Someone once asked me in the studio as they were looking at one of my clay sculptures that took hundreds of hours to create, “How long did it take you to create that?” As I was trying to count up the approximate hours, my assistant, Dan Hildreth, facetiously commented, “It took his whole life to create that.” Then we got into a little discussion how right on that comment was. An artist’s creations are an extension of that artists’ life and all his perspectives and input. As we express ourselves, what comes out is directly proportional to what’s gone in. Same with our speech, everyday actions, re-actions, etc.- we respond with the info we’ve garnered throughout our lives. One of my favorite mantras is: We all do the best we can with the tools we’re given! Another of my favorite quotes is by John Watson- “Be kind- everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”

The subject matter, the gestures, the amount of detail or impressionism, the texture- even the quality of the finished bronze that my foundry produces and the patina- they are all direct reflections of myself. It’s also fun to let people know that tour our foundry that if I leave my fingerprint in the original clay, the casting process is so accurate that that fingerprint will appear in the finished bronze.

Is it not true with all of us on all levels- our aura’s, our circle of influence, our “vibes” are truly our “creations”?

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