Globe Refiners relief sculpture in progress
Basketball has been a part of my life since I was a kid in school. I first started playing the popular sport, like every kid in the 80’s, at home with a back board and rim up mounted above the garage. I played on a sloped driveway with friends and neighbors and sometimes even myself. In college, I would play pickup games with friends and strangers. The last pickup game I played was a few years ago, in my early 40’s. I thought that I would be able to compete against local high school kids at the recreation center, so I agreed to the challenge. But I soon had to exit the game after running up and down the full court several times to save myself from injury or exhaustion (and from further embarrassment). I have since been content to just “shooting hoops” for the last few years.
As a sculptor, I feel my greatest gifts are when I’m honoring someone or something. When the opportunity came to honor a basketball team with a monument, one can imagine how I felt. I had sculpted a few basketball players over the years, but nothing previously compares to the scale of this project. With an 11 foot wide curved bronze relief that will honor the nine players and one coach that won gold in the Olympics the Globe Refiners relief sculpture (in progress) is unlike anything I’ve sculpted previously. On the backside there will be 17 feet of laser etched black granite walls to tell their unique story. I designed the 600 square foot courtyard with the artwork as the focal point. When it’s finished it will be almost like a small outdoor museum.
At this point in the project I am not even half way through the sculpting phase, but it feels as though I’ve accomplished so much more. There will be updates periodically throughout its creation. Here is a link to see more of my works: SCULPTURES
