The Process
I have a large and constantly growing collection of images and drawings of Stone Age forms.
I go through these images over and over again, selecting ones that affect me viscerally.
When I have a few I am satisfied with, I draw them on graph paper.
I put these on the wall and over time eliminate those that lose my interest.
On these drawings I try out various shapes, sizes and locations of circles and rectangles, looking for the right window or passageway.
The two dimensional shape is then transferred to basswood for carving. I like sizes that relate to common objects: the hand, a pillow, the human body or a small tree for outdoor shapes.
I sculpt the form based on how it feels in my hands, not how it looks. The smaller ones tend to be rounded. The larger ones tend to be thinner.
By the time I have finished carving it, I generally know what color to paint it. If not, I wait.
Usually the wood is gessoed and painted, but sometimes I hand rub multiple coats of powdered graphite into the raw wood and spray it with fixative. For a long time, the pieces were monochromatic. Lately, I have been experimenting with layering colors.
For the outdoor pieces in steel, the wood sculpture is used as the maquette for fabrication.
The titles seem to come in series. The titles are not meant to add interpretative information. Their primary purpose is to help me identify them. For instance, lately the title is a reference to the color.