces are inspired by the ocean and none so much as the Sea Fables. These pieces attempt to reconcile this gulf by juxtaposing a human attribute with a sea creature.

Theme: ODDMENTS

Nowhere is the muddle of my creativity and inspiration so evident as with these Oddments. These pieces are expressions of fantasy, nature, steampunk, science fiction, and popular culture. Sometimes all within the same piece, but more often asserting a primary element.

Theme: HISTORICAL

I draw unbounded inspiration and immense material from history. By broadening and interrogating our understanding of the past, we can better inform our future. My Historical pieces are sometimes vignettes of specific events and sometimes more generalized expressions.

Theme: DECOR

It  should here be noted that none of these themes exists entirely without influence from the others.  Each informs the others, and all are bound together through an expression of solid material. Throughout my work, supporting frames, ornamental embellishments and meta considerations provide a framework which sometimes supersedes the other themes.

I shall here endeavor to explain the particulars of the craft of my art and provide such details as i may about my artistic process and inspiration. Essentially, I craft small relief sculptures in a similar manner to those precious bronze door panels from the Florentine  Renaissance. However, my work diverges from this tradition with some updated materials and a revised creative sensibility that draws on diverse inspirations.  Although I work with clay mined from beads deposited on the Appalachian coast of the Cretaceous Seaway, my creative endeavors are guided by such modern sensibilities as are a commonality within much of our vibrant creative culture.  Sculpture allows me to make clockwork creatures, impossible vignettes, and natural tributes and supernatural vistas. Each piece is a focused contrivance of imagination and expression.

The nature of my artistic pursuits would seem to defy definition, but i think you will agree that, through such examples as will follow, that by providing specific details the general essence is revealed. My first interest, and indeed passion, was for history, specifically the history of the deeds and cultures of past ages.  Not for me the court cases and corporate mergers of American history, I was interested in the Etruscans, Kerma and such luminaries as Alexander and the Barca clan. Close on the heels of this first passion came the interest of fiction and fantasy as conveyed in books, movies and other art forms.  Fantasy from the likes  (and in the greater tradition) of such master as Tolkien, Adams and Heinlein allows a freer expression and also provides a greater range of sources to draw from. Further along in life, I realised the terrible splendor of nature, and this wonder became my third main inspiration. Not only am I humbled by everything from a budding Hellebore to a brewing Cumulonimbus, but I am also fascinated by our continued interaction with the natural world.   Last, both in sequence and indeed many years later, came some small appreciation and comprehension of  creative expression and representation in and of itself. Many of my pieces include an element or aspect which references the vehicle as much as the overt subject of the piece.  Indeed, it is this sensibility  that, to no small extent, solidifies the other elements and enhances the final expression  of the initial idea.

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  Water Based Clay

  I work mostly with Little Loafer's clay to sculpt the original master for each piece.  This takes anywhere from 30-60 hours for the smaller items.
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  Silicone Mold

  When the master clay sculpture is complete, if create a silicone mold with Smooth-On Rebound Brushable Platinum Silicone Rubber.
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  Finished Hydrostone

  When the mold is complete, I pour the final product with Hydrostone and give it a natural finish with wax and beer, or give it a Polychrome treatment.

Final Products

• This is original work.  I create the sculpture and make my own molds.  Furthermore, each piece has a unique finish.
• Pieces are cast in hydrostone or hydrocal, many times harder and stronger than plaster.
• Natural Finish created with beer and wax. Some beer for me, some beer for the sculpture. No wax for me.
• Painted and Polychrome pieces are finished with paint and glazes,through such processes as marbling, dribble effects and faux techniques