VOICES eBook free download

VOICES is a collaborative anthology between myself and poet, Joe Kumpel. We published one previous book titles “Spaces,” another anthology featuring Joe’s verse and my bonsai sketches.

“VOICES” is mostly work created in the past few months. A hard bound edition is available through Blurb. The eBook is available for immediate download. Included are about 20 sculptures and masks illuminated by Joe’s staccato verse filled with random references that do not attempt to describe the art. They simple create a broader context for readers to explore.

I hope you will enjoy. Feedback welcome.

Fleeting Moment - We will never come this way again.

I have done many demonstrations of my techniques and processes. Oddly, these pieces are usually stronger than the ones done in the isolation of my studio. “Fleeting Moment” is a piece that started with no sketch. That’s rare for me. But, I was demonstrating the basics of creating an armature. After my student left, I put it aside. When I returned to my studio the next day, I saw something I hadn’t even considered before. Very quickly, the character assumed a more dynamic gesture and this is the result.

Fleeting Moment is one of the works featured in “VOICES” which is available as a free ebook.

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Walks Lightly

We are living in a strange time. I am grateful for my studio. It’s a place to go outside my house where I have uninterrupted time to create. The extended sessions in my studio open the door to go deeper into my imagination and find more images, more characters, more ways to express ideas.

I have also had the time to use some of my previous skills as an art director and creative director. Years of working with exceptional commercial photographers in Boston, San Francisco and Portland give me some insights on how to shoot my own work. By professional standards, I’m a hack, but seeing these figures in motion under lights generates more ideas for new projects.

Walks Lightly is one of the works featured in “VOICES” which is available as a free ebook.

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Mentor Archetype - A Relationship of Growth

Mentorship is a dynamic bond. The mentor invests time and wisdom in the student. Reciprocally, the student commits to listening and probing for clarification. It’s an ongoing lesson - a long term engagement that grows and changes, as do the participants.

We are not always aware of the many mentor/mentee relationships we experience. They are not necessarily formal arrangements. But we guide and are guided through trust and a respect to enable growth.

As this pair of characters developed, I felt there was something missing. After the primary gestures were established, I realized they should not be looking the same direction. Each is focused on a different point. The mentor is more aware of the surroundings while scanning the horizon. The mentee concentrates on the direction he/she is about to leap.

Archetypes are the foundation of my characters. They have roles to play in a grand drama. Through dozens of sketches that precede each sculpture, I imagine and explore possibilities for positioning each in its surrounding space. Figure and space have a similar relationship to the mentor and mentee – a state of being and not being. Knowing and not knowing. Each explores the state of the other.