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Here is Crosstown, my newest stacked glass and baltic plywood Triptych sculpture.  An earlier blog shows some of the steps I went through to get to the final piece.

Designing and building sculptures is a multi step process.  First the various design ideas.  I personally like visually asymmetrically balanced sculptural designs. The final design rarely look even vaguely like the original design thoughts. Then comes the decision of what materials to use: steel, cedar, glass, baltic plywood, synthetic stone or something else. Then the technical details of how to attache the disparate materials together and how to physically balance the sculpture so that it will stand up. Then comes actually building the work.

But, one of the hardest parts is naming the piece. By the time I have finished all of the above processes, I am tempted to just number the piece and not give it a name. This, I have been told by people in the know, is not acceptable. It MUST have a unique name. So, hence Crosstown.

Enough of the serious sculpture!  Now for some Christmas presents.  I made some of these for presents last year, but forgot to take any photos.  Silly me.   I will be giving a demonstration at the Haywood County Arts Council in downtown Waynesville on Saturday, November 2, from 1-4 p.m. on how to make one.

Another stacked glass and stacked baltic plywood sculpture in progress.  I haven’t stained the wood parts yet nor glued the glass.  The glass pattern is a happy accident.  I was stacking it vertically when it tipped to the sides.

I have really liked the way that laminated baltic plywood works with stacked glass.  The lines compliment each other. This piece has both the stacked glass and laminated plywood lines running horizontally.

The first image is after I shaped the left side, but before the right side is completely shaped.

The second image is after the right side shape was finished.

This image is the first glass test.  I need to do some fine tuning to get the proportions just right.  Its not quite there yet.

My Steel Quilt Clock sold.  Thank you Haywood Arts Council.

My first try at welding stainless steel.  Just added it to the Haywood County Arts Council Members Show after Odin’s Eye sold.

Even before the opening of the Haywood County Arts Council Members Show, this piece sold.

It’s done.  Everything is connected and in place.

My newest piece is Baltic plywood, stacked glass and steel.  The stacked glass and base have not been attached yet.  The stacked glass I like, the base, I’m still thinking about.  I can’t attach the glass permanently until the base is attached.  Sculpture, what a pain.  The order it’s assembled in makes a huge difference.

Its finished. I’ve got say I really like this one. It went through a number of design stages like most of my work and this is where it finished.

I once watched this documentary about Georgia O’Keeffe (actually, I watched it a great number of times). In it she is being interviewed by this person who wants to gain great insight into her working process. She asks O’Keeffe how she knows when a painting is finished. O’Keeffe looks her right in the eye with an absolutely straight face says, “I start in the lower left hand corner and when I get to the upper right hand corner I know I am done.” The interviewer looks at her and says “Oh…”. Not a clue. I thought I would fall out of my chair.

So, when anyone asks how I know when one of my pieces is done, I’ll look them in the eye and say with an absolutely straight face, “I start in the lower left hand corner and when I get to the upper right hand corner I know I am done.”. If its good enough for Georgia O’Keeffe, its good enough for me.