There are so many choices as to what an artist can paint or sculpt. The possibilities are as endless as your imagination.

The ability of the work of another artist to capture exactly a moment in time is superb and fascinating.  They are so good at what they do; it actually puts you there, completely in that moment.  As an Artist it is something I have always admired.

Whatever a work may be, completed, there are always things that we might have changed as the work progressed.  With me it seems the work never turns out to be what I envisioned in the beginning.  The first couple of strokes will never define what the finished piece will be.  The work just flows from me as I start to work on it.

 My first sculpture was a Cowboy Boot I carved out of soap and then wrapped in tinfoil.  That was back in 1967, before I even knew anything about Bronze.  But I knew I liked doing it.  I set the piece aside, as the work on Pops farm took all of my time.  But in the back of my mind I thought about sculpting and knew that someday that is what I would be doing. 

Handed down from my Grandpa, I started shoeing horses in 1977.  I was good at it, and for 26 years it took me all across America. I drifted from Alaska to Florida.

In around 1986 I picked up sculpting again, putting the finished pieces away in boxes. 

Now, I would like to open those boxes and share with the world all that I have created in my lifetime.  And especially share them with my Mom and Dad.  

My parents and I traveled our last frontier “Alaska” shoeing horses together.  Three shoulders, all in a row, riding across Alaska, laughing and having the best times of our lives.  They “packed” me growing up and now I was “Packing” them.  They always told me never to stop what I was doing.  I said “Shoeing Horses?”  And they said “No! Sculpting Michael.”  And I took that to Heart!

In 1992 I got my first commissioned work, to sculpt a Salmon.  I got a month’s free rent.   

 My precious Mamma helped me pour my first Bronze.  All dressed up in heat shield clothes, and with the roar of the blowing furnace, she was scared to death.   My dad was quite old and he wanted to help, but couldn’t.   But he did get to see my first two bronzes.

Now, I’m lucky to have collectors of my work from Alaska to Florida

I tip my hat to all that love me and for all the inspiration they have given me, and I love them all to the moon and back!  Give the man above the credit, for he gave all for you.

Enjoy,

Michael Woodland