Archives for Bronze

‘Plenty Left to Do’

‘Plenty Left to Do’

July 18, 2017 | by

Gerald Balciar and his wife Bonnie start every day with a walk around their property. They loop around the 10-acre plot near Parker, Colorado, three times, weaving between the trees they planted when they moved there 26 years ago. As they walk, Balciar counts bluebirds. “Most days we see eight or 10 of them,” he says. “When I get an idea, I grab a magic marker, a crayon, whatever I can find, and quickly sketch it out,” he says. “Sometimes, I just write it out. If I don’t, I’ll forget it, and I don’t want to do that.” Balciar has
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Spiritual Connection

Spiritual Connection

March 18, 2017 | by

Riding, roping, and sculpting are the things Greg Kelsey’s dreams are made of. Deep inside this sculptor beats the heart of a cowboy. He is the intrepid soul who likes to stand on the precipice of the future and hurl himself headlong over the edge to pursue his dreams. If it doesn’t always look real pretty, chalk it up to opportunities—not challenges—that have served well him during his 45 years on this earth. From childhood on, Kelsey was drawn to the natural world, coming from a long line of ranchers and rural dwellers. He also was drawn to art at
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Creative Freedom

Creative Freedom

January 18, 2017 | by

“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
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Finding His Voice

Finding His Voice

January 18, 2017 | by

While preparing for a massive show in 2013, Montana sculptor Tim Shinabarger found himself spending 70 hours a week in the studio. Stepping away from the show circuit maelstrom and what he describes as the marketing treadmill that consume so much of an artist’s time brought with it a wonderful surprise. Spending that much quality time in his studio put the sculptor in a new artistic space, a place of skill and confidence that was unprecedented for him. Even though Shinabarger’s past experience in taxidermy had provided him with an in-depth understanding of animal anatomy, this intense concentration reawakened his
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‘There’s an Honesty to Sculpture’

‘There’s an Honesty to Sculpture’

July 19, 2016 | by

Before Rod Zullo became a fine artist, he was a fisherman. For 10 years, he worked on big sport fishing boats in the Caribbean, logging 14-hour days for months at a time. Those long hours of hard work served as great preparation for him, as he traveled the road to becoming the award-winning sculptor he is today. They allowed Zullo to save up enough money to enroll at Montana State University in Bozeman, where he studied studio arts. They provided an opportunity for him to learn how to schmooze with clients and enjoy the social side of work. They gave
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‘Liberating the Spirit’

‘Liberating the Spirit’

May 19, 2016 | by

In the world of art and literature, Tony Angell is best known as an award-winning wildlife sculptor, painter, and author. However, to the corvids, owls, and sea mammals that have long inspired his creative spark, he has become an “angel” in the truest sense of the word. Infusing his stunning stone and bronze sculptures with a spirituality gained through a lifetime of firsthand observation, Angell has created an oeuvre of images whose value lies both in their aesthetic beauty and their ability to fuel the viewer’s desire to fully understand and protect these magnificent creatures of the wild. Tony Angell
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The Studio of Blair Buswell

The Studio of Blair Buswell

January 19, 2016 | by

Utah sculptor Blair Buswell’s initial response to having his studio immortalized within the pages of a magazine was, “It’s just a warehouse.” But warehouses, as utilitarian and functional as they are, just store stuff. This warehouse look-alike has far more grandiose aspirations. To the uninitiated observer, from the outside the wonders that reside within are not apparent. But, it’s a different story once you take a look inside. Over the years, Buswell has had six or seven studios, ranging from extra bedrooms to office buildings, historic homes, and even the downstairs of a dentist’s office. With every move, the best
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Balancing Act

Balancing Act

September 20, 2015 | by

As the early morning light steals in, it illuminates a stand of reeds. You watch in anticipation, breathlessly waiting, ready for the full light to capture the scene. Suddenly, as the light reaches a certain peak, a rush of birds—about 20 green-winged teal and mallards—descend as a unit. You hold your breath as the scene unfolds. The birds, exquisite in flight, weightless and graceful in their speed, race to the heights. These waterfowl, however, are not actually out in nature; they are a Walter Matia sculpture that spans an immense, indoor stone wall at business tycoon Boone Pickens’ Mesa Vista
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The Studio of Kent Ullberg

The Studio of Kent Ullberg

March 20, 2015 | by

Wildlife sculptor Kent Ullberg has had a certain amount of luck when it comes to finding just the right studio spaces. When he and his family visited Corpus Christi, Texas, more than 35 years ago, they saw a house for sale and decided to call the realtor. Upon learning that Ullberg was an artist, the realtor quickly pointed out that the house they had seen included a studio, with skylights, as part of the garage. “It was really a guest house,” Ullberg says now, “but that realtor knew the right things to say. And it turned into a great studio
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The Studio of David “Scott” Rogers

The Studio of David “Scott” Rogers

January 20, 2015 | by

Confirming that nearly 95 percent of his imagery celebrates the historical West, it’s obvious that sculptor David “Scott” Rogers could not have chosen a more appropriate location than Paradise, Utah, just 30 miles south of the Idaho border, in which to build his new studio. Surrounded on all four sides by mountains, the town of some 950 residents is situated in the Cache Valley, so named because it was a secluded area, where early mountain men “cached” their pelts in anticipation of the spring trading season. Scott Rogers The Wrangler Scott Rogers The Trooper
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