12/22/22
No one ever looks at this blog so I feel confident this won't ruin Theo's surprise. Besides, this is more of a "reminder" for me as I forget what I've done over the years. So with that in mind, I'm posting this today.
At Thanksgiving Theo asked that I make him something to decorate his house. These trees are the result. Finished the patina today and just couldn't wait to show someone. --Even if it's actually no one.
As always, click the little picture here to see the full version.
12/4/22
Been way too busy sculpting a nativity set but today I took some time to make a new phone case drawing. Click the image here to see all of them or Click here to see the latest little Christmas scene.
11/1/22
October is finished and with it comes the end of my daily drawing exercise I call, "Chalktober"
I post these drawings on Facebook every day and love the responses I get. I'll miss that, but at the same time I have commissions to get done so November will be a month of sculpting. Check back here as November progresses to see what's new. Click the image here to see all 5 years of Chalktober drawings.
9/24/22
Well, it has been a busy month. Let me get personal. (Seldom do I talk about things other than artwork here.)
We decided to remodel our kitchen and get new flooring for the entry this summer. Difficult decisions, and supply chain and the overwhelmingly busy schedules for installers pushed things back to about the same time as I was at the fair sculpting butter. That means Karen was dealing with all the installation issues while living without water in the kitchen for the time I was gone. I feel sorry for her and feel bad that I was gone so long.
We lived through the difficulties and finally have an almost complete kitchen. (--Still gotta get some sort of backsplash behind the stove to hide a few holes in the wall and we're waiting on the final bit of flooring to be installed, but soon things will come together.)
Never again will we schedule anything at the end of August or beginning of September.
All of the above is to indicate how overwhelmingly happy I am to have Karen taking care of things while I have a blast at the fair. No job could be better than freezing my fingers off talking with "CEO's" of the Dairy world (Princess Kay and the other finalists) while doing what I love to do. --In front of alot of people.
Even though I'm never satisfied with the likenesses of the "butterheads", it does come with a sense of accomplishment. 10 over-life size likenesses carved in 11 days. In a 40-degree refrigerator. That spins. While people watch, wonder, and sometimes criticize. Yeah, there are bad parts about the job but I still enjoyed every minute. Take a look at the results by clicking the small image above.
8/11/22
I was torn between keeping this quiet and posting the heck out of it... So I'll be a little ambiguous for now and reveal more later. Here's the first piece for a multi-piece set.
Modeled after a great man who I should do a serious portrait of someday: Mr. Fuller. Now that the idea is published, I've got no choice but to do it. --AFTER this project though.
7/2/22
Since I got my new phone in April, (An 128 gb iPhone 13 Mini) the only thing making me happy about it is the clear case. Clicking the image here will bring you to a page where I'll archive every case drawing I make.
IF you want to know why I dislike (dare I say "hate") my new phone, click here. Warning: Ranting will be experienced.
6/4/22
I was commissioned to sculpt a loon in butter for Abby's Mom who loves the Minnesota State Fair. Since the loon is Minnesota's state bird, she thought it would be fun to see one done in butter.
Click the image here to see progress pictures and a time-lapse video of how it was made.
5/30/22
I've done bowls for teachers in the past, but after being the new guy at Eden Valley-Watkins, and constantly asking for help, I thought it would be a good idea to give a token of my gratitude for all the help everyone so freely gave.
And thus a set of 80+ bowls were made.
5/23/22
I've done a few paintings on fired clay slabs but the last one was done a few years ago. This little lady was done today as a demonstration in my painting class. It was a challenge to paint something that small. The entire slab is only 8 inches tall.
Super fun to paint again!
5/19/22
As you read in March, I have a window in my art room door. The door is always open so the open side of the window was reserved for Art League students who wanted to display their work. Since the final Art Leaguer took her drawing home last week, the "Art League Gallery" was sitting empty. No one wanted to fill it so I made a quick pencil drawing and popped it up there. This is the result.
5/8/22
Karen saw a pot she liked a while back. I thought it would be easy enough to make so for her Mother's day gift, I made it for her.
The result can be seen by clicking the image above.
Normally I'm kind of on top of things like this, (in fact, purposely hiding silly little things in my drawings or sculpture) but in this case I was completely oblivious to the phallic design on the side until Anissa said it looked like penises. So the pot has now lost its "mothers day pot" name and may forever be known as the penis pot. (No one ever said this was a Rated G blog.)
4/24/22
Sometimes I have an urge to sculpt something and just have to do it. Then make an excuse as to why I did it later. Today was such a day.
The hand you see here was done as a study for a future project, the "redo" of St. Philip's Nativity set. This may be the hand of a shepherd holding his shepherd's crook or St. Joseph if I have him holding on to a staff.
Click the image here to see it in more detail.
3/28/22
My art room door has a little window that we're supposed to block for "security" reasons. So I made a drawing to put in it.
Click the image here to see the drawing and some detail shots as well
By the way, it happens to be my birthday today. I'm 53 now. How can I tie that into the blog post above? Well, today I did 53 pushups in all my classes. --Because I can. If you know me, you know I've set myself up for failure with the goal of being able to do as many pushups as I am years old. I'm doing pretty good so far, but ask me how it's going when I'm 65. :)
3/1/22
After doing such a lousy job of sculpting MSUM's President, Anne Blackhurst, last month during the Art-A-Fair event, I wanted to redeem myself. I'm not sure if this is an example of redemption, but it's definitely better than the 5 hour "hack job" I did on stage at the event!
Click the image here to see some progress pictures and the finished portrait.
2/28/22
February 19, 2022: A momentous day in history. My first grandchild, Ambrose Jerome Kulzer was born. Congratulations Rachel and Andrew for giving us the most beautiful baby boy in the world! This weekend we visited them and got to hold that little boy in our arms. Nothing compares to that! .
Click the image above for a pic of 3 generations... Now I need to get my Dad in there too!
2/22/22
Amy's portrait is a study in curly hair. When sculpting butter there are so many Dairy Princesses with curls so this project was a perfect piece to practice those curls.
Click the image here to see some progress pictures and the finished portrait.