Collector image...

One of the nicer treats I can receive is a picture of a sculpture installed at a collector's home. If I've delivered the piece myself I often have an idea of how it will be displayed, but in the case of shipped work I may never get that opportunity.

I received this image of Trios installed in a back patio a while ago but just got around to sharing it now. Night shots are great (I don't know why sculptors don't shoot their work like this more often). Thanks for the image, Ron.

Daphne

Taking perhaps longer than anticipated, Daphne is finally completed. The detail and level of finish of this one is perhaps beyond anything else I've done. Needless to say, I'm happy with it.

The Precious Object

This Friday is the opening reception for The Precious Object, a group exhibition I'm a part of at the Minneapolis Central Library organized by the Walker Art Center and mnartists.org. Bringing together a diverse group of artists, it looks to be a really interesting show. Stop by later in October for some panel discussions on issues relating to the work as well. See the larger poster below for more info.

Pflipsen Glassworks

The whole family drove over to River Falls, WI for an enjoyable visit with Steve and Katia of Pflipsen Glassworks the other day. I briefly met them at the Madison Art Fair a few weeks back and we immediately saw a connection in our work. The pair collaborates to create simply beautiful jewelry and sculptural objects. Steve is in charge of creating glass with a wonderfully ethereal quality and Katia creates these beautiful organic, and yet almost architectural (think Gaudi), soldered constructions. Their work is top notch and I can't recommend them highly enough.

SI09

I took a little road trip down to Chatfield for the Standard Issue Iron Pour, brain child of Karl Unnasch and perpetrated each year (this was the third) by a host of various and sundry characters. After the pour was over, they like to let down their hair a bit... below is a shot of some of the after-hour festivities.

Progress

To say that raising a child is time consuming is understating the matter. Progress is still being made in the studio, however. In fact, I have two pieces underway at the moment, unusual for me. The vast majority of the time I begin and complete a single sculpture before starting another one. But I was carried along a wave of energy after getting the basic framework for the one finished and so I moved on to the next, smaller piece right away. Below is the larger of the two.

When talking about starting a piece, painters often complain about the difficulty of making a mark on a clean, white canvas. As soon as you begin, the multitude of options available begin to diminish. Each mark limits the next, and these limitations build on each other as the work progresses. It can be incredibly difficult to make those first few marks in the void.

Making a sculpture is no different, except that you are dealing with three dimensions, not two, and the resulting void of space is that much larger and intimidating. While later stages of a sculpture may be more physically tiring, there is nothing more psychologically draining than the beginning.

SculptureWalk

The whole family at the installation of Nighthawk for SculptureWalk in Sioux Falls, SD.

Art in the Garden, NC

It's that time of the year again for Art in the Garden, the Fifteenth Annual Sculpture Invitational, in Hillborough, North Carolina. If you find yourself near the Triangle Area the weekend of May 2-3, stop by, say hi, and check out some great sculpture. Rain or shine, a great time is always had by all.

New Sculptures

Check out the first two Transitions galleries on my website for a number of new sculptures as well as new images of existing pieces. Due to the size of some of the pieces, I had to wait for the weather to cooperate in order to photograph them outside. That meant not only waiting for the right diffused light, but for Spring to arrive as well. Thank goodness it has. Winter has passed and the green is returning once again!

Traveling sculptures

My first real sculpture trip of the year was to pick up Portal (seen, or rather, not seen, in the crate in the back of the truck) from the Plains Art Museum in Fargo, ND and then head down to Northern State University in Aberdeen, SD to pick up Nexus. I arrived home very early the following morning, just before an all-encompassing fog descended...

Art for a New Era

There is understandably a lot of pessimism out there today. By "out there" I mean most anywhere, but specifically outside my studio doors. Because inside, I remain surprisingly, almost unnervingly, optimistic. For someone (mistaken, I would argue) perceived to be a bit of a curmudgeon, this is an unusual state to be in. What hope could I possibly have in an art world undergoing rapid capitulation by many individual artists and art organizations?

Put simply, I believe much Quality, meaningful and well-crafted work will not only survive this Grand Purging, but will thrive in an era more skeptical of exuberant claims and glitzy sheen. Work grounded in Nature, history and our human desire for meaning will continue to be valued because it satisfies an expressly human need for self-creation. Work which looks beyond the navel of its creator, which connects on an intimate level with the viewer, will communicate in a way that hype and market forces never can. I am optimistic because I think these difficult times will lead people to search out the type of authentic and insightful work which I value. It is also the type of work I aspire to create, and the type of work created by other artists who I admire.

Once such artist I recently discovered is Andy Paiko. Check out his site and spend some time exploring his heart-breakingly poetic work. Paiko's glasswork is like alchemy to me. I understand steel and its resiliently fluid nature, but the fragile fluidity and structure of his glasswork is a mystery me, in the best possible way. I find myself mesmerized looking at them, captivated by their detail, form and execution.

Touche

I tip my hat to you, Mr. Alzamora. You have won this round, but I'll be back...

Artist A Day

If you haven't already discovered it, check out Artist A Day. They profile some really fine work and the site is beautifully designed. A nice community has sprung up to discover and discuss a wide variety of great art.

I'm honored to be today's artist, #732. Check it out. If you're so inclined, you can rate my work (a simple 5 star system) or go one step further and leave a comment. (Not that it's a competition, but if I could top my good friend and outstanding fellow-sculptor Emil Alzamora, that would be a feather in my cap!)

A Sunday Meditation

After Australia

Though a lot of my time these days is consumed by taking care of Little Zoe, I did manage to finish the sculpture I began several weeks before she was born. Here it is in its freshly sandblasted state. Thankfully, it has warmed up a bit here so I can begin the rusting process properly. I washed it off on Friday after I set it up and the water froze immediately on contact with the steel.


This piece is tentatively titled After Australia in honor of the David Smith sculpture. It wasn't a direct inspiration, just one of those times I noticed a similar sense of drama/movement/poise during the design phase of the work. In the end, my piece diverged quite a bit, and will in all likelihood get a new name, but I do sense a connective thread between the two.

A new addition to the family...

Please join me in welcoming to the world our daughter, Zoe Elizabeth. Born on December 26th at 6:22pm and weighing in at 7 lbs. 4 oz., she is by far the greatest creation I've had the pleasure of contributing to.