Between Nature & Art

realistic antler sculpture by Jim Clark
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I have lived in Northeast Ohio most of my life. Childhood summers on Ohio farms led to a deep appreciation of nature & wildlife.   I traveled extensively in the mid and northwest United States and Canada, Europe and Asia. My art reflects my travels.
 My desire to express myself
in sculptural art began at age nine 
with a Trojan horse fashioned from a wood scrap
 using a screwdriver and hammer.    
Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once one grows up. Pablo Picasso

The primary focus of my art comes from  my love of nature. My medium is antler, horn and exotic woods. Antlers have a unique strength and beauty as powerful and graceful as the animals that possess them. It's an artistic and engineering challenge to create within the confines of the canvas presented by this medium. Each piece has its own character, as individually unique as the iris of an eye. 

Sometimes I find a tree or a stone so rich in natural beauty

 I can’t imagine how it might be improved.

 

I've always been intrigued

 

by the structural design of bone

 

 and the  graceful curvature of antler.

 

Art results not when nothing can be added,
but when nothing can be taken away.   James O. Collins

 
On 9/11/2001, one of the local teachers suffered a career-ending heart attack.  After 26 years in the nuclear detection and cancer therapy industries, I returned to the world of academia as a biology teacher.  One of my struggling students was an artist.  Using the school logo as shadow, I created our classroom logo and had him paint it on the door.  
Imagination is more important than knowledge. Albert Einstein
 
My interest in carving antler began in the early 80’s while traveling in the Native American lands of the U.S. and Canada. Through discussions with aboriginal artists, I began the pursuit of making my visions materialize.  
 
Having no formal art training, I began a dedicated program of self-guided research and experimentation. Finally after two decades, I studied with two masters.  The evolution continues....
You were given a gift. If you don't use it, what are you going to say when you get to heaven ? Frank
... & a special thanks to Frank.