As a teenager I had the good fortune to live in an area where there was lots of wildlife and to have parents who tolerated my growing menagerie. As a sculptor I now seem to be recreating most of those earlier experiences. Most of my animal subjects are inspired from my west coast experiences with such creatures as the cougar, bear, otter and wolf though it does not take much to get me going in other directions.
Prior to becoming a full-time sculptor I was a practicing biologist with lots of experience in our rivers, wetlands and marine environments. I spent decades observing fish and now I love to capture their graceful movements and interesting textures in bronze. Some of my favourite fish subjects have been the steelhead trout, Northern Pike and White Sturgeon as well as the more exotic Arapaima and Arowana.
As a diver I am fascinated with marine life and it is often the graceful and beautiful forms of marine fish and wildlife gliding through the waters that inspire me sculpturally. I have a particular interest for the octopus and sea turtles and never tire of doing these sculptures. I live in the midst of a very rich marine ecosystem on the west coast of BC and have had the good fortune to be able to dive into many of the exotic seas of the world.
Diving in our local waters on south Vancouver Island frequently provides a great opportunity to watch the intriguing and engaging octopus. The more I observe and learn about them the more fascinated I become with this creature.
In part I started my first octopus sculpture, “Octopus in Motion” for the challenge and as a learning experience for complex mold making skills. The first mold was indeed a challenge as it consisted of 13 pieces. Over the years and four octopus sculptures later I have managed to simplify the mold design and now have a 3 panel mold used for one of my more recent octopus sculptures, the “Octopus Coffee Table” - a functional sculptural piece with an oval shaped glass table top that is 48 inches long and 24 inches wide. The glass has been etched with a delicate border of seaweed (also available as plain glass). The glass top is supported by the bronze octopus mounted on cast cobble base decorated with an array of sea shells and barnacles.
As an amateur bird watcher throughout most of my life, birds are a natural sculptural subject for me. Most of the bird subjects I have done so far have been those that are close at hand: the eagle, owls, herons and shore birds.
There were a few reptiles in my childhood menagerie and as a sculptor I am drawn to the incredible textures and unusual body forms.
I started creating tables as a way of incorporating functionality into art work. I am constantly looking for and thinking of new table designs and am always open to working with clients to create a unique and special piece. Most of my tables are all bronze, however recently I have been doing one-of-a-kind pieces incorporating unique pieces of weathered driftwood into the table designs. My table designs include the octopus (2 versions), steelhead trout, seahorses and specialty driftwood and bronze designs.