Live and sculpt north of Atlanta Georgia

Education:

1983-87 University of Georgia BFA Sculpture, Painting

1989-91 University of Georgia MFA Sculpture

When making a sculpture, I work toward a general idea instead of a specific piece. My method is to let the subconscious reveal or discover a sculpture instead of producing something that has already been decided.  When the final product is unknown, bolder and better directions that become apparent are more easily pursued.  My best adventures came from trips that weren't based on a specific schedule.  Direct stone carving provides to me the best fit for this approach.

     I generally begin carving the stone from several varied locations to encourage chance.  There is no way to predict what will occur when these starting points meet, but the result is usually very interesting.  The resolution of these meeting points, though challenging, is where the sculpture transforms.  The shapes created at these junctions then drive the direction of the rest of the sculpture. My process is similar to creating chords in music by blending notes and tones.  I enjoy making both the shapes created of stone, and the shapes created in and around the stone.  Having more openings and caverns in the stone also provides for light and shadow to add their own shapes to the mix.

     I have written more about how I make the piece than what it is I am making.  Each piece has a basis, but that is more of a starting point.  I don't wish to tell people what they should be seeing as I enjoy watching others have their own discoveries as the sculpture begins its life outside the studio.

The metal pieces developed as I began to apply sculptural ideas to work intended for the wall. I was attracted to the immediacy of working with wax as well as the patinas and textures that were possible in bronze. 

Exhibitions:

1999-2011   J Costello Gallery  Hilton Head, SC

1999-2011   Raiford Gallery  Roswell, GA

2004   Hampton Art Market  Hampton, VA

2002   Darious Gallery  Atlanta, GA    

1999   Dana Gallery  Alpharetta, GA

1998   Pavilion Center  Virginia Beach, VA

1995   Georgia Marble Festival  Jasper, GA

1993   King Plow Arts Center  Atlanta, GA                  

1991   State Botanical Gardens  Athens, GA                 

1991   Gallery 64  Tallahassee, FL            

1990    King Plow Art Center  Atlanta, GA              

1990    Georgia Marble Festival  Jasper, GA                 

1990    Piedmont Arts Festival  Atlanta, GA                  

1989    Crealde Art Center  Winter Park, FL              

1989    Georgia Marble Festival  Jasper, GA            

I have not written an elaborate treatise about my work as each viewer brings his or her own interpretation and hopefully each piece speaks for itself. Instead of blathering on about my work, I'll blather about other stuff, which might explain my sculpture process or at least provide some entertainment. I live north of Atlanta where I can make a racket and the horses and cows don't seem to mind. I try to go to Italy every few years for marble and to work around other artists. I generally work in a studio in Querceta, which is deep in the heart of the stone industry and also happens to be on the Riviera. Damn! There are other towns one can carve in, but after exhaustive research, I found that Querceta has the best studio to gelato ratio. On my first trip to the region I was fortunate enough to live in the stone fort that overlooked the town of Pietrasanta. Of course I lived in the attic, and the shower consisted of a randomly clogging garden hose next to the goat pen, but hey it was once a castle. I lived with a highly entertaining family for 8 months and even with the lack of indoor plumbing and the occasional tripe dinners I would not have traded the experience. The following trip, as I had grown older and more delicate, I decided to upgrade. My residence was in a converted tool shed. The walk to the outhouse was much shorter and I had access to a real shower sans goats.  More recently through the network of friends, I was able to live in a converted bakery that had it's own kitchen, bathroom (indoors), living area as well as a bedroom! I almost didn't come back. Granted it was not the character building experience of the previous trips, but I think if I get to be much more of a character someone will lock me up.  

To be continued...