Kicked out of art school. Self Taught.
Current City/Hometown
Appleton Wisconsin. Curently in Clyde, Texas.
Describe your work in one sentence. Abstract larger than you steel sculpture in vibrant colors based on the idea of 3/5/8 mathematical beauty.
Describe your normal day.
Each day is totally different from the next. One day i'm in the studio, the next i'm out of town on exhibition, the next day I might be delivering work or excavating steel from the salvage yard. My ideal day would be sailing around the south pacific listening to the germs while setting up gorilla style sculpture installations in uninhabited atolls.
What are your passions?
Sk8, snowboarding, surfing, sailing, art, culture, food, travel, my kids and wife, my business, my art and punk rock.
What are your goals?
As long as I have the freedom and support to keep creating, keep building sculpture, keep painting.......I consider my most important goal met. My lifelong goal has been and will always be to just stay out of the cubical.
Who are your creative influences?
I don't consider myself that impressionable when it comes to my own creativity. My life, my dreams, everyday random things influence me a lot and because I have a wickedly overactive imagination - I am most influenced by my own chaotic thoughts and ideas. There are inspirations though, like my wife and kids, artists I admire, and a lot of music.
Are there any other relevant experiences that shaped who you are today and what you do?
Yes there are a lot of those! When I was living in France as a kid and sat for hours at a sculpture garden full of Picasso's work in Antibes because I was too young to go to the casino with my parents.
When I first came to my familes farm in Clyde 11 years ago, I had just closed my sk8 shop in Seattle and I picked up a crappy old wind-up stick welder and made my first steel sculpture.
And there was that time when I was 13 and I got to show my pottery at the Milwaukee Museam of Art and was pretty stoked about that experience.
And (this is a good one) there was that time I needed a rolling machine but couldn't afford one so I built one myself out of junkyard parts which allowed me to do the work I do today. I had called a well known texas sculptor and asked for a referral to a good fabricator to help me with my larger work and she told me that 'real artists have their own equipment' and hung up on me. That really pissed me off so I have fabricated my own industrial equipment ever since. Come to find out, she uses Blumenthal Steel in Houston to make her sculptures for her. That definitely made me realize how self motivated you have to be and what a serious drive you have to have to succeed at what I do. It's expensive and difficult work. I also made a mental note to self - Don't ever be an ass to another artist who reaches out to you for help, the art community needs synergy and support from within!
Heres a picture of the rolling machine i built:
How do you set the table for your muse?
Music, flame retardants and a tetanus shot.
Is there anyone that you really look up to as an inspiration?
My grandmother who was light years ahead of her time. She was the most progressive and inspiring person i've ever known. There are tons of artists (dead and alive) that I look up to. Too many to list here. I admire freethinkers, people who acheive success on their own terms, and the underdogs that prove everyone else wrong.
What motivates you on a daily basis?
As an independant artist working every day to support myself and my family through art, I'd have to say money is a pretty major motivator. Selling my work is a must if I expect to keep creating and give my family a quality of life they deserve. I'm always motivated to do whatever needs to get done and I think it's part of the equation as to whether you're going to sink or swim in this business. I do have a guilty pleasure but my wife says this is not the appropriate forum to share it.
What's your working style?
I don't have any particular working style. I work when I can and usually block a whole day out for studio time. I have to travel a lot and there are other things to deal with during the week so when I have a free day it's all about being in the studio. I work with apprentices from McMurray University's Art Department and anytime they call and are free to lock in some hours, I make myself available. I've never done well with schedules, so other than seeing to my commitments with travel and exhibitions, I try to just let my mind and body tell me when and for how long i'm going to work. Sometimes I walk in to my studio and am just not feeling it. Other times, i'm locked into what i'm doing and don't even notice my wife staring at me from the bay door.
What are your websites/social networking links?
