Breaking Up Is Hard To Do

I’m feeling stingy with some of my pieces. This I know is not conducive to making a living at selling my art. This is a problem I sometimes have with some of my works of art. Feeling overly protective has  happened before with the giant steel rooster, “Big Red” it’s happening with some of the “Gilper Fish” and the Grasshopper that Shara wants for the new Octopus Ink Gallery.  I’m also in love with the new Wheat commission… I’m not sure what triggers this reaction, but I want to keep certain pieces, handle them, weather them longer than necessary in the garden, or hang them in the Studio, feel them a bit longer before they go to their new homes. This is especially difficult when I’ve fallen in love with a piece that needs to go right away to the Gallery –my knee jerk reaction is to price the work at a million, gazillion dollars, but again, not very conducive to selling!

The good news is that once I am able to let a piece go, it’s because I’ve created another that I’ve fallen in love with. I suppose the other positive is that I’m happily married and this issue is strictly containted to my art...

In between suffering complete fits of inspiration because of all the FALL COLOR I’ve been surrounded by, I’m working on a special commission for a “Wheat” wall sculpture that will accompany the Chapel Tabernacle Rick and I made this past Spring. For a few weeks I’d been spinning how I was going to go about creating the stalks of wheat that needed to be fabricated to a custom designed, wall mounted candle holder. I called upon my friend Rick again at Western Sh

eetmetal to fabricate the perfect candle holder and from that the wheat design took off. I love being inspired by talented people! I was at the Chapel yesterday to custom fit the stalks of wheat to the curved wall and they looked graceful. Hopefully the committee will approve the burnished gold finish for the wheat and brushed steel for the stems, which tie in with the Globe Tabernacle and lighting fixtures.

Gilper Fish

These plasma cut and welded steel sculptures are my latest in the “Gilper Fish” series. Marieke inspired me to make more of them. She has one of my favorite “Gilper Fish Biggies” displayed on the outside of her home. When I was up at her house a couple weeks ago, I was flattered to see the big ‘ol fish being display so prominently. She calls them “Ugly Fish,” but only in the most admiring way. I think I’ve mentioned my fascination of the Coelacanth Fish and you know how much I LOVE our “Big Gulp Fossil Yunomi” by Bruce Gholson, they both remind me of my “Gilper Fish.”  Probably the best thing about the making of my Fish is the majority of the steel used to embellish the sculptures are pieces I 

cut from my huge scrap pile. Every artist that comes over WANTS my scrap pile, it’s really cool looking and is always evolving and shape shifting. For the new sculptures I wanted to make some new tags using scratchboard illustrated fish. On one side would have my usual artist info, the Gilper Fish name with the illustration and on the other side the story of the “Gilper Fish….” Of course the story on the tag will be edited for space and clarity :o)

This is a true story. When I was in second grade there was a boy named Brady who antagonized me to no end. He would taunt me, making fun of how tall and skinny I was, calling me a name over and over, every day.

At recess he would come running up to me saying (spraying) “Hey Gilper Fish! You look like a Gilper Fish!” he would laugh and point his chubby little finger in my face, spin on his small leather heeled shoes and run off. His British accent enunciated the word “Gilper Fish” until it was seared into my brain. One afternoon while waiting in line for recess, Brady was in front of me, looking more flushed than usual, and grinned at me. Out from his khaki trouser pocket he pulled a ring. A huge, antique looking, platinum, rectangle cut emerald ring (something from his

mother's jewelry box kind of ring...) with diamonds on each side. Even at eight, I knew bling when I saw it! His pudgy hand quickly presented the ring to me. He said “this is for you my Gilper Fish!” I was so shocked at the beauty of the ring and his sweet face, I took the ring to get a closer look and when I did the teacher shouted “all quiet and what are you two doing?!” panicked, I popped the ring into my mouth and before I knew it I had accidentally swallowed it! At only eight years old, I was too embarrassed to tell my parents what had happened, let alone the teacher, and not knowing the intricacies of the digestion system, to say the least the ring was never to be seen again. And that’s the story of the “Gilper Fish.”

oxXxo

This picture of my Sandhill Crane sculpture and the moose are especially for Peter in New Zealand! A good client sent us the photos after the pair of Moose and Magpies seem to enjoy the company of my large

steel sculpture. The clients have a beautiful home situated on a bluff overlooking Cook Inlet, perfect for viewing an abundance of wildlife, steel or real!