Jim could be a “poster child” for the NWSSA symposia and workshops. After acquiring an extensive background in art and graphics, his life has been transformed since he attended his first workshop. He is now a successful and prolific sculptor and a vital member of NWSSA.
LE: Briefly introduce yourself and your artistic training.
JH: I am a forty-seven year old Seattle native who is trying to balance my desire to create art with the challenges of everyday life.
As far back as memory serves me, art has been a part of my life. In grade school through high school, I was always making drawings for people – from doodles to elaborate pen and ink pieces. Sculpture always fascinated me, but being practical, I turned more towards the craft end of art – making bowls and lamps on the lathe. Later, I made stained glass windows and designed and had fabricated a series of high end lamps constructed out of acrylics, steel and stone.
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For years the NWSSA has benefited from our wonderful gift from Norway. Tone’s zest for life has been invigorating our gatherings, large and small, and her willingness to explore new boundaries has been inspirational. Here, she tells us about her interesting background and exciting work.
LE: To “break the ice,” tell us a little bit about your background.
TO: I grew up in Norway, which is almost all granite and where carving has a strong and long tradition. There are public sculptures on every other street corner; children get to sit in bronze laps and ride fairytale bears. My favorite sculpture park as a child was the Gustav Vigeland Park in Oslo where I climbed around the old, naked granite-people and wondered at the conversation they seemed to be having, and why some of them were so silent. I traveled a lot, being fortunate to grow up in Europe at a time when you could just hop on a train and find yourself eating ice cream in Florence two days later. I got steeped in the European traditions, and the arts, history and cultures have never stopped inspiring me. It’s always at the back of my eyes. Even if we don’t possess the skills of the people who worked in previous centuries, we may have reached the point of clarity, simplicity, to where we allow ourselves to work towards essence and not conventional images.
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