MARCH 2015: The Time keeping Fish
This fish came about one day when I was just playing around in my workshop. I’ve always liked the shape and movement of fish, and I wanted to try and capture that in sculpture. The sculpture sat in the shop for a little while half finished, but in March I decided to make it a little more interesting than just a decretive fish I decided to also make it a while bottle holder and a clock. Originally the fish was attached to the base by a spring, but that piece was too top heavy and I added gears to make it much more stable. Soon after the sculpture’s completion I was contacted by the people organizing our local Make a Wish fundraiser. They wondered if I could make a sculpture for their auction, and this piece was ready made. It was sold at the auction for $800, and was bought by our local brewery, 14th Star.
SEPTEMBER 2015: School of Fish
One day I was playing around with my plasma cutter, and made a small fish wall hanging based off a painting I did several months ago. The fish lay around my studio for a few weeks until I had to make a sculpture for our Local Wine and Cheese festival. They were raising money for the Friends of Northern Lake Champlain Water Quality Trust, and asked if I could submit a piece for the auction. Originally I had no clue what I was going to make for the event, but once I spotted the fish on a stool inspiration came to me. Using various pieces of clean and rusty flat stock I cut out and welded together this school of fish. Because the event was to benefit water quality, this school of fish represents the abundance of aquatic wildlife we hope to get back, by focusing on this important issue. The piece can act as a deck or room decoration while standing on its base, or it can be hung as a wall or ceiling hanging, and I made sure it looks good on both sides.