12/30/23
Well, this is a long time coming...
Back in 2021 Karen showed me a polar bear statue in Hobby Lobby. She liked enough that I said she should buy it. (Because it was way cheaper than I would charge to do it.) She didn't, so I did. I carved if from a large block of my favorite material, water-based clay.
I gave it to her as a bisque fired piece. Thank goodness she enjoys painting because her coloration brought it to life.
I completely forgot to post it here back then, AND can't find progress pics so... Click the image here for a couple pictures of the finished piece sitting in our entryway.
12/25/23
Last year I made a Nativity set for our church to replace the old ugly one I did for our new church building in 2005.
Click the image here to see progress pictures and learn the story of how it shattered in the kiln.
10/27/23
As an example in my ceramics class, I sculpted a scary face. The plan was to crush it up and use the clay for another project, but after showing it to Benjamin Percy, his reaction was, "Wow. That's fantastic work. I want one to put on my mantle!"
Since he gave me a signed book of his last year, I thought it would be nice to repay the favor so I finished it off and delivered it yesterday.
Click the image for details on the process and a few comments seen on Facebook.
10/5/23
I had the opportunity to sculpt Susan Wyatt, Senior Vice President of Customer Success at Lyra Health, in butter.
Susan's team heard that she had a dream of getting her likeness carved in butter so they contacted me about performing during a team gathering in Minneapolis.
I carved some of it in the refrigerator, then transported it to the Prohibition Bar at the Foshay Tower in Minneapolis to perform (finish the sculpture) on-site. Click the image here for more details.
9/30/23
The project for this posting was actually done in July but because it was made for a wedding, I couldn't reveal it until after the big event.
Lauren and Adam wanted a little "Minnesota" vibe to their wedding reception and asked for a butter portrait of themselves for the reception.
You can see the results by clicking the small image above.
I also have to say what great clients they were; sending a plethora of excellent reference photos that lacked nothing and being so enthralled with the finished product. Generally, I enjoy my clients and their ideas, but Lauren and Adam stand out as the best of my career so far!
9/14/23
The start of school is always hectic after the fair so this post never happens as soon as I'd like it to. (But, this year's post is sooner than last or the year before so... Progress?)
As usual, I had a blast talking with Princess Kay, Emma Kuball, and the finalists while slowly turning in the butter booth at the State Fair. It's so much fun listening to their stories and carving a likeness of them in butter. My wife says I love the attention. Well, to be honest, when I get alot of attention from the fair, she also gives me alot of attention. So Yes, Karen, I love the attention (that you give me!) Click the small image here to see how each sculpture progressed each day and some of the (media) attention that was served up.
6/30/23
I really loved working with my most recent clients. They provided great photo reference, were very gracious and just really fun people. (--You'll hear more about them and see the project in a couple months [see post from 9/30 above] after their big event.) But sometimes it's fun to just throw clay together and see what happens. After seeing something similar to this sculpture on-line, I was inspired to sculpt my take on the pose. Click the small image here to see more.
5/6/23
I am happy with Therese's Senior Portrait. As I remember, I wasn't finished with Anissa's portrait until May 20th. Feeling relieved that I have time to slowly dry it before firing. As always, progress pictures and the finished sculpt can be seen by clicking the image here.
4/5/23
This must be a record of some sort... Posting two blog entries in two days.
Today I finished sculpting Anne F's portrait. She sat for me during our Community Art Show and Soup Bowl Fundraiser last month. (I mentioned making bowls for it on 2/27 below.) As always, click the image here for more information and details.
4/3/23
This was a fun project: They wanted to celebrate the CEO of Land O Lakes joining the Starbucks board of directors with a 90-pound block of butter.
They asked me to carve a Starbucks logo with Beth Ford's face on it. More details can be found by clicking the image here.
3/4/23
Well this was a long time in coming... Finished sculpting the John Paul II statue earlier this month. Sometimes circumstances force commissions to the back burner while others come to the front. That's the case with this one.
Still have to wait a while before it is cast in bronze though. Click the image here for pictures.
2/27/23
The Carolyn Becher Art Scholarship Fundraiser is coming up and since my school kiln has been on the fritz, I haven't been able to fire projects like normal. So... I've been making bowls and firing them in my kiln. It's been a while since I made pottery and so I thought it'd be fun to make a video to see how (badly) I make bowls now. ;)
If you want to see how it's done, click the image here.
2/12/23
I started this "quick study" of Cardinal John Henry Newman during conferences last month thinking I'd recycle it at the end of the night. But it came along nicely and I decided to finish it.
This portrait came together very smoothly and, to me, looks so alive.
Take a quick look at some of the details by clicking the image here.
1/13/23
We learned that a person from our church passed away recently. He was too young to leave this world. Only a few years older than I am. So the subject of the 12th phone case drawing became "Time".
Life is fleeting. Do what you can with those you love while you can.
Oh, clicking the image here will bring you to the Phone Case page, then you'll have to scroll down a bit to see this one.
1/6/22
The completed Nativity set for St. Philip's Church can be seen displayed there inside a stable made by Chuck Fuller. I'm much happier with this version than the old one from 2005. I guess 17 years has made a difference in my sculpting ability. Not to mention the extraordinary color that Karen added to these! For now, I'm very proud of this set of 7 sculptures!