More than 40 years have passed since my initial search. I was thinking then in traditional painter’s terms, of the surface as a flat or two-dimensional plane. The volumes I had in mind, I saw as comprised of planar surfaces. I had missed the distinction between a “plane surface,” which is flat by definition, and a just plain surface. The latter contains thickness, and with that, both additive and subtractive possibility that I now delight in.

The pieces represented here have been worked much as I would approach a series of drawings. Basswood is neutral in appearance, allowing my own marks to dominate its surface. Each panel has been approached using an x-acto knife and a u-gauge. They were carved in relative silence so that I could hear music playing in the background. I needed no heavy machinery, as the wood was even-grained and soft enough to cut into by hand without so much as a mallet. Each variation started from a sketch in the form of a maquette, but once begun took on a life of its own. I was able to respond by hand to what was going on in the piece with no intermediary, like a grinder or some other noisy piece of equipment. In all but one, I chose to omit color, accentuating areas with graphite instead.

My inspiration came from walks along the Wissahickon Creek in Philadelphia. Each variation repeats the same vocabulary of vines and leaves, pods, opened areas and raised surfaces, yet each expresses a different attitude. Titles came only after a piece was completed, in response to what I saw there. No doubt these will continue as an open series. The seasons change and new elements appear.

All At Once
27″ x 32″ x 5″

Buoyant
16″ x 19″ x 4″

Busting Out
22″ x 21″ x 5″

Feeling Good
31″ x 18″ x 5″

Odalisque
18″H x 19″W x 17″D

Omnivorous
24″ x 19″ x 17″

Returning
72″ x 16″ x 6″

Nature Walks
38” x 96 “x 15”, area