My purpose and motivation for shaping wood has always been the search for delight in form. I started working with wood when I was 18, whittling figurines with a pocket knife. I think I was attracted to wood because it was easily found and required simple tools.
I moved to British Columbia in 1969 and was deeply moved by the precise lines and abstraction of west coast native art. In 1982, I went to Japan for 17 months and was influenced by the Japanese aesthetic. My personal search for spiritual peace and clarity through yoga and meditation practices are also reflected in my work. Those experiences and living in nature have been my main influences.
I began this series of relief panels in 2008. Often wood sculptors draw inspiration from interestingly shaped wood. I have chosen to coax form from essentially, formless, dimensional lumber. I am now using aspen because of its whiteness and lack of character which emphasizes the forms that I create.
Being an organic material, the appearance of wood is always in transition. With exposure to light and air, it will change through golden, honey colours after decades.
I moved to British Columbia in 1969 and was deeply moved by the precise lines and abstraction of west coast native art. In 1982, I went to Japan for 17 months and was influenced by the Japanese aesthetic. My personal search for spiritual peace and clarity through yoga and meditation practices are also reflected in my work. Those experiences and living in nature have been my main influences.
I began this series of relief panels in 2008. Often wood sculptors draw inspiration from interestingly shaped wood. I have chosen to coax form from essentially, formless, dimensional lumber. I am now using aspen because of its whiteness and lack of character which emphasizes the forms that I create.
Being an organic material, the appearance of wood is always in transition. With exposure to light and air, it will change through golden, honey colours after decades.