I consider myself a vey lucky man, in that, here I am 58 years old and have been blessed with the opportunities to pursue passions in life that are most important in my mind. Actually, I probably have too many passions and interests. Now about my art.........
I am for the most part a self taught artist. Having worked in Oil Painting for a number of years I now split my free time between painting and making rustic furniture. I will always paint, but the rustic bug has bitten me really hard. There is a lot of challenge with making rustic furniture and it is personally a very rewarding series of acts to actually make units of furniture from the woods. All artists get pleasure from their work or they wouldn't do it. Creating, is what trips our triggers. Creating - begins in our minds, or at the easel, or out in the woods.
While oil painting and building rustic furniture may be at the opposite ends of the spectrum - I feel that in some ways, what I have learned in one medium also helps me with the other. Sometimes they don't. The discipline to create is the same. You focus to take an idea to the end result, if there is an end result. The fun part for most artists is the part in between the idea and the end result. That is the creating- the making.
My interest in Painting didnt seriously begin until about 1990 when I was approaching a 40 year old. I have however been a lifelong doodler and piddler. I took some classes with a small group in a ladies basement. I think I was hooked after that first painting. At the time I was living a cowboys lifestyle, managing a cattle ranch NE of Kansas City. I'm a pretty fast painter, and accumulated a lot of paintings in a short time. Wow, what am I going to do with all of these - I organized a show in the local home town. We put 4 artists together and had our show. I was estatic. I sold nearly $3000 worth of $200 paintings. Not a bad days pay for an ol' cowboy. I sold paintings along the way until about '99 when I took a couple years off from the real world to pursue a career in fine art. I did the traveling art show circuit around the Midwest and really enjoyed the lifestyle and great experiences. I still enjoy painting and always will. For now however I have been bitten by the rustic furniture bug. I have a memory full of great paintings to put on canvas, and someday my painting will explode again.
The Romance of the Forest ~
~ Passion of the Tree
With Rustic Furniture making, you might as well set aside everything you ever knew about straight lines, plumb and square. Working with the natural form of the tree is a concept with its own set of rules. The forest has its own rules that govern the development, shape and texture of each and every tree, limb, branch and twig. I try to preserve that natural balance in my work. No two pieces are the same, just as no two trees are the same. The process is not overnight....first you must gather wood that can be used for making. I enjoy the gathering stage. It's the time that you get to walk in the woods to wander and wonder - you visualize and ideas take shap in your mind. Then, there is the drying stage or sometimes you work with the wood still green. There are no limits - no straight lines to deal with - no repetition. Then you get to the furniture making stage. It's all about hand / eye coordination and primitive tools. The choosing of each piece of wood that you have gathered and the placement of it within an idea you have in your mind. Sometimes the will of the wood wins out over the idea in your mind. Sometimes its a compromise. No blueprints or plans, just allowing the character of the tree to express its own abstractions from nature. The finished work is only a story. The story begins in the forest and the tree, the maker is only the storyteller. The owner or user of the work - gets to finish the story..................
History is full of references to the rustic. It was the Tree of Knowledge that started history, and ever since, trees have been used in service of society. But it was not until the mid 18th century that rustic furniture as we know it today emerged. It is a craft born out of neccessity and out of the creative spirit to make things. There are many styles, designs and functions.
Rustic furniture can be functional and useful for everyday pleasure or it can simply be an accent piece that is pleasing to your eye. It may remind you of something. You may enjoy watching it change in the light or the shadow. It may fill an empty spot with grace or focal attention. You can use rustic furniture as a carriage into time or allow it to take you into the forest with the smell of rain, mold and rotting leaves. Rustic furniture may be comfortable to sit in or it may be awkward and clumsy. It may be smooth to the touch or it may have the texture of the wild. It has the feel of hand craftsmanship and the natural form of nature. It makes you feel good - wheather you sit in it or just want to look at it and admire the pure soothing virtues of nature.
It is by great economy of means
that one arrives at simplicity of expression.
(Henri Cartier-Bresson)
