Location: United States
My first career of forty years was as an aerospace engineer in industry and NASA. I performed engineering research and participated in major aeronautics and space development programs. Contributing to the manned lunar program was particularly rewarding to me. While working for NASA, I attended studio art classes at Montgomery College, MD. For years, my primary interest was oil painting along the Potomac river or at remote sites in Montgomery County.
One of the few pieces of sculpture I created while taking art classes was made of thin wood plies and is the origin of my current sculpture. I finally developed a technique to deal with large plies or ribbons of wood to achieve a light, free sculptural form.
I have been woreking with wood since a boy in California. Now with “Ribbons of Wood”, I try to cause a maximum human response with a minimum of material. I try to make visible what is essentially invisible, a defining form of a subject, be it an object, the human form, a human emotion, animals or birds, or the trajectory of a body in space.
Sensuous “Ribbons of Wood” define the compositions and to me, a feeling of movement is established through their bending and twisting. The texture, color, and grain of the wood enhance the reaction to the images. I start with a sketch, but the final image depends on the feel of the the wood as it is worked.
Arabesque, pine and redwood, 50 x 21 x 24
Emerging, pine and redwood, 25 x 30 x 24 inches
Outward Bound, pine and redwood, 41 x 10 x 10 inches
Pensive, pine and redwood, 43 x 11 x 7 1/4
“Arabesque”
“Emerging”
“Outward Bound”
“Pensive”
“Excited”
“Gaggle”
