JerryWard.com
Title
Wood Sculpture and Chainsaw Carving
Description
M any times artists are criticized for having too diverse a body of work; but I believe in the old adage "Variety is the Spice of Life". I feel this concept to be essential to an individuals growth; for without constant exposure to new experiences we become stagnant. When we become too "focused" in a single direction of thought we lose our perspective as to what is important to the "significant others" in our lives. The result can lead to an insensitivity within each of us that is no less detrimental to ourselves, than those around us. Art and our exposure to the "variety" of it, is essential to this fundamental understanding of the world around us. Our rewards to this exposure, is the inevitable enrichment of our life, as well as the lives of those whom we come into contact with. An artist, as with any individual should be focused on this concept above all else .
Jerry Ward Working as a sculptor since 1974. Though I use wood as my primary medium I also work in metal and more recently have entered into "cold casting". I am among a handful of pioneers from the mid seventies to first use the chain saw in the wood carving process. In later years as skill permitted I began completing many pieces using the chainsaw alone. Almost all of my wood sculpture begins with the use of the chainsaw. I use it as a 3d sketching tool, similar to using charcoal to sketch on paper. From there, to further shape and refine the form I use, as I like to say, anything that cuts wood.
The work you will see on these pages therefore includes a variety of sculpture ranging from the coarser textured rustic look as provided by the chainsaw, to well defined finer finished work you might expect a knife or a piece of sandpaper to produce.
