Westcoast Winter 2015

More octopuses have been the theme this winter. The Giant Octopus Table created last year is nearly sold out now with one edition left. Four of the tables went to Octopus Investments in the UK.  A new Octopus in Motion sculpture, commissioned by a local client, is almost complete and photos will be posted in March 2015.   The Howling Wolf sculpture is being cast in bronze and will be installed next month with photos to follow.

Other new creations this winter include a smaller version of the Black Tipped Reef Shark mounted on a piece of simulated coral, a Shark Coffee Table and a burrowing owl. 

Spring 2015 - SPECIAL PROJECT ANNOUNCEMENT

Priya's Shakti in Bronze

Priya’s Shakti

I am very excited to introduce my involvement in the Priya’s Shakti project created by Ram Devineni. Mr. Devineni is a New York based filmmaker/producer and founder of Rattapallax.  Mr. Devineni has created a comic book superhero, Priya, and is in the midst of a global campaign raising awareness about women’s empowerment issues and gender-based violence. The genesis of the story is in India and the signature image of the campaign and comic book series is of a young village girl, Priya, riding a Bengal Tiger (her Shakti, or source of empowerment). 

My involvement in the project started after hearing an interview with Ram on CBC Radio. I was very moved by the story and the Priya campaign.  I contacted Ram and suggested that a bronze statue of the campaign’s signature image – Priya sitting on the Bengal Tiger - would serve as a very permanent tribute to the Priya Movement and help to keep the level of awareness around gender based violence high. A new project was born.   

The first phase of my involvement in the project was to create a 1/3 sized bronze maquette of Priya’s Shakti.  In preparing to undertake the sculpture work I started searching for imagery of Bengal Tigers and stumbled across the Lions Gate Sanctuary in Colorado that provides a home to eight beautiful tigers. I contact the owner explaining the nature of the project and asked for detailed measurements and photographs of Bengal Tigers to assist with the project. Coincidentally it turns out that the owner of the sanctuary, Dr. Joan Laub, is an old high school friend of mine from 1972 who has now devoted her live to the animal sanctuary and tigers, as well as her professional practice running a Trauma Centre for sexually abused women. Serendipitous connections.  

The first phase of the sculpture project is now complete and the bronze maquette will be displayed in an exciting interactive show with works by multiple artists focusing on the Priya movement at the City Lore Gallery in New York City opening May 7th and running for three months.  

The next phase of the sculpture project will be to finalize details of the installation site, raise project funds and then start on the life-sized sculpture.  

WINTER UPDATE 2014 - TEN YEARS LATER A CELEBRATION

It was ten years ago this month when I gave up my day job as a consulting biologist and decided to become a full time artist, creating all the creatures that I had grown to love. It was time to commit and move from a sculpting hobby to a serious undertaking that would consume most of my waking hours.  We moved out into the country and built a beautiful studio in the forest behind our home. It was a family affair. Shortly after there was a very exciting call from the Royal BC Museum who wanted to commission me to create a life size Woolly Mammoth and a massive collection of other bronze animals celebrating BC’s  rich and diverse natural history. I was excited and hooked, and I didn’t sleep for months. In the end the money never quite materialized and that fanciful dream slid by. However, with the new found confidence and enthusiasm I started creating more and more sculptures and building a wonderful network of clients and supporters. Soon it became very busy and my wife, Jutta, started helping out in the studio making the molds and preparing the wax replicas of the sculptures. 

Looking back I realize how lucky I am and that in my mind I have the best possible job in a most amazing, peaceful and inspirational setting. Often times I will see or hear some beautiful animal nearby the studio -  Owls, Deer, Raccoons, Eagles, Ravens, Osprey, Lizards, Frogs and even the occasional Cougar. Working with the animals and the people I love, and meeting all sorts of interesting clients from around the world we have produced over 170 unique sculptures in the past 10 years and they are in homes and business far and wide. I like the fact that what I create will endure.  

There is hardly a week that goes by without some passionate inspiration that comes to mind, the start of my next project. Sometimes they steep for months or years, but eventually they will come to fruition.  This past year has been one of the best and the coming year has the glow of even more creative undertakings. To coin a phrase from my good friend Bryan, a worldly adventurer, I plan to keep doing this until the wheels fall off. 

Thank you for your interest. Stay tuned….

October 2011 – Sidney Fine Art Show

The Sidney Fine Art Show is quickly coming up. October 14, 15 and 16th at the Mary Winspear Centre. This year I have three entires in the show; Timber Wolf; Comforts of Home and the Great Blue Heron sculpture.

August 2014 Update

This summer I had the good fortune to be able to go on an incredible wilderness camping trip up into Desolation Sound where we saw an amazing array of west coast wildlife. There was a very special encounter with a group of three Coastal Wolves that came through our camp and serenaded us all evening with their howls and yaps on a rocky bluff on West Redonda Island. It was a spectacular sight and I felt very inspired. I also learned of the relationship between coastal wolves and ravens and how the raven will alert the wolves to the presence of prey and they in turn benefit from the fruits of the wolves’ efforts. It didn’t take long, sitting around the camp to decide that wolves and ravens would be my next sculptural subject.  I am now working on a howling wolf sculpture and a series of ravens in various expressive poses.

Coincidentally, I also received a commission to do a howling wolf sculpture the next day, and in another strange sequence of events, we met the former Director of Wolf Research and the Re-introduction Program for Washington State while sharing our wolf stories at the Refuge Cove Marina. 

Other projects underway include commissioned works for two Golden Retrievers, a smaller Black Tipped Reef Shark sculpture and a pair of African Elephants (1/8th scale). A new octopus table design and an octopus fountain are also starting to take shape.

This fall I will be entering two new sculptures into the Sidney Fine Art Show and participating in the Saanich Peninsula Studio Tour, both in late October.