About My Journey
I was the kid who drew on every piece of paper ever placed in front to me. Even the ones I wasn’t supposed to. I’ve had my fair share of school teachers tell me to stop doodling in the margins of quizzes and tests. If I had a dollar for every sketch I’ve ever made, I’d already be retired.
I love art. Any art, really. Drawing. Painting. Sculpting. Woodworking. Pottery. Furniture Design. Glass blowing. Architecture. Graphic design. Interior Decorating. Movie Making. If it involves artistic creativity and design, I’m fascinated by it. And inspired by the people who possess the talents and skills to create amazing works of art.
For nearly three decades, my artistic interests were left neglected while I pursued an education, a career, a family, and a host of hobbies that were of greater priority. However, all the while, there was this yearning inside of me to make art; an abiding passion to create lay dormant behind all of the other pursuits of my life.
And then, in my early 40’s, I went to Kauai on vacation with my wife. We were staying at this gorgeous hotel on the south shore of the island. Off of the enormous open-air lobby overlooking the Pacific ocean was an art gallery. An artist rarely passes up the chance to walk through a gallery, especially when they seemingly have all the time in the world while on vacation. It was all there. Paintings, glass work, wooden carvings, jewelry, and a few sculptures.
I remember turning a corner to an adjoining room in the gallery and I was immediately taken by a small sculpture on a shelf. It was a bust from a much larger work by an extraordinary sculptor. I stood there mesmerized; absolutely locked in on that particular piece among all of the rest. I had seen sculptures before, but this one seemed to hold me in its spell. It was in that moment when I decided I wanted to learn how to sculpt. I wanted to become a sculptor. I determined that day it was time to do something about the latent desire to create art that had long lay dormant in my life for far too long.
When I returned home, I bought books on how to sculpt. I contacted some sculptors who lived in the area and asked if I could visit their studio and ask them questions about how it all worked. At the time, the internet was not quite as evolved then as it is now, or I am sure I would have consumed every available video out there. (I’m a bit of YouTube junkie!)
The last twenty years has been a long journey of learning. I have no formal training. Everything I have done has been “on the job training” where I have made just about every mistake there is to make. Little by little, I figure stuff out and fixing my mistakes serves as reps until I get it right.
I am excited about a renewed commitment to create more sculptures. I have a long list of ideas ready to be brought to life in bronze.
My wife and I make our home near San Antonio, Texas. We have two sons, both who live in work in Austin. Amber, our dog, rounds out our family of five.
Thanks for visiting my online gallery. I hope you enjoy looking around. If you find a piece you particularly like, let’s talk about how you might secure one of your own. If you have something unique that you’d like to see created, I’d love to hear about what you are thinking. Maybe we could work together at creating something that you can enjoy for many years to come.
I look forward to making your acquaintance,
Paul Wilson