Last night was the opening of the Orange Art Gallery. It was an awesome night with hundreds of people coming through the exhibit and the new building. It was so exciting to see and hear people's reactions to my work. Most people were not familiar with my medium so there were lots of questions.
What I always enjoy is how people connect with the sculptures. Often they see something familiar in the face - sparking a memory of someone they love. There is often an emotional response - mostly smiles and laughter, ocassionally tears. People always share these memories or stories which often leads to ideas for my next sculpture. For an artist there is nothing more satisfying that seeing your audience connect with the art.
Sometimes art mirrors real life -

At the Orange Gallery opening, these three friends connected with "Gossip in the Park" . They saw themselves right down to hair colour and how they dressed. The lady on the left is a school teacher and she entertains her friends with stories about her students all the time. They recognized themselves and to my delight, reinforced what I was trying to capture in the piece. Friendship . . . hanging out with your girlfriends . . . laughter . . . Life's simple pleasures. Add a little wine, like these ladies did, and it's a perfect night.

This man attended a demonstration I gave last weekend. I was sculpting a head and he was watching. Suddenly people around us starting pointing out how much they looked alike. He was a great sport, hammed it up and let me take a picture.

People often ask me if I model my sculptures after anyone in particular. The answer is always yes and no. Subconsciously I think certain features keep popping up from my own memories or from people I know. Sometimes I meet someone who's features strike me and sometimes it's deliberate.
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