Alberta Institute for Wildlife Conservation Donation Completed

Here is the completed donation for the Alberta Institute of Wildlife Conservation's Gala on May 3, 2008. It took 60 hours to complete. They are just quick snapshots. See you at the Gala!

Great Horned Owl completed April 08

I have completed the commission of the Great Horned Owl. It was an incredible opportunity to research these amazing birds and create a realistic sculpture. I appreciated the opportunity. Thank you!

Article in THE AVENUE Magazine in Calgary, by Lynda Sea

I appreciated being profiled by Lynda Sea for The Avenue Magazine of Calgary, Alberta in the March 2008 issue. She included a fabulous picture of Alien III. The photo was taken by talented Calgary photographer, Guy Shulhan. Alien III was commissioned by Guy in 2007 after he saw my sculpture of Alien I at my studio.

Thank you to Lynda Sea and The Avenue for including me in the March issue and for permission to post the article here. I will post it tomorrow, as for some reason the image will not post tonight.

Career Guest Speaker question #2

Here is my answer to question #2 for the Career Day at Crescent Heights High School: What are the best and the worst things you can share with us about your job?

The worst part? keeping track of paperwork and keeping my books. Luckily, my wife, Corinne, helps out a lot with the paperwork. There are highs and lows with creativity. When I get into a low, its hard to break out of it.

The best part? I am my own boss and can generally work my own hours. However, this can lead to working too long, too late, too hard and leave little time for family and friends.

Career Day At Crescent Heights High School

I was disappointed to have to cancel my appearance at Career Day at Crescent Heights High School in Calgary. I was looking forward to meeting students interested in careers in the arts. I was stuck in the hospital with pneumonia. I have never been that sick before, and it's been a slow recovery. I am finally back to sculpting, with lots of breaks. I usually do not take breaks, so this has been a humbling experience for me.

I will tackle one question at a time, so it will take 8 entries to answer them all. If any students have questions for me, please feel free to have your teacher email them to me.

I received a list of questions to cover for Career Day. I am going to answer those questions here, so that any students that are interested can see what I would have talked about that day:

Question #1 of 8:
1. What has been your educational journey up to this point in your career?

I always loved drawing but my designated high school was an academic school with no art program. I didn't do well in school and had a lot of help studying from my mom. She was a high school teacher. I had poor reading skills and was in the lowest level classes. I did NOT enjoy school at all.

I ended up taking summer school correspondence courses to get all my credits to graduate high school. Looking back, I wish I had had the courage to go to the technical school that was available.

I was offered a job by my neighbour at a muffler shop when I was 17 . I learned to weld there. I think I would have applied my skills to art no matter where I worked. For example, if I had worked in a wood trade, like cabinetry, I might be a wood carver instead of a metal sculptor.

I would take the used parts and start building sculptures. One of my first was a 6 foot muffler man made out of mufflers, resonators, springs, pipes and brakes. Lucky for me, the area supervisor for the muffler shop was supportive of my art and had the muffler man on display outside his office for a while. It was also used in a fun company team building video and at a career day at SAIT. I have a couple of pictures of "Muffler Man" here. Please note he is wearing my hat!

I am telling you this story, because when I was your age, I started on the path towards two careers, one as a journeyman mechanic and one as a professional artist. It took me until I was 40 years old to finally become a full time artist. I am glad that I have another career to fall back on, but I wished that I had picked my back up career, instead of letting it pick me. I didn't plan my career path, and ended up just following through with the first real job I had in high school.

I enjoyed being a mechanic when I was working on the older vehicles. I didn't find electronics very exciting. As cars evolved, they started to have more electronic components, and my joy in working on newer cars faded. I miss the character of the older vehicles. I still love old cars and have a 67 GTO and a 67 Grand Prix.

I took private drawing lessons when I was a teenager. I took my mechanic's apprenticeship in Winnipeg, Manitoba. I took a one year apprenticeship in plumbing and learned how to hold a hammer drill at the top of a giant ladder, among other things!

Outside of work skills, I took a lost wax casting course and about 3 months of private lessons from a jeweller in the early 1990's.

In 1994, I read about a contest in Sculpture Magazine. On a whim, I made an entry. The magazine came out of the United States, and I never dreamed that I would actually be considered. However, I won first place for my design "Spawning Salmon" for CARHENGE, in Alliance NB (http://www.carhenge.com/) . That was a huge educational experience for me. I was working full time as a mechanic, had a short deadline, and had to create, deliver and install the sculpture myself. Sometimes experience is the best teacher. I learned a great deal through the process.

In 1996, I took an excellent course in Haystack, Maine from Tom Muir. He is an amazing silver smith and although I only had a two week course with him, it has had a lifelong impact on me. You never know when you will meet someone that has an incredible impact on your life. When you have opportunities, take them, as they might never come again. I have been trying to take another course with Tom ever since, but my schedule and finances never meshed with his courses.

Another opportunity arose when I took a course from Jeff de Boer (http://www.jeffdeboer.com/). I had come across his work in Reader's Digest and admired his mouse armour. My wife, Corinne, was taking her break at work and was checking out the ACAD website for classes. What are the chances that she found one that he was offering that started that very day! You needed a prerequisite or the instructor's permission and the class started in 2 hours. Her boss generously let her leave early from work. She came home and found me very sick at home. She packed up my portfolio, and our 2 year old son and me and drove us to the course. She didn't want me to miss the opportunity and did everything possible to get me there! She and our son waited in the truck for two hours in an amazing rain storm, so they could drive me home at the end of the class. Jeff reviewed my portfolio and accepted me into the course. He later offered me a job in his studio and I worked for him for three years as a Techical Assistant. It was a great learning on the job experience that enhanced many of my skills. I assisted on many projects, including cat armour, bronzes, and the tin toy carousel sculptures at the Westjet Terminal. Being able to work on metal full time made me realize that I did want to be a full time sculptor. Later, when I started working full time, Jeff sub contracted part of the barbed wire horse at the Glenbow Museum to me. You never know what an opportunity will lead to.

Other opportunities came up to work at places like F and D Scene Changes http://www.fdscenechanges.com/ and Heavy Industries http://www.heavyworld.com/ . I developed my skills in reading blue prints and work on large scale sets and props. I learned how to weld aluminum at F and D.

I do not have an art degree or certificate. For the most part, I am self taught. Sometimes I wish I had gone to art school, as I often learn skills the hard way, from trial and error. I couldn't afford to attend art school. Also, a close family friend that was an art teacher recommended that I didn't go. She felt that I might lose some of my individuality. It was a comfort to me to believe this, since I couldn't afford to go anyways.

I chose to set myself up financially with a house and a back up career first and then pursue my career as a full time artist. I fell in love at age 22 and got married. 10 years later we had the first of two wonderful children. With that came a lot of responsibilities. We all have our own experiences and choices that step by step take us down the journey of each of our lives. I don't think there are any right or wrong paths to the career as an artist. I do think it is a difficult career that each artist pours a lot of heart and soul into.

Kierra's (age 5) design - Fish #1, Sculpture by Geoff Sandhurst

This is a sculpture based on a design by my 5 year old daughter, Kierra. Both of my children have been sources of inspiration for sculpture. The first picture is the finished sculpture. The process follows below. I took her coloured drawing and made a transparency out of it. Then I enlarged the image on a wall and traced a larger image of her drawing. This became my template. The pieces for the fish were meticulously forged and welded to match the template. It took 31 hours to complete. I started on this piece at the Creative Kids Museum at the TELUS World of Science, Calgary, when I was the artist in residence in Nov/Dec 07. I worked on it in between working on the Great Horned Owl. While one sculpture cooled, I would work on the other, back and forth. This sculpture would sell for $1500.00, if Kierra was willing to part with it! She is pleased with the final result! Great collaboration Kierra!

Below: left is the Transparency and right is the Template.

Great Horned Owl Sculpture by Geoff Sandhurst, Photos by Guy Shulhan

Guy Shulhan has commissioned this sculpture of a Great Horned Owl. It is still in progress. The talons and the branch that it sits on are not completed yet. Thank you Guy for permission to post these photos.

The owl is just under life size and I have worked on it for 160 hours so far. It will be completed and on display at Alberta Institute of Wildlife's fundraising event in spring 2008.

Bulecher Sculpture by Geoff Sandhurst - Photos by Guy Shulan

Guy Shulan recently took these fabulous pictures of my sculpture, Bulecher. Bulecher is an imaginary creature I made back in 1980's. I am posting the here with his permission. Thank you Guy!

"Paw" Trophy Pictures

Here are some better pictures of the "Tiger Paw" Trophy for David Thompson Middle School in Calgary.

The basic form was steel rods and then filled with steel sheets. The form was shaped by hammering.

The underside was left quite rough and blackened between the toe pads to represent the fur that clumps there.

I left some of the pits in the gleaming paw surface to add a gritty, dangerous feeling to the paw.

"Paw" Trophy for David Thompson Middle School Completed

I have been working on the donation to David Thompson Middle School where our son attends grade 6. It's a trophy of a tiger's paw for their film festival. It took just over 20 hours to complete. I learned quite a bit about tiger's paw's while doing my research. Tigers have 5 toes on the front feet and 4 toes on the back. Their claws are retractable. The fifth toe on the front is called a dewclaw. If you are interested to learn more you can try this website:

http://www.jvbigcats.co.za/tigeranatomy.htm

Here are pictures of the original plastercine maquette, and the final product. Sorry they are quick snapshots and don't show much detail. Our son, Caelin, is holding the trophy in the second picture. The base is being made separately by someone else and will be attached at a later date.

Creative Kids Museum Sculpture Finished

The Collaborative Sculpture for the Creative Kids Museum at TELUS World of Science - Calgary is now complete. Here is the first picture of it. It's not hanging up in these images. I have it placed on the concrete patio area in our back yard. One of the guests at the museum, named Elizabeth, suggested that the girl and boy are looking at a caterpillar. Elizabeth said that because the girl was made of butterflies she was wondering where she came from. I liked the idea and so added the caterpillar. Thank you Elizabeth!

This is a detail of the leaves on the boy and above is detail of the butterflies on the girl. I hope you are able to see the different textures hammered into each leaf and butterfly in these pictures.

Artist Space and CKM scupture - The Boy

I have now welded on the textured leaves on the Creative Kids Museum's collaborative sculpture. I am putting pads on the back of the sculpture and spraying on a protective coating today.

This is the first part video of the my set up at Artist Space at the Creative Kids Museum at the TELUS World of Science, Calgary. Corinne, my wife, is narrating. Sorry, we are just filming on a little digital camera. Short videos and poor sound quality, but it does give you an idea of what I was doing at the CKM, if you didn't get a chance to visit.

I will be in on Dec 9, 10 and 11 for my final 3 days at the CKM.

It's been an incredible experience. Thank you to all that stopped by while I was there. Thank you to The Creative Kids Museum for accepting my proposal to be a short term artist-in-residence. I highly recommend the experience for other artists. I have come away having learned to work under observation, how to do workshops with small groups and have increased my comfort level talking to people of all ages. I have been inspired by the interest, curiousity and questions posed to me during my residency. Thank you again to the CKM and the incredible families that visit!

Fisherman's Dream Completed

Fisherman's Dream was a commission I completed for special clients that have been long time supporters of mine. I appreciated the opportunity to do this sculpture. It was made from sheets of 16 gauge steel, and the base was 3/16 plate.

It took approximately 200 hours to complete.

Change in Artist schedule at Creative Kids Museum at TELUS World of Science - Calgary

On Friday, November 30, 2007 I will be at the Creative Kids Museum at TELUS World of Science - Calgary from 5-9 pm during the members only Christmas party. If you are going to be at the party, please stop by the Artist Space. Cheers! Geoff

I'll be at CKM Nov 26, 27, 30 and Dec 1 & 2

Doodle by Kierra, March 2007

Fighting Potatoes by Geoff Sandhurst, 2007

I have had such inspiration from my children. They love to challenge me to take their doodles and turn them into a coloured pencil drawing. They try to doodle something difficult to try to stump me. I have examples of these drawings and doodles at the Creative Kids Museum at TELUS World of Science artist space. Come on down and see if you can match the doodle to the drawing it inspired!

Schedule for this week at the Creative Kids Museum at TELUS World of Science, Calgary

I'll be in the Artist Space this week for 4 hours each day on Nov 19, 20, 22,23,24 2007. The collaborative sculpture is about 40 % completed now with help from visitors to the CKM. Here are some answers to frequent questions I have:

1. How many pieces are there to texture for the CKM collaborative sculpture?
There are 200 pieces to texture to make 100 butterflies. There are 100 pieces to texture to make leaves. There is approximately 60% left to texture.

2. What kind of leaves?
The leaves are based on trees that grow in Alberta - oak, ash, maple, and poplar

3. What kind of butterfly?
The butterflies are based on Painted Lady butterflies that are found in Alberta.

3. How long did it take to make the hammers?
The 4 texturing hammers used to texture the butterfly wings and leaves took me 40 hours to make.

4. Can I help hammer the textures on the leaves and wings?
If you are over 13 years old and can follow instructions carefully. This particular project is using 16 gauge steel and was created for adults to hammer at the CKM Birthday party fund raising event. The tree stump at the artist space is quite tall. The hammers can be damaged if they are not used properly, so please listen to the demonstration carefully and then you can help create the sculpture. My wife runs the demonstrations and will be there on Saturday.

5. Can a sculpture be designed that children younger than 13 can work on? Yes, a shorter tree stump and thinner gauge metal can be used to create a sculpture. If your organization is interested in commissioning a collaborative sculpture, please contact me to work out the details.

6. What have you been working on at the Artist Space?
I have been grinding the bodies for the butterflies. They are all finished now. Time to start welding them all on to the wings.

That's it's for now. Please stop by and visit me at CKM!

Progress on the Collaborative Sculpture for the CKM

Here are some pictures of the progress to date on the Collaborative Sculpture for the Creative Kids Museum at TELUS World of Science – Calgary . These pieces were textured by guests that the 1st birthday party and then I sanded back and formed them. These formed butterflies and leaves will be welded to the wire mesh frames of the sculpture of the boy and girl looking through a magnifying glass, when all the pieces have been textured.

ARTIST IN RESIDENCE DAY 1 Creative Kids Museum at TELUS World of Science – Calgary

Day 1 in The Artist Space at the Creative Kids Museum at TELUS World of Science – Calgary . My wife, Corinne and our children, Caelin and Kierra, helped get everything organized and packed up to take over. Corinne and I set up at the musuem yesterday.

Today our wonderful kids helped us with the finishing touches and then explored the wonderful museum and science centre.

Our artist workshop involved cutting out paper butterflies and leaf rubbings from textured cardboard pieces. These textures were previously hammered onto the cardboard using the same hammers that areused to texture the metal butterflies and leaves for the CKM Birthday sculpture. The children were able to chose to keep the butterflies or leaves or stick them onto a paper replica of the CKM Sculpture. Thank you to the group of kids and parents we worked with for this very first session!

A Little Bit of History

In 2005, I completed a commission for a Calgary couple. It was a 11 1/2 ' w x 6 1/2' h wall map of three provinces with 6 symbols. along the bottom a train sat on a train track with trestle bridges. The oil pump jack and the train had moving parts, until I had to weld the moving wheels of the train to the train track. Pictured here are the full map and the 6 of the symbols.

I thought the sculpture would be finished in 6 months, but it took a year. At the time, I was working full time and creating sculpture after work in the evenings and weekends. I appreciated the couple's patience and kindness. Creating this sculpture was pivotal in convincing me that I was ready to sculpt full time. Thank you!

PHOTO CREDIT FOR SYMBOLS - DAVE CORRY - FILM FARM

Urban Encounters Tradeshow - Interior Designers of Alberta

Thank you to the Interior Designers of Alberta for the positive feedback at the Urban Encounters Trade Show. It was my first trade show and I appreciated the sharing ideas with the other exhibitors. Metal sculpture makes for a heavy load in and load out! We were the last ones to pack up and go. Thanks again to everyone that took time to stop by our booth and chat with my wife, Corinne, and I.