Photo is of Original Clay

Life-size

31” tall

Splendor of the Plains

This is a classic depiction of an aged, and thus wise, Oglala Sioux warrior in all his splendor. His many feathered war bonnet is associated with prestige, leadership, military prowess, and above all bravery. Each feather represents an individual act of bravery, such as collecting horses from the enemy, defeating a foe, or counting coup during a battle. The dragonfly symbol dangling from his bonnet represents the spirit of the “whirlwind,” meaning fearless and hard to kill during battle, able to dart quickly back and forth.

(Warrior on Horse)

Photo is of Original Clay

War Cry

This sculpture is about emotion and movement, warrior and horse as one on the brink of battle. They are a whirlwind of furious intensity, muscles tensed, lance tip gleaming in the sunlight, headdress of streaming eagle feathers.

The warrior could be a war chief raising his war lance as a signal for his party to charge the enemy.

The war paint symbols on the horse tell a story as well. The circle around the eye was thought to heighten the horse's senses. The hand print told of an enemy killed in battle. The number of hoof symbols on the rump indicated the number of successful horse raids or horse's stolen. Finally, the zig-zags on the legs gave the hose the speed and power of lightning.

A small sculpture packed full of detail and energy.

12x11x5

Photo is of Original Clay

This girl is picking beautiful flowers and daydreaming, as children everywhere have always done. The difference is that these flowers also happen to be very important to her way of life, as American Indians have planted squash for thousands of years. It is the oldest of the “three sisters” plants (corn and beans being the other two), which are food staples and considered sacred.

Traditionally, infertile male blossoms are gathered in the morning before the flowers open, and eaten fresh, fried, added to soup or dried and saved for winter.

The girl is Cherokee, as evidenced by her headband, beaded medallion necklace, and basket. She is also, very appropriately, wearing a Pueblo squash blossom necklace. This item could have been gifted to her, traded for, or she could even be from the later post-reservation time period during which intertribal sharing is even more common.

After I had settled on the squash blossom for this sculpture, I was desperate to find actual squash blossoms to look at. Photos off the internet are great, but for a sculptor there is nothing better than studying the real thing up close and personal, in all it’s 3-D glory! It was summer at the time and though my wife had planted squash alongside her tomatoes earlier in the year, they had not survived a couple of severe late Spring thunderstorms…or so we thought! I was pondering my squash blossom dilema one morning, when my wife just happened to look out our back window and exclaim with joy that one of her squash plants was still alive! I rushed to see and low and behold, there was one scraggly yellow squash blossom timidly peeking out from between the towering tomato vines! My dilemma was solved!!! Over the next week and a half I would set the sculpture on an upside-down bucket next to the squash plant early in the morning and wait. I found out very quickly that our plant would only yield one blossom at a time, and that each blossom would only open up for about 2 or 3 hours for one morning and then slowly and tauntingly close back up, never to open again! As often as not, I would get everything ready only to find that the next bud was not going to open up that morning after all. Any curious chickens, cats, or dogs wandering around our backyard would hear curses coming from behind the tomato plants on those mornings! Suffice it to say that the girl in the sculpture must be benefitting from a much larger squash garden than I had!!

20h x 11w x 7d

Photo is of Original Clay

Straight and True

According to Lakota legend, the arrow comes from the sun, when the sun’s rays are shafts of light descending through the clouds.

Though the bow was necessary, it was the straightness of the arrow which enabled it to hit its mark. Every warrior was able to make his own arrows in an elaborate and time consuming process.

Arrow sticks were cut from gooseberry, cherry, or Juneberry in late winter when the sap was down and then hung from the top of the tipi to dry for several weeks. Special sanding stones with tubular grooves were then scraped along the shafts to ensure uniform thickness. Curves in the shaft were heated and straightened by hand or with wrenches made from antler, bone or stone. Nocks were cut into each end to hold the arrowhead and bowstring. The arrowhead (bone, stone, or steel) was secured at one end with glue and sinew. The shaft was then painted with identification marks unique to the warrior. The final step was the fletching, in which feathers from eagle, hawk, or wild turkey were split and fastened with glue and sinew.

With a well made bow and arrows, a Plains Indian warrior proved to be a match for anyone in hunting and warfare at close range.

15 x 15 x 11

Photo is of Original Clay

Lakota Lullaby

“Wakanyeja” means “Little sacred ones.”

I was inspired to create this work upon seeing old photos of native American mothers with their babies nestled into backpacks. I attempted to communicate the special bond between mother and child by tilting their heads towards each other and bringing the mother’s arm up and back so that she is holding the baby’s other hand behind her.

Interestingly, it was only after I had come up with the name “Lakota Lullaby” for the work that I came across a native American song with the same title. The origins of the song appear to have come from the Lakota tribe long ago. Many versions can be found online, all of which are sung in the native Lakota tongue. Loosely translated, it says, “Good hearted child go to sleep. The night is good. Tomorrow will be nice. I am speaking to you.”

20 x 14 x 10

“So the American farmer stumbled after his team. the hard clods tripping and hurting his feet, the burning sweat running down his forehead into his eyes. At the end of the furrow, he dragged the heavy plow around, jerked the horses away from the rank grasses in the fence corner and started back the monotonous way he had come” (from The Nation’s Business, Sept., 1919, p. 14).

Part of the sculpture series, The Greatest Generation:

This is the generation (1930's-1950's) that endured the Great depression, World War II and the droughts of the '50's. Values necessary to their survival included industriousness, courage, fortitude, opportunity, confidence in progress, the simpler life, and self-reliance. This sculpture series attempts to chronicle these values by telling the stories of the individuals. It is my hope that the sculptural beauty of these works reflect the courageous beauty of these individuals.

Bronze

14” x 19.5” x 6.5”

This horse is taking advantage of a little down time.

Caught in a dust storm!

Part of the sculpture series, The Greatest Generation:

This is the generation (1930's-1950's) that endured the Great depression, World War II and the droughts of the '50's. Values necessary to their survival included industriousness, courage, fortitude, opportunity, confidence in progress, the simpler life, and self-reliance. This sculpture series attempts to chronicle these values by telling the stories of the individuals. It is my hope that the sculptural beauty of these works reflect the courageous beauty of these individuals.

Bronze

11.5” x 14” x 4”

A burro with a sophisticated palate eating yucca blooms.

A migrant farm worker family picking potatoes. This is dear to my heart because my grandparents lived in Shafter, California, just a few miles from the infamous migrant work camps of the 1930’s. My grandma remembers moving there as a little girl with a mattress strapped to the top of the car, and my dad remembers picking potatoes as a child. To this day he attributes the work ethic he attained from this experience to his success later in life!

Part of the sculpture series, The Greatest Generation:

This is the generation (1930's-1950's) that endured the Great depression, World War II and the droughts of the '50's. Values necessary to their survival included industriousness, courage, fortitude, opportunity, confidence in progress, the simpler life, and self-reliance. This sculpture series attempts to chronicle these values by telling the stories of the individuals. It is my hope that the sculptural beauty of these works reflect the courageous beauty of these individuals.

James Butler Bonham Returning to the Alamo

14”h x 7”w

On March 3, 1836, during the siege of the Alamo, Bonham, a childhood friend of Col. Travis, braved intense fire from enemy troops to return to the Alamo and deliver the message reinforcements would not make it in time. Despite urging from General Houston to remain, Bonham explained he was a “man of his word” and compelled to return to his comrades at the Alamo. Three days after his return, the Alamo fell and Bonham fell at his post along with the rest of the defenders in the name of Liberty and Freedom.

20" x 33" x 22"

During the days of the great cattle drives, it was not unusual for a herd to be driven through the dusty streets of the towns along its path. This longhorn cow and calf are being driven by the tired cowboy through a flock of chickens and a goat that were minding their own business, presumably on a street somewhere. In the days before streetlights and car horns, this traffic jam caused quite a stir.

Jeff has always wanted to sculpt a cattle drive scene but did not want to do just another run-of-the-mill version of cattle stampeding. It is his hope that the idea for "Traffic Jam" is original enough to be worthy of capturing in bronze. Jeff's challenge was to make it seem like all the different animals are scattering while at the same time the sculpture as a whole has a sense of rhythm that is artistically pleasing to the eye.

19" x 14" x 10"

This sculpture shows a woman sitting in a chair, knitting, but being distracted by something through the window. Her gesture and expression is peaceful, though her knitting alludes to the hardships women settlers had to endure.

What is it that she is distracted by? Is her husband coming up over the hill? Is she day dreaming? Is she thinking of home back east? That is for you to decide.

This design gave Jeff a chance to manipulate negative space (the space around the sculpture) by encourages the viewer to look through the window to see the woman’s face. Also, the way the window frame and curtain seem suspended in midair, held up by the woman’s hand, adds to the sculpture’s interest.

SOLD OUT!

14" x 9" x 10"

It is peaceful in the mornings and a cowboy is starting the day off right by drinking coffee and reading from the Good Book (Bible). He is sharing the moment with his good friend, his border collie. His rope and hat lay on the floor next to the chair.

Jeff prefers to sculpt real people with real personalities. From the cowboy's face to his crooked thumb holding the coffee (the real cowboy who posed was proud of his crooked thumb!) this sculpture shows someone real doing something that real people do all over the west.

The model, a retired cowboy preacher, even read aloud from his old, worn Bible while he posed. The sculpting sessions, which went on for about a month and a half, turned into Bible studies, which Jeff and others who began attending thoroughly enjoyed.

11" x 5.5" x 8.5"

This sculpture has a spiral design that extends into the dust cloud at the base, tension in the opposing angles, yet rhythm in the repeating angles. The horse is angry, nostrils flaring. The cowboy is fanning his hat as if he is in control, but his leg positions show otherwise.

25” tall

This is a different kind of night watch than this cowboy has ever done before! He holds his son who has finally fallen asleep in one arm and a teddy bear in the other.

15" x 10" x 9"

This sculpture speaks to those modern day cowboys who have to walk past the saddle in their entryway every day on their way to work.

10" x 6" x 5"

The model for this sculpture was actually Jeff's 2 year old niece, but it could just as easily have been any child growing up on a farm or ranch. While sculpting, Jeff's niece did not like Jeff's metal calipers (measuring tools) and cried every time he tried to use them to measure her face. He finally figured out that if he let her play with some of his clay, he could distract her and get the measurements he needed.

16" x 12" x 8"

This old cowboy is squinting into the distance, pondering only he knows what. He captures that part of the cowboy spirit which is quiet and deep thinking.

14" x 13" x 6"

This is just an old horse who has seen a lot of cows, ridden a lot of trails, and has a lot of experience. He’s the cowboy’s faithful companion.

7" x 4.5" x 8"

This is a portrait of a dusty, crusty herford bull.

3" x 6" x 22.5"

A solitary horse and rider crosses a rocky stream.

This sculpture was a successful experiment. First, Jeff wanted to give the viewer the sense of looking at the subject from a a long ways away. This is accomplished by making the foreground much larger than the subject, as in a movie when there is a panoramic scene. Second, Jeff wanted to experiment with abstract forms and then contextualize those forms by adding in a representational subject. In other words, as soon as you place the little horse and rider into the composition, the grouping of clay wedges suddenly becomes a grouping of rocks at a river crossing.

To top it all off, you can have the option of a "pit" patina (not shown here) done to the sculpture. The patina is the chemical coloration applied to the bronze. A pit patina is the process of burying the sculpture in the ground with the chemicals to react organically for a week or so. The result is a random, unexpected mix of golds and earth tones that can be quite beautiful. No two pit patinas are alike, which makes each one a kind of experiment, which fits well with the experimental nature of this particular sculpture.