I retired in June of 2001 as Director of Design at
DaimlerChrysler after working in various Exterior and Interior assignments
within the Design Studios for 39 years, also serving in the Army Reserve for 6
years as a cook. My degree is a B.F.A. in Industrial Design from Wayne State
University.
As head of the Truck Studio, we created the first Dodge
Durango then later the second generation Durango. At another point in my career
I had the Soft Trim Studio which designed the seats and doors for all of the
Chrysler products.
At Wayne State
the Industrial Design curriculum required 4 crafts classes. This is where I generated
an interest in metalwork. I began working in silver and copper then moved on to
include gold in my products. In the early years most of my clients were
coworkers. Now the client base is formed by “word of mouth”. There are clients
in many states and even Paris and England.
In retirement I have
enjoyed trying new techniques such as wire weaving, beading and experimenting
with Fimo clay and PMC (precious metal clay).
Recently I began creating plaques made of found objects,
aluminum, brass and copper.
Two years ago I made a copper fish weathervane for my son
who lives on a lake (pictured above). This led to the creation of fish
sculptures. The base is wood with either galvanize metal, aluminum, copper, found
objects and acrylic paint making up the surface.
Ideas for these sculptures come from various sources such as
magazines, internet, museum visits and 4:00 am brain flashes. One idea seems to
foster others. A recent fish is based on a Mondrian painting. I call it “PIET”.
After seeing a Dale Chilhuly exhibit in Naples, Florida I will try to do a
series of fish based on artists.
Naming them has been fun. Some of the names precede the
creation and others follow. One fish was pink with matching glass beads
covering the surface so I called it “PINKY TUSCADERO” from Happy Days TV show. I saw a photo of the rock group Kiss, did some
internet research, than decided to use that as an influence for “SIMMONS”, the
lead singer.
I keep a sketch book of ideas. When an idea comes to mind I
sketch it on whatever paper is available and enter it into the book for future
consideration and that includes names, “GOO GOO EYES”, “POLLACK” and “STUBBLE”.
You will see these some time in the future.
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