Sometimes I include chairs for the viewer to sit in with the sculptures or mirrors for the viewers to share with the figures. Another way I try to involve the viewer is through body gestures by the figures and eye-piercing stares that hope to engage the viewer. I want my figures to look like they are frozen in some sort of great effort with exaggerated facial and body expressions. I also love color and use it in my work to accentuate the expression of the figure. Like most artists, I start with an inspiration.
Inspiration is a very elusive thing.
Absurd TV shows, commercials, toys, cartoons, plays, and the movies inspire me the most. I also look at other artists such as Daumier, Red Grooms, Robert Arneson, David Gilhooly, Clayton Bailey, Big Daddy Roth and Arthur Gonzalez, to name a few. As a professional artist and student I have been very lucky to have been able to meet and show with most of the artists that pioneered the Northern California ceramic movement of the nineteen sixties and seventies. Their work and attitude has had a profound influence on my style. After I get an idea of what the sculpture's subject will be, I simply begin sculpting the feet or shoes and then work my way up the figure.