Bronze sculpture
6 lbs
13" x 8" x 7" 
Dance of the Deep
As a sculptor, I make many pieces for myself, but I am also often approached to create custom sculptures for other people.
There are some in the art world who say that accepting commissions is a sellout, a betrayal of the artist’s inner voice. How can you subjugate your vision to that of another, they ask?
The truth is I bring my own vision to every project I engage. From concept sketches to finished sculpture, even though the end result has to please the client, the individual hand of the artist is
in every stroke. No one else could create the same sculpture in the same way.
Custom commission work allows me to temporarily enter into someone else’s mindset.
Sculpture can take many months to complete, and for the duration, I find myself immersed in a story I might never have discovered on my own. The process can take me out of my own head, and offer new, unexpected perspectives, which of course gets incorporated to some degree into my own future work.
One of my oldest friends became a world traveled dive-master.
Dance of the Deep was inspired from an afternoon spent listening to Captain Dave relating his encounters with octopi. His fascination with marine life was infectious. Living in Fort Worth, Texas, far from the coast, this was not a subject that would typically have come to my attention. In this sculpture I wanted to capture the ethereal dance-like grace with which these eight limbed creatures navigate their watery realm. The rusted anchor is a nod to the mythical Kraken, which would attack ocean going vessels and drag them down to their doom. It has been a very successful work, and is still popular. It’s a favorite of my kids. The Captain purchased the first one, and still keeps it on his boat. Another aspect of this particular work is a demonstration that despite its weight, properly crafted, a bronze sculpture can appear graceful, light, and airy.