fiberglass
Fiberglass has always been one of my favorite materials. I’ve returned to it throughout my art career because the finished product is durable, lightweight, and affords me unlimited options.
Once finished, this industrial material becomes FINE ART.
2021 | My Cockatoo | fiberglass, acrylic paint | 26″x18″x7″
2017 | Teardrop for My Clown | fiberglass, acrylic paint | 24″x16″x9″
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The wonders of Nature have always fascinated me…especially rock-formations of all kinds. For years, I’ve stared in-awe at the dynamited walls-of-rock while driving with my family on interstate highways. I finally realized that Fiberglass could be the vehicle to simulate the Essence of Nature through my art.
My Nature series, created between 1991 and 1996, consists of 22 fiberglass sculptures in various sizes and colors, for wall and pedestal.
1994 | Waterfalls & Mountains | Diptych | 33″x48″x8″ | Media: fiberglass, crushed pastels mixed with acrylic paint | Theme: Nature
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The Essence of Nature in Fiberglass
My experimentation-process began with jagged rock-like clay images. After making many molds, I filled them with a fiberglass cloth- liquid resin– catalyst mixture. Once dried, the hardened images were removed from their molds. My fun and excitement grew as I started splitting, adding-on, and inter-changing the many fiberglass pieces. Ultimately, I added mirrors to some of the organic shapes, to bring a new dimension to the series.
1975 | My Thinker: This 3.5 ft. outdoor sculpture was my first attempt using fiberglass-cloth and resin. There is a wire and cardboard armature beneath the surface. To brave the weather, a heavy natural-rock base anchors the lightweight sculpture.
1992 | Rocky Mountain, Red Rockies, and Island Treasure: simulate the dynamited mountain-walls found along USA’s highways
1992 | Rocky Road | 6″x9″x3″
Two duplicate mountain-images were made from the same mold. The first has an empty cavity. The second cavity is filled with mirrors.
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1993 | Low Tide…Bay of Fundy, Canada | Hidden Cave | Earthquake
Rocks & Flowers: Two photos show the shell of this relief-sculpture, and the finished product after mirrors and paint were added.
1993 | Low Tide…Bay of Fundy | 36″x15″
1993 | Earthquake | 8.5″x12″x6″
1993 | Rocks & Flowers | 18″x5″x3.5″
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1994 | Waterfalls and Mountains | diptych | detail | See the color photo on the 2nd-row.
- Waterfalls: To mimic water, as it cascades from a mountaintop, I created organic appendages by soaking large swarths of fiberglass-cloth with resin and folding them over wooden racks to cure.
- Mountains: The rugged rock-like centers simulate the mountainous landscape that anchors the waterfalls.
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1995 | Mountains, Glaciers & Rainbows | fiberglass, mirrors, and acrylic paint mixed with pastel.
This sculpture is one of my favorites. I successfully abstracted and stylized a mountain range, glaciers, and rainbows. The contrast between smooth and rough textures create an inviting outdoor environment. Enjoying Mother Nature’s playground is a gift
Mountains: The blue-green frame, at the base of the sculpture begins our journey upward. The multi-colored mountains are accented with magenta paint.
Glaciers: On the right, tall-vertical slats of mirror emulate towering ice formations and snow peaks.
Rainbows: To the left, triangular mirrors are fanned into an arc. The mirrors usually catch colorful reflections.
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1996 | Fred & Ginger: Let’s Dance | diptych | 20″x40″x8″
My homage to Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.
They were both movie actors for decades, in their own right. But from 1933-1939 they were a ballroom dance team in movie-musicals.
My diptych shows my abstracted images of Fred’s thin long-legged image on the left and Ginger in her flowing shawl and billowing gown, on the right.
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2017 | Teardrop for My Clown | 24″x16″x9″
Theme | External and Internal Personas.
Circus clowns are performers who use physical humor to entertain an audience. They often wear colorful clothing, makeup, wigs, and floppy footwear. Their antics bring laughter and joy.
But, despite their comical demeanor, clowns, like most of us, have problems and issues that are kept out of the public’s view. I created “Teardrop for My Clown” to represent our inner personas. A white teardrop drips from the corner of the eye, near the nose.
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2021 | My Cockatoo | 26″x18″x7″
I allowed myself lots of artistic leeway when creating this cockatoo’s image; body, crest, and wings. My color pallet was inspired by the many species I researched. To date, this bird is the last sculpture I’ve made with fiberglass.
When researching the domesticated cockatoo, I found their Life expectancy to be 40-70 years old; some have lived over 100 years in captivity. Because the birds usually out-live their owners, precautions must be taken to put a care plan in place to see that the birds are not left stranded, if anything happens to the owner. The cockatoo thrives on their companionship with the humans they love. Sadly, many cockatoos, and other parrots, end up in homeless situations (or they get passed around from owner to owner), which can be emotionally devastating for them. It’s best to pass them to a responsible person who can commit to them for a lifetime.
Cockatoos are tropical birds found throughout Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea, and other small surrounding islands. In the wild, their long, broad wings allow them to fly faster than 43mph.