wood sculptures

However as the old adage goes “Don’t try to be the best at what you do, be the only one doing it” I started making sculpture using a wood construction that as far as I know is unique in New Zealand. The sky is the limit as far as design goes but by initially leaving the wood natural I found people were more interested in the construction than the form. It was as if they were more interested in how it was made rather than standing back and observing the sculpture.

So I started painting them with Resene colours and immediately noticed how the construction was pushed to the background and the forms took their rightful place. As a painter (artist) I’ve found the colour range of Resene perfect, good clean colours that mix well.

I love height in sculpture and when figures are standing tall and silent they have real presence.

With my family group I have a mother, father and two children and another big figure standing apart and aloof, a menace to the happy family perhaps or maybe just an odd uncle who is outside the clan.

With the use of colour I can portray personality which I couldn’t with the raw wood. Soft mother, stern father, fun children and the figure apart. That they stand beside the road at the entrance to Whitianga township is a great sense of pride as seeing art before you enter a town can improve your perception of that town.