Flowers are favorite subjects, he said. For a bear sculpture, he used a coarser rock to emulate its fur. Arnold has created so many sculptures, he couldn't venture a guess as to how many. The artist never seems to run out of ideas, he said, adding traveling helps. While on a rafting trip a few years ago, the sheer rock-eroded walls of a river canyon inspired a piece solely dedicated to the rock formation.
Some sculptures are wild-looking.
Some are more involved than others. Sometimes he sees artful images in dreams. He's currently working on an octopus and a series of a goddess surfing a whale. These whales were believed near extinct early in the 20th century. But full protection since 1946 has allowed them to increase their numbers significantly, and they were removed from the endangered species list five years ago.