“Earthlings” Notes

Every one of us experiences moments when we see something and our eyes suddenly widen, we gasp involuntarily, and we smile all the way up to our eyebrows. We feel a soaring delight before our intellect can even begin to guess why. It is an experience that energizes the body, warms the heart, and quietly affirms the mind’s hopes. Although the things that spark it can be highly individual, the feeling itself is universal.

Igniting this feeling is the core goal of my work.

The traditional materials and techniques of architectural ornament allow the creation of complex and highly refined forms that can be produced indefinitely, and finished in endless ways.

These sculptures have been created over the last 25 years. Each one begins as an oil-based clay model. This design phase of the piece usually involves several radical changes before it is ready for the rest of the process. When it is as finished as the soft clay can be, I make the first rubber mold from it. The clay then gets saved for future re-use, and I make a plaster casting from the mold. This casting is then fine-finished using jewelers’ files, dental and surgical tools. It becomes my prototype and from it I make the second and -usually- final rubber mold. For portrait-based pieces there can be one or two more rounds of refining and mold-making, as I do the face first and add the rest when it is perfected.

The production process takes months, not counting the clay designing stage, which can span several years. For this reason, if they were one-of-a-kind or limited editions, the prices would have to be astronomical, and then only a few people could enjoy them. Special hand-painted editions take several more weeks and have as many as 15 layers of primer, paints and sealant. My studio is also my home, so the materials I use as safe to live with as the latex paint on the walls.

With rare exceptions I do all my casting in Hydrocal plaster, which is composed entirely of two pure minerals: gypsum and quartz. It is not weatherproof and it is quite brittle, but it is, to me, magical. I think the quartz allows each piece to store and transmit subtle energy, so I am careful to maintain harmony and the highest possible intentions during the creation of these pieces. They exist to bring gentle positive energy and meaning to all those who experience them.

This set of special editions is painted using colors as vibrant as a perfect fall day. If pure color is a source of nourishment to the spirit, then these are highly nutritious pieces indeed. They are all specifically chosen and created to resonate in this space and time, at the Expanding Heart Center, a brightly shining matrix of our new-paradigm community. May they bring you joy and harmony.