Animal Line Drawing Sculptures in Steel

Abstract Bull, State 11. 2005. Steel. Dimensions variable. Private Collection
Picasso has had a quiet, but huge influence on my fences and sculpture. Whatever else you may choose to say about the man, he had a knack for draughting the perfect line and I've aspired to match him on that when drawing my Acrobats and Dancers for steel sculpture and fences. The Bull above is adapted from State 11 of Picasso's 1945 series of lithographs known as The Bull. He started with a fully realized, realistic image of a bull and proceeded in each of eleven states to further simplify it down to the most essential lines. That's pretty much exactly the process I follow when creating a Dancer sculpture… I start from a photo, abstract to the minimum number of lines and then tweak it until the gesture of the figure conveys movement so strongly you can't help but see what's about to happen next.  I wasn't thinking of Picasso's Bulls when I started working with the Dancer sculptures and fences, (actually, I was thinking about Haring's desire to create easily understood imagery that appealed to the broadest number of people without sacrificing depth) but it's certainly the same process. The Bird sculptures below were early experiments in using line art as a basis for sculpture. If I remember correctly, one was based on a neon sign and the other I drew by hand. The dog is a more recent piece  I adapted from a doodle in the margins of my notes from an Arts Council board meeting.
Heron, 2003: steel, 58" tall Private Collection	Doggie Doodle, 2005: steel, 30" H x 42" W x 6" D? Private Collection	Flamingo, 2003: steel, 56" tall Private Collection
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