Studio
You Cannot Succeed Without Failure
It is a mistake to suppose that men [or women] succeed through success; they much oftener succeed through failures. Precept, study, advice, and example could never have taught them so well as failure has done. Samuel Smiles (1812–1904), Scottish author and reformer “You cannot succeed without failure,” or so they say. It is difficult to…
Read MoreThe Things I Love
What do you love?
Read MoreMaking Molds, Part I
I have a troublesome relationship to making molds. I’ve made a few, but I really, really, really don’t like doing it. It’s very technical, stinky, and messy. It’s a skill that develops over time with much experience, so I feel like a total novice at this. When I lived in Maryland, I relied on the…
Read MoreFinishing Work: Young, Old, Broken, Whole
Young, Old, Broken, Whole
Read MoreA Grand Day in the City
Grove City, that is. We had a mural unveiling on Broad Street on the wall of Nonni’s Italian Trattoria. The painting was done by local artist, Andrew Hazelton. Let me tell you about meeting Andrew. Stacey Hogue of Green Pine Tree Studios had planned an arts event at beans on broad over two years ago. Three hundred…
Read MoreThe Work is the Most Important Thing
“The advice I like to give young artists, or really anybody who’ll listen to me, is not to wait around for inspiration. Inspiration is for amateurs; the rest of us just show up and get to work. If you wait around for the clouds to part and a bolt of lightning to strike you in…
Read MoreGetting Back into the Rhythm
I just came back from a week-long trip to Michigan. For a mom, a week-long trip is really a three-week trip. It takes a week or so to plan, pack, and get everything ready. It takes another week to do all the laundry, dishes, meal planning, grocery run, put everything away, and get everyone’s circadian rhythm reset.…
Read MoreOur Lady of Mercy and Sargent Shriver
I worked for Our Lady of Mercy Parish for nearly seven years, first on the Stations of the Cross, then on St. Joseph and the Virgin Annunciate. In some ways, that church feels like home to me. The folks on the liturgical arts committee were welcomed faces every time I brought in a design for…
Read MoreMy Sweet Spot
I had a model out to the studio today for the first time in what feels like forever. It was, and usually is, challenging to position him in just the right way so that his figure had balance, tension, and was not too uncomfortable for. Once we identified the perfect pose, I moved the armature…
Read MoreQ & A Fridays: Commissions
What is a commissioned sculpture and how does the process work? People are most familiar with art that hangs in galleries. The artists creates the work, brings it to the gallery, the gallery promotes it, and the art is sold in the gallery. The gallery takes a percentage of the sale and the rest is…
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