12/20/21
Some years are so hectic that I don't have time to make a new website for Christmas. It got done this year, thankfully. Mostly because my wife Karen took care of the written and printed material so I could just copy and paste those things into this website.
Click the image here if you're curious how the kids have grown over the last 11 or so years.
We wish all of you a Merry Christmas and pray your New Year is fantastic!
12/19/21
It's quite an honor to be chosen as Midwest Dairy's Princess Kay Butter Sculptor. This year is a milestone for me and for former butter Sculptor, Linda Christensen. She has been at the Minnesota State Fair sculpting butter for 50 years! This year she handed me the "butter knife".
I hope to live up to the standard she set but those are big shoes to fill. I can't say enough about how great Linda is. She is always so humble and kind and generous. Working with her the last few years has been a joy-filled experience. Linda will be missed next year and I hope she finds a way to come visit and maybe help me out in that cold butter booth!
You can see progress pictures of this year's "butter heads" by clicking the image here. Then scroll down to the bottom of that page for links to some of the media coverage from this year.
11/2/21
October came and left really fast this year. --As time does lately. This is the 4th year I've attempted my Chalktober Challenge of making a chalk drawing on one of my slate boards every day of the month. As you can see here some days are inspired while others are not. Check out all the 2021 Chalktober drawings by clicking the image here... And while you're there you'll see links to the other years' drawings as well.
8/22/21
I've done some work for Brodin Studios over the years, including everything from scale models of police equipment to 9 foot tall statues. But much of my work has been taken over by 3-d printers and smooth, almost mechanical sculpting. This project came about because the client wanted a rough, hand-sculpted look instead of the more smooth texture common in most of Brodin Studios' work. Thus, I was able to do a quicker, more spontaneous clay work-up of this statue.
Sculpting the net would have been tedious so instead, Karen gave me an actual fishing net that she used in Sunday School. I embedded it in the clay to achieve a realistic net texture in a much shorter amount of time. As always, click the image above to see the details.
7/25/21
Should have posted this a couple months ago but I didn't want it out until after the wedding. Then I forgot about posting it until now. This is Andrew and Rachel's cake topper. He saw something similar to this and we worked on it together to make it more to his liking. No real process pics to show, just a single "money-shot", so click the thumbnail image here to see the whole thing.
6/19/21
Finally had some extra money so I could afford to cast my St. Andrew in bronze. I did that and a couple hands (Intercession) for $580. Seems like alot but bronze and all the process involved is costly.
Click the image here to see the finished product.
3/19/21
Luckily not too many people pay attention to this currently. If they did, I may have been chastised for not posting anything until now, three months into 2021. I don't necessarily write this for my current readers, but rather for my future readers: Those of you who are reading this after my death. I'd venture a guess that it's much more interesting to all of you after my demise.
I've been very busy with my first year teaching at Sauk Rapids. Teaching Yearbook, Computer Graphics and Photography along with coaching swimming took it's toll on my artwork time. If I don't get into the studio much, my mental health suffers. I get so depressed and sad.
The last two weeks, however, have been a joy because I started working on Anissa's senior portrait. Then, this weekend Andrew and I worked on a project that I can't really talk about yet. And finally, today I made a set of 12 bowls that I can't display yet either.
Be sure to check back here in the next few months to see what I'm talking about.
For now, enjoy a few pictures of Anissa's Senior Portrait.