This is going to be a great weekend… I’m very excited to once again join local artists Judy Bergerson and Peder Hegland for their Open Studio Show and Sale. This year the excellent wood artist Jeff Kidder will be joining us as well. I’ve gotten a sneak peak at this year’s work while setting up […]
Good abstract work is anything but arbitrary. The movement of a single line by just a smidge is the difference between “good” and “meh.” That is the distance that matters; that is the gap that holds the key to making something worthwhile. All the infrastructure, all the tools, all the time in the world do […]
For the past month or so I’ve been tinkering with the idea for rustic wooden boxes decorated with my custom wood burnings. The variations and character of the reclaimed wood gives them a very nice old-timey feel. They also allow me put to great new use something that would otherwise be thrown away (a minor […]
Chopping wood, in a weird way, led to the creation of this latest sculpture… a fine little piece I’m calling Eye of the Needle. With every passing year, the Seasons have a growing effect on the structure of my life. There are times of the year that are just better for certain things than others. […]
Last fall I stumbled onto a bunch of black and white walnuts (isn’t Craigslist great?) and quickly cleaned them up and planted them in. I simply walked along my existing rows of trees with a hoe and a bucket of seeds, scraped a small hole, dropped in a nut, and covered it back up. I’d […]
I’m making some excellent progress on the sculpture I shared in the Evolution of a Sketch post earlier this week. It’s funny how surprised I often am in the execution of a piece… I have a design on hand and in mind, yet when it actually comes to making it, an unexpected world opens up. […]
After the completion of Standing Knife Edge, I found myself spending time on a new sketch. I had a really rough idea that I thought had some potential, but was not yet sufficiently developed. You can see it here… It was poorly thought out and lacked “cohesion” for lack of a better word. When looking […]
Taking a bit longer than expected, I finally completed this new piece I’m calling Standing Knife Edge. It has a really great presence to it… the way it transitions from thin edge to expanding, space-encompassing form just sings. I’m very proud of this piece. The name references a sculpture that I love by Henry Moore […]
My good friend and fellow rural artist Karl Unnasch has a kickstarter going right now for his Ruminant project, a beautiful stained-glass combine which will be permanently installed in Reedsburg, WI. Check out the link, the video below and kick in a few bucks for this great campaign.
The big Two-Oh, the 20th year of putting on this wonderful event is coming up next weekend. I’ve attended many years now, and it’s something I look forward to every year. It marks the end of winter, the dawn of summer, and the time to unveil the work done within the fire-warmed cavern of the […]
As artists we are not immune to the sickness of our broader culture. We can be infected just as easily as any other. Perhaps more easily, because of our deep seated desire to be “relevant.” Even those who fancy themselves opposed to popular culture define themselves at least in part by that opposition, and therefore […]
I’m very excited to be a guest artist at the annual Open Studios of Judy Bergerson and Peder Hegland this weekend. So much great work to see… I kept getting distracted myself while setting up. I know it’s going to be a cold one this weekend, but if you’re in the area, stop on by […]
The difficulty does not lie in the rigidity or weight of the steel. I do not fear the labor of bending it to my skill. The pain does not lie in the vibration of the grinder or the impact of the hammer. Soreness is common now, and I suspect it will grow in time. The […]
Continuing with the process-of-creation theme, I think this image captures it in a snapshot. The sculpture here is Orion, but it could be any of my pieces. You can see the idea proceed from literally “sketch on a napkin,” to fabrication in progress, to finished work in a gallery setting.
Here’s a quick photo tour of the commission process, from sketch… to mockup… to fabrication… to finished sculpture… to final installation.
In the past couple weeks, I’ve found myself working up a number of sketches for possible commissions. More so than in the past. Since most of the “actuality” of a sculpture, for me, is worked out as a combination of the fabrication process and my mental envisioning, conveying this to others ahead of time poses […]
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