Blacksmith Canyon Painting

When I created my first large metal head in 1986, I was influenced by the large stone heads of the Olmecs. I had been introduced to ancient South American and Mexican sculpture on a visit to Mexico City when I was a teenager. This experience left a lasting impression on me. I find that the head and face, which is the basis for many of my sculptures, can make a powerful connection with the viewer. After considering the recognizable traits in my sculpture, I want the viewer to explore the sculptural ideas of space, mass, and volume. Many of my sculptures are pierced with openings and spaces to allow the eye to penetrate the form and give a sense of the interior versus the exterior and the relationship between the volume and the surface. I also create small figurative sculptures in bronze where I work directly in wax with my hands. It is interesting for me to go from large to small and vice versa. Over the years I have completed and installed many large scale sculptures. As an example, I was commissioned to create two large metal heads, Athena and Apollo, for Richard Weidman and artist Jonathan Green in Naples, Florida in 1994. In 2009, Apollo was acquired by The Naples Museum of Art in Naples, Florida for their permanent collection. In 2016 Atlantis and Lady X were installed at Shidoni Gallery in Tesuque, NM.