Finishes

In addition to shape, the finish on the outside of the work really adds texture and vibrancy for the viewer. Some works are polished to a high sheen. Other works are finished with a colorful powder coat, a process that uses an electrostatic charge to adhere powdered colors to the sculpture, which is then cured in an oven. This produces a durable, vivid finish that can withstand the elements.

#tbt #throwbackthursday #earlywork #portfolio #retrospective #art #gardenart #metalart #metalsculpture #plasmaartist #contemporaryart #steelsculpture #vibrant #powdercoat #electrostatic #kinetic #kineticart #kineticdesign #gardencity #boise #boiseartist #madeinidaho #cityoftrees #idahoartist #idahome #artexpo #artexponyc #artexpoNY #artexpo2023

Made in Idaho

I create shapes that I find beautiful. I aim for lightness, surprise, and playfulness.

#tbt #throwbackthursday #earlywork #portfolio #retrospective #art #gardenart #metalart #metalsculpture #plasmaartist #contemporaryart #steelsculpture #lightness #surprise #playfulness #kinetic #kineticart #kineticdesign #gardencity #boise #boiseartist #madeinidaho #cityoftrees #idahoartist #idahome #artexpo #artexponyc #artexpoNY #artexpo2023

Branching Patterns

Iconic images like cherry blossoms, and plum trees with their branching patterns and spots of color have been a real inspiration for me. Sometimes I go extremely abstract, and it doesn't look like the actual object, but I'm capturing those branching patterns. These patterns show up in nature everywhere--tree branches, rivers, lightening--there is something about this composition that's very appealing to the human eye.

#tbt #throwbackthursday #earlywork #portfolio #retrospective #art #gardenart #metalart #metalsculpture #plasmaartist #contemporaryart #steelsculpture #cherryblossoms #plumtrees #branching #kinetic #kineticart #kineticdesign #gardencity #boise #boiseartist #madeinidaho #cityoftrees #idahoartist #idahome #artexpo #artexponyc #artexpoNY #artexpo2023

Bubbles

I like the idea of bubbles floating up, weightless. And so I started exploring the power of circles in repetition, inspired by the geometric patterns of bubbles. I just really like the way that your eye is drawn up and around the work. Bubble Spiral (1), Balls in the Air (2), Bubbling Up (3), and Bubbles with Eyes (4) are some early examples of this technique.

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Found Patterns

Dreaming (1), Hummingbirds (2), and Serenity (3) are some early creations I designed while working from various patterns that I was finding on the internet - inspired by nature, myth, fabric, architecture, tattoos, advertising and fashion.

#tbt #throwbackthursday #earlywork #portfolio #retrospective #art #gardenart #metalart #metalsculpture #handmade #metalcraft #plasmaartist #plasmacutting #metalfabrication #contemporaryart #steelsculpture #dreaming #hummingbirds #serenity #kinetic #kineticart #kineticdesign #gardencity #boise #boiseartist #madeinidaho #cityoftrees #idahoartist #idahome

Garden City

It took about six months, after moving to Boise, to feel out the new town, get my hands around the new job, and get settled. I eventually rented some studio space in Garden City. At that time, Garden City was a tired, commercial suburb of Boise. It has since transformed into one of the most vital parts of Boise, a hub of arts and culture. My work began to evolve, becoming more complex. I started really exploring human forms like Great Legs and a Bubbly Personality (1st image), Torso (2), and one of my all time favorites, Apparition (3).

#tbt #throwbackthursday #earlywork #portfolio #retrospective #art #gardenart #metalart #metalsculpture #handmade #metalcraft #plasmaartist #plasmacutting #metalfabrication #contemporaryart #steelsculpture #greatlegsandabubblypersonality #torso #apparition #kinetic #kineticart #kineticdesign #gardencity #boise #boiseartist #madeinidaho #cityoftrees #idahoartist #idahome

Boise

In early 2011, after suffering through the economic downturn, I decided that living in a resort town like Aspen, CO wasn’t for me. My dog, Buddy and I moved back to Denver. Eventually, I uncovered an opportunity with a previous employer, MasterBrand Cabinets in Boise, ID. All I knew about Boise was that I played rugby in college with a guy who was from Boise. I ended accepting the job and moving to Boise. For a number of reasons, it has been one of the best decisions of my life. I'll be sharing several works from this point in time in this next series of posts.

#tbt #throwbackthursday #earlywork #portfolio #retrospective #art #gardenart #metalart #metalsculpture #handmade #metalcraft #plasmaartist #plasmacutting #metalfabrication #contemporaryart #steelsculpture #spiral #outsidethebox #randomactsofalligator #kinetic #kineticart #kineticdesign #boise #boiseartist #madeinidaho #cityoftrees #idahoartist #idahome

Aspen

Here's a last look back at some of the Aspen works.

#tbt #throwbackthursday #earlywork #portfolio #retrospective #metalart #metalsculpture #handmade #metalcraft #plasmaartist #plasmacutting #metalfabrication #contemporaryart #steelsculpture #kinetic #kineticart #kineticdesign #aspen #baldwingallery #aspenartmuseum #chachagallery #christophermartingallery #edengallery #hextongallery #weissandwirthinteriordesign #luxedecor #sagercontemporary

Moments

I hope what the viewer takes away from my work is, surprise and delight—a sense of wonder about movement—a moment of happiness, or joy, perhaps looking at things in a new way.

#tbt #throwbackthursday #earlywork #portfolio #retrospective #moments #senseofwonder #perspective #metalart #metalsculpture #handmade #contemporaryart #steelsculpture #subtractivefabrication #kinetic #kineticart #kineticdesign #aspen #baldwingallery #aspenartmuseum #chachagallery #christophermartingallery #edengallery #hextongallery #weissandwirthinteriordesign #luxedecor #sagercontemporary

Geometrics

My work continued to evolve in different ways while I was living in Aspen. I refined my technique with the geometrics - repeating patterns of squares and circles and triangles - resulting in much more delicate patterns. I draw the shapes on the steel pipe, and then I cut them out. My plasma cutter work is all done by hand.

#tbt #throwbackthursday #earlywork #portfolio #retrospective #geometric #metalart #metalsculpture #handmade #patterns #contemporaryart #steelsculpture #subtractivefabrication #kinetic #kineticart #kineticdesign #aspen #gallery #baldwingallery #aspenartmuseum #chachagallery #christophermartingallery #edengallery#hextongallery #weissandwirthinteriordesign #luxedecor #sagercontemporary

Kinetic

I was represented by The Highlands Gallery at the base of the Aspen Highlands ski area, and had some pretty good luck selling art until the start of the great recession. Getting in that gallery and selling there helped me really believe in the quality of my work. These sculptures move a lot, whether it's a touch or whether it's a breeze, they are kinetic, and that's really visually and energetically enjoyable for me.

#tbt #throwbackthursday #earlywork #portfolio #retrospective #art #contemporaryart #steelsculpture subtractivefabrication #kinetic #kineticart #kineticdesign #aspen #gallery #baldwingallery #aspenartmuseum #chachagallery #christophermartingallery #edengallery #hextongallery #weissandwirthinteriordesign #luxedecor #sagercontemporary

Artplex Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

Pleased to announce that some of the following work will be featured at a group exhibition at Artplex Gallery in Los Angeles. Opening gathering 12/5 from 4-6pm. Exhibition runs from 12/5 -12/30.

#abstractsculpture #abstract #kinetic #kineticsculpture #metalsculpture #steelsculpture #spiral #femaleform #laart #laartshow #laartshow2022 #sculpture

Eyes

Uptown Vision in Dallas, a high-end eyewear retailer, gave me my first solo exhibition. To show my gratitude, I turned their eye logo into a couple of sculptures. They were very popular. It was a lesson in seeing things in new ways. I have always been drawn to beautiful eyes, and so for this show in Aspen, CO at the Red Brick Center for the Arts, I created variations on the eye theme.

#tbt #throwbackthursday #earlywork #portfolio #retrospective #art #contemporaryart #steelsculpture #subtractivefabrication #eyesculpture #eyes #ocularart #optometrist #hereslookingatyou #aspen #baldwingallery#aspenartmuseum #chachagallery #christophermartingallery #edengallery #hextongallery #weissandwirthinteriordesign #luxedecor #sagercontemporary

Detailed

Not long after I moved to Aspen, I purchased a plasma cutter, which enabled me to create more detailed work. Prior to this, everything I had done was with an oxyacetylene cutting torch. I started experimenting with the technique of using templates to create more detailed work like Dragon (1st image), and Hestia (2nd image) - my first foray into the human form.

#tbt #throwbackthursday #earlywork #portfolio #retrospective #kinetic #art #steelpipe #sculpture #plasmacutter #template #dragon #hestia #humanform #embrace #aspen #baldwingallery #aspenartmuseum #chachagallery #christophermartingallery #edengallery#hextongallery #weissandwirthinteriordesign #luxedecor #sagercontemporary

Aspen

In 2007 I moved from Dallas with the intention of getting back to Denver to live in the same town as my brothers. As luck would have it, I couldn’t find work in Denver and ended up taking a job taking care of vacation homes just outside of Aspen, CO. I initially rented a corner in a metal shop from a real cowboy named Jim, but eventually rented a dilapidated two car garage from a buddy. While in Aspen, I started experimenting with images of plants, flowers, and adding color.

#earlywork #portfolio #retrospective #kinetic #art #steelpipe #sculpture #modernart #cherryblossom #gardenart #zen #aspen #baldwingallery #aspenartmuseum #chachagallery #christophermartingallery #edengallery #hextongallery #weissandwirthinteriordesign #luxedecor #sagercontemporary

Energy

There's a lot of stored energy in pipe from the manufacturing process, and cutting it apart and bending it releases that energy so that it can be used in a different way.

#tbt #throwbackthursday #steelpipe #spiral #art #kinetic #energy #sculpture #portfolio #retrospective #subtractivefabrication #boiseartist #idahoartist #creativeartscenterofdallas #dallas #dallasartdealersassociation #dallasarts #nashermuseum #nashersculpturecenter


WIP

I cut this one on Tuesday and Wednesday night. Still need to grind/polish it and add some color. So far, so good.

#abstract #abstractsculpture #kinetic #kineticsculpture #kineticart #spiral #workinprogress #outdoorsculpture #metalsculpture #upcycle #steelsculpture #capitolcontemporarygallery #wip #wipart #curator #poliform #boiseartist #nasherpublic #rochebobois #wabisabi #kinboise #coiledwines

Spirals

Although I did have some instruction early in my career, a lot of my learning has just been self-directed. Trial and error, so to speak. The spiral is the first work that I started to create, and in some ways, it's the most fun, and the most spontaneous.

Subtractive Fabrication

Most metal workers weld different parts together to create a unified whole. My process is more like a stone carver. I start with a steel pipe and I work subtractively, removing material and adding generally only space, in a process that I call subtractive fabrication. Here's another look back at some older work.