Statuettes 

 

Between 2000 and 2020 I created about twenty statuettes. The initial impetus was the suggestion by a comic book store owner that I attempt to recreate some heroes from that world. Later, I ventured to create them as gifts for individuals with particular interests or experiences. Many I neglected to photograph, but several were returned to me after the person died. Below, clockwise from left are an Army Private, Spock, Anatomy Man and either a triumphant athlete or a stage actor taking a bow ( you decide!).

 

 

Fans Fuel My Vital Force

 

The enthusiasm exhibited by those viewing my art has an energizing effect. Expressions of enjoyment take many forms. Here are three photos of fan responses to my work.

 

 

 Guerilla Art Installations

 

Graffiti  has been found on the walls of ancient Rome. Art placed without official permission has a storied history. I once knew a woman who hung baby dolls from trees each year the night before an art fair. I had a large snake in a tree downtown for years and draped a cheetah over a barricade at a fair for fun.

 

 

 My Art's meaning to Me ( a poem)

One day in 2003, I quietly watching the public pass a collection of my art. When I got home I wrote this.

 

                             Hearing a child squeal with delight,

                             Seeing a street woman giggle,

                             Observing a businessman stifle a smile,

                             Watching a parent teach an animal's name,

                             This is my joy - this is my aim.

 My Art in Clients' Yards

Many of the folks who buy my art keep them indoors: on a shelf, a wall or hanging from the ceiling. I promise to do a future post which presents some  of these. Today I have chosen three  representative pieces to illustrate how my patrons choose display my work on their properties. I had a personal reaction as I picked them. They were executed more than twenty years ago and struck me as cruder than my current work. However, they are fun ( Bottle Heron, Blue Marlin and Farmer's Goat)!

 

 

 

 Human figures in brass assemblage

Brass parts collected from various sources and assembled using brass nuts, bolts and stainless steel lock washers. I have chosen four diverse examples. The top one is comprised of curtain hardware and portrays my dad in an angry state. The second I made for my mother to represent a Javanese dancer. Next a1950's traffic policeman was created from lock parts and a spring for  his hair. Finally, when it was requested that I produce work to display as part of a multi-media tribute to Dada, I fabricated the family at bottom and their pet. For this the elements were primarily lamp parts with plant pot bases.

 

 

 Non-Ferrous Assemblage: Mask Project

I selected parts of various metals to represent facial features. These elements were then placed on a selection of "heads". This is the design stage. By mechanical means these will be fixed to each other. All the examples below will be subject to alterations during the remaining process: the final look of each is currently undetermined. In a future post I will present some of the finished masks and share some of the challenges of connecting the elements.

Logos For Businesses

I have done many logos for my favorite establishments over the last 29 years. Most have been as gifts, some unsolicited. The reactions of the proprietors has been decidedly mixed and it has not been  lucrative.  Although my hope is for them to be displayed; several owners "lost" them. My vanity was affected by this lack of gratitude until about 10 years ago. Now I make them with no expectations. My greatest logo was probably one I made for a hairstylist that had a light in it and was on a main street until the studio closed. (see bottom photo).

                                   

                                                         

 Early Wood Carvings

While living in Anchorage for a year (1986-87) I had the opportunity to be in a woodcarvers club. Some old hands took me under their wing and after a fashion I made some OK sculptures. It was satisfying, fostered patience and sharpened my focus as an artist. The bas-relief salmon was early on and the grizzly "in the round" was my final piece with the club.

 Challenge of the Human Face

Human facial features are complex. Attempting to make the head of a famous or recognizable person is a challenge. When a coworker approached me to make a gift for her spouse who is a philosophy professor I was initially daunted. Socrates head? I freaked out, but accepted the challenge. I used a host of images, including in profile. It is a stainless steel armature, covered with silver colored copper wire and stands about 16 inches tall.

 

 Elephant Calf Project

An admirer of my work put a big box of grey sheathed wire on our porch. For years it languished until I was asked about elephants. Somehow I thought grey would be a good color and I remembered a heavy steel form which was lying about. You will also see the bottom airflow grill from a refrigerator that died in the series of photos which follow. Hopefully the progression of the work will be clearly shown and of interest.

 

 

This piece is currently on a bench outside a bakery near our home!

 Two Stingrays

When I was a kid, we got two Stingray bikes from some friends that were moving. They were green and purple. About ten years ago I made a purple Stingray, about the size of my hand.  A brother loved it so much I promised to give it to him if it did not sell after a year or two. About five years ago I saw a  photo of a fancy three-speed model on the internet. I challenged myself to make a larger, more elaborate sculpture. For the rims of this sea green model, I used embroidery hoops (pink!). Now I really have to let "Little Purple" go!

 

Smallest and Biggest?

 The query above is the one most often posed to me by young children viewing my art. Adults most often ask is how long a specific piece took to complete.The latter is a dull one for a blog! I have made many horses with great care and focus. However, the horse in the photo below was made absentmindedly one day with several pieces of leftover Copper wire. It is probably the smallest work I have created. The picture below is a Chinese Dragon which once hung on the side of a futon store. It is also shown on the owner's garage, where it resides today. The work was bartered for a futon bed, a futon lounger, several futons, a table and a Japanese lamp. At 26 feet or so stretched out fully, it is my longest work to date.

Repeated Forms


Creating a series of objects representing the same subject utilizing different materials is inherently
satisfying. In the 90's I made eight or nine versions of a man practicing Tai-Chi. There was an aluminum parts assemblage version, a brass wire version and so on. I had lost my long-time teacher of the art and perhaps I was working something out with myself. Pictured below is a series of snails made of corrugated Copper, brass plate, brass wire and Copper wire.

Larger Sculptures  In Situ

Sometimes I have the opportunity to design and create a work for someone's property or a business which is life sized or a large scaled caricature. These can be made from bare non-ferrous wire, which will patina over time or from plastic coated colored wire, which results in a cartoonish appearance. Bare wired work is more elegant and attractive to the average person, but colored wire pieces can be fun and folks sometimes burst out laughing when they see it, which I enjoy. Prior to the era of digital photos, I made a giant snapping turtle for the edge of a pond on an estate. Below are some other examples. One is a young moose I hauled to Ohio and installed in 2010 and a baby giraffe and elephant made for a preschool in 1998.

Community Outreach

For several years I participated in an "Art Night" held at a neighborhood school. I displayed some of my work and tried to assist the kids in making their own sculptures. My friend Janice taught art there  and she recently retired. I was reminded at these events how difficult it is to describe or explain the process by which an artist manages to execute their work(s). There are hours of trial and error, random insights, learned eye-hand coordination and patterns of execution which result in the slow establishment of a style which is recognizable.

One day, downtown, I was sitting on a bench working on a piece. A woman from Germany approached me and asked if my work was on the walls of a bakery. I affirmed her observation of the similarity. She then stated, "I don't like your art, but I respect it". I smiled and thanked her, because this was a compliment I had never received. It rewarded the risk that artists of all kinds take when they share their work with the world.

Additive Assembly of Identical Components

Some of my pieces are built by connecting a series of duplicate parts to form a whole. I often receive odd materials from friends and family; neighbors leave resources on our front porch. These are apt challenges to my creativity. I used discarded aluminum playground rings as the vertebrae for a large snake. I also used copper rings to fabricate a rain chain. Several centipedes assembled using this method were sold to a woman with an affinity for these multi-limbed creatures. One included 20 large drapery rings and the other a series of tie racks laid end to end. The photo example I will include with this post was built with blocks from a miniature masonry toy set my sister-in-law was giving away. This Frankenstein like figurine is connected with 22 gauge jewelry wire. A ruler has been provided to facilitate an appreciation of the scale of the "bricks" in its composition.

Found Objects

Many of my pieces include found objects within other media. However, some are almost entirely made up of these seemingly random parts of the man-made world. The example I will use to illustrate this genre of my work is an angel which was made primarily of wood parts. The elements included dowels. part of a banister, pins and pieces from a Carrom game, a cross and Star of David, "hand" drink stirrers, a 1950's nut tray, Christmas ornaments and a music rest from a piano. It was sold on the same day it was put on display in a neighborhood bakery.

 Archangel Gabriel

Brass Assemblage

Using discarded parts, I assemble brass figurines, flowers and members of the animal kingdom. The parts are from locks: doors, lamp parts, vintage kitchenware, antique plumbing and gasline fixtures. These are mechanically fastened with brass nuts, bolts and washers using a liquid which "locks" the connections. While it takes a degree of imagination to arrange the disparate components, the sheer variety of shapes of objects from these trades lends itself to this endeavor. Laying out scores of pieces, I visualize myself as a master chef with limitless ingredients available.

Assassin Bug

Man Stopping Traffic

Art as Therapy

Art is both expressive and projective. It enables us to convey echoes of our inner selves, with potentially enlightening results. For three decades, I have used drawings with clients of all ages. An example is a sketch of a house, a tree and a person made by the individual and then interpreted by a clinician. My brother Mike, a school psychologist, aided me in honing the use of this diagnostic tool. Art can also be transformative. About twenty years ago, my friend and colleague Laura showed me how to use oven-baked clay to make sculptures with therapy groups. Self-portraits are hand built by the members as a process of  healing and empowerment. I will post the sculpture I made of myself during one of the sessions we conducted with teens.

Stef