In the beginning...
Michael Bud • Feb 06, 2013
Everybody has a story
My first carving in the round—and first serious attempt at sculpture—was done in the late spring of 1995, I was a senior at King Low Heywood Thomas High School in Stamford, Connecticut. One of the assignments in my art class was to look through some art books and find a style of art that I liked and to copy it.
I dug through the large pile of books sprawled across the art-room table. The covers looked to me like a tumultuous sea of oil and acrylic. Out of all the books there was one on tribal art which stood out. It was full of wood carvings of both native American and African tribes. That form of expression seemed to have a real primitive appeal and it drew me in.
I borrowed a set of chisels from my grandfather, grabbed a log off my father's firewood stack, and began to dig in! The end result was a rough Bart Simpson looking head. With these rudimentary tools, (the chisels weren't even that sharp) I couldn't get too deep into the wood, but I did my best with what I had to bring my vision to life. The image of the face seemed to jump out at me as soon as I picked up the wood. The mouth was carved out of a branch that was coming off the side of the log. As I sat out in the courtyard and chiseled and hammered, it felt natural to me and deep inside I knew this was my calling.
Over the next several years I began to accumulate quite the collection of chisels, hammers, saws, rasps and files. The majority of my work was done with a hammer and chisels. The finishing was done with a power sander. I carved about a half dozen pieces usually in the size of 1' to 2 1/2' tall. Most of them focused on the face in some sort of distorted way. Many of them were sold to private art collectors as soon as they were finished.
I have experimented with other mediums like clay, metal, CDs, and non-traditional materials. Only when working with wood do I feel a sense of connection to the earth and to my natural self.
In many of my recent pieces, all or part of the sculpture is seared with a torch. I got some of my inspiration from the Japanese exterior siding technique called Shou Sugi Ban (or Yakisugi) that preserves wood. The type of wood used traditionally is Sugi (Japanese Cyprus). The process involves charring the wood, cooling it, cleaning it, and finishing it with a natural oil. Ever since I was a child, I was absolutely fascinated and enchanted by fire. It serves as an amazing compliment to many woods. Depending on the type of wood, oil, and technique used, different shades of reds, browns, blacks and silvers can be achieved.
Here are a few posts from my instagram showing the progress of the current piece in my studio.
Forward Motion , one of my smaller sculptures is on display at NYC Jewelers on Main Street in Westport . Stop by and take a look. While you're there, tell Morris the owner I said hello!
