Japanese art has been a big influence on my aesthetic and choice of wood as my primary medium. This August, I will be attending the Inami International Wooden Sculpture Camp in Nanto City, Japan. It will be held at Zuisen-ji, the largest temple in the Hokuriku region, built-in 1390. The vicinity is the workplace of […]
Patrick Gracewood
Sculpture Process: The Green Man from Sketch to Finished Sculpture
As a gardener, I’ve been cultivating plants for 60 years. As a sculptor, I’ve been researching the Green Man in books, museums, and churches. A current project which employs the sculpture process combines these interests into designs for a bronze fountain featuring the Green Man. My drawings confirmed an idea I’ve had that sculpture comes […]
Wood Sculpture Techniques at the Portland Japanese Garden
My art tells stories, my collaborator is wood. In my current series, I recycle construction debris, coaxing these manufactured shapes into revealing their natural irregularities. I work with cross-sections of wood and pay special attention to the grain and texture. With certain wood sculpture techniques, the history of the tree becomes an integral part of […]
“I am Leading this from What I Need as a Sculptor.”
Patrick Gracewood interviews sculptor, Alisa Looney PG. I’m curious about artists who combine different disciplines. We share a love of drawing, dance, and sculpture. I’d like to talk about process. When we are focused on “Making ART” it is easy to ignore our body’s needs. How do you care for your spirit’s needs as a […]
How To Create A Video Of Your Sculpture
A video of your sculpture is a tremendous way to introduce your sculpture to the world. There’s a very real chance that more people will see your art via video and the internet than will ever see it in real life. While working on a public art commission for TriMet, I had both the opportunity […]
Dance with Me: Sculpture, Dance and Creative Collaboration
My comment, “Sculpture and dance are closely related, much like a creative collaboration” had left some people puzzled at a recent Pacific Northwest Sculptors member meeting. I see dance and sculpture as a continuum of movement and stillness, the ephemeral to the eternal. Almost everything we know of early civilizations comes from sculpture. Indeed, if […]
How drawing influences sculpture
Sculpture takes a great deal of time to create. How do you think through a sculpture? Not just the mechanical/technical process, but the important aesthetic work of meaning. What do you want it to say, and how do you shape a physical object to have emotional resonance for others? Drawing sharpens both your eye and […]
Questions on Art, Commerce, and Eternity
I didn’t expect much of this condo estate sale. A friend wanted some advice about sculpture included in the estate. Expecting some Hummel figurines, I was astounded to see three beautiful stone carvings. Not just beautiful, old. Old as in ANCIENT. Two Buddhas and a devotional figure from Gandhara. 1500 to 1700 years old. Gandhara […]