The studio practice has been through some amazing growth, redirection and landings in the past few years. I’ve been nose to the grindstone on three properties, each a project of creating studio and fabrication space large enough to support the scale of my work and setup so I can facilitate the production of one-off and series works.
In Cerrillos, New Mexico it was development of SkyHeart Studios on 44 acres of untouched beauty. I designed and built a seven shipping container compound where I welded and assembled several large public sculptures. The work here ran for four years into 2020 and the the first year of Covid. Work ceased at that point as all active commissions were put on indefinite hold. By the end of that year many artists were out of business and were taking day jobs or living off government gig worker unemployment. With my life and creative partner Elizabeth Hellstern of “Telepoem Booth” fame, we chose to invest in a real estate project. we acquired and set about to rebuild an old miners house in the nearby town of Madrid. We kept SkyHeart but essentially put it to sleep late 2020.
2021 was spent rebuilding the Madrid house that we named “Coal Contemporary”. I placed a large Grass ballet sculpture on a prominence on our new property overlooking NM State Highway 14 and coined the installation MOCAM - the Museum of Contemporary Art Madrid. It remains as a free to the public modern art installation visible by all 24/7. The art buying world was tight through 2021 and so rather than competing with other artists for the limited commissions I used my extensive architecture and building experience to complete the house rebuild.
In October 2021 we found yet another real estate project opportunity, this time on the Big Island of Hawaii. A nine acre former horse ranch with two large stout buildings ready for renovation became available. The buildings together could become our home, a huge art studio/workshop and a guest facility as well. We juggled finances, sold the sleeping SkyHeart property and purchased what is now called “OhiaHale” on December 23, 2021.
Since then I’ve been full time living at OhiaHale renovating and building while Elizabeth wraps things up back in New Mexico. I have established MOCA-Naalehu (Museum of Contemporary Art - Naalehu) as the replacement open air art facility for MOCAM. I’ve begun several new sculpture series all based on inspiration I take from the flowering endemic trees of Koa, Iliahi and Ohia. I have all the space, tools and materials I need here ion Hawaii to continue my creative expression.
Stay tuned for more to come. Aloha