“Right now, I have three life-sized brown bears in my studio,” reports Joshua Tobey, sounding far less perturbed than other people might be under similar circumstances. “I also have three different African table-top pieces in progress. And my job today is to push all that aside and conceptualize a new sculpture for my show in Oregon next month.”

Brown bears in the studio, multiple works in various stages of progress, new pieces to dream up, a calendar full of trips to art shows and foundries—it’s a fairly representative slice of the life of the bronze artist, who has been creating beautiful and inventive wildlife sculpture for almost two decades now.

It’s a lifestyle Tobey knows well and chose young. A second-generation artist, he drew early inspiration from his father Gene and his stepmother Rebecca, both successful bronze artists. “I had the benefit of growing up in the art world,” he says.

Josh Tobey

Hide (on all fours) & Seek (standing)
Bronze
18″ High and 26″ High
“I have sculpted a lot of bears. They are a perfect subject for anthropomorphic personalities.”

Josh Tobey

Wise Guy
Bronze
27″ High
“Owls have a wonderful form for sculpture. They also have incredible capacity for facial expression. It makes them a lot of fun to sculpt.”