Artist Statement I have spent a life-time in close association with nature and the natural world. My childhood on a small farm, my career in natural resource management and my leisure activities have all combined to create in me a love for all things occurring in the natural world. I have spent much time in the American West, traveling, hunting and for over 20 years, working on a cattle ranch for a period each year. My life experiences have helped me develop a keen interest and respect for the American Indian, the cowboys and the frontiersmen of the early West. These experiences have influenced my artistic endeavors to a very great extent. I find great satisfaction in capturing, in bronze, the fluid and graceful motion of a galloping horse, or the drama or the nobility of an American Indian reacting to a life situation beyond his/her control. I endeavor to depict the character and strong personalities of real people in real situations. And what could be more elegant than a wild mustang gliding over the open plains, unencumbered and free? It is a great and rewarding challenge to take an inert, cold metal, and create a piece of art that transcends the medium, and elicits an emotion in the viewer that connects with the person, situation or animal depicted. In common with all artists, I have an inate urge to create. The entire process from envisioning a sculpture, to doing the research and the technical planning, to the actual creation of the subject and completing the bronze is a compelling endeavor. Creating a work of art is very demanding, at times frustrating and sometimes all consuming; but the urge to create makes it not work at all, but a soul-satisfying need that brings with it joy and pleasure. My goal in creating my art is to bring pleasure, concern or thoughtful contemplation about the subject of each piece of art. Ideally, the art will stir something in the soul that transcends everyday life--that transports the viewer to another time, another place. The soul needs nurtured as well as the body. |
