Sculpture

Sculpture

Sculpture is something I’ve done since childhood. It part of my core, as the perpetual creator. Living a life that has been somewhat transient it has always been one of my three major grounding points, playing music and exercise being the others. The outdoors has been a large influence, where I collect the material and get inspiration. Being able to connect with a piece of raw material before making something with it is important to me. Where it grew,  what was around it, was it near water, what kind of soil, on a hill or in a valley, how much sun did it get, these are the things that affect the growth rings, grain patterns and tones of color, the story of the tree. I tend to gravitate to trees in harsh environments as they seem to have more character and have tighter growth rings.

The chainsaw plays a major role in my sculpture work from gathering to rough out and I try to use power tools as much as possible because this work is very physical and taxing on the body.  Hand tools are still a large part of the process as it seems for me the quiet slower pace of finishing a piece by hand is more conducive to my creativity. Although I’m not opposed to trying fast methods sometimes there is no substitute for a hand tool.

These days I’m starting to finish with cut surfaces instead of sanded surfaces, preferring to see the tool marks and light reflects differently off a cut surface. The light on a sanded piece is softer and warmer where as on a cut surface it dances more because it is has facets. With the narrative types of carving I sand and rasp because its softer and more tactile. I do three types of pieces: forms, which are all about the lines and more abstract: narrative, which are more figurative and something of a story: compositions, which are composites of pieces put together using the synergy of the combinations to define the piece.