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all stages of the process. So I became a volunteer in the foundry. I was allowed to come in and actually help around the foundry, and in repayment for that, I got to work on my own art and I hooked on everything about it. So, I have been a part of the pour and then, I have been a part of the busting off of the shell, sand blasting and welding and grinding, everything, and finally the patina on the finished pieces of art. So that is how I became hooked.” “Because my grandpa and my dad
were farmers and we were always taught to fix or repair and make stuff work.” He emphasized: “Make stuff! Make due with what you have, and this was just a natural for me for that and then add the artistic side to it. If I could go work in a foundry every day, I would!”
Some Select Pieces Greg showed me around the sculptures that he had in his home, and every piece had a story that came with it. One very realistic piece was a
saguaro cactus. “People actually think it is an actual miniature saguaro. I had it on display at the Arizona-Sonoran Desert Museum for a while, and then it was at Old Tucson Studios. People would go up to it and want a picture taken with the miniature saguaro. It was so fun to watch, and I’d hear parents go ‘Now don’t touch it, you’ll get stuck.’ That was a ball.” He continued discussing the
popularity of the cactus. “A lot of local artists were approached to submit their art to be used in the remodeling of the Tucson Airport, and wanted signature items. They wanted to put a bronze item at the entrance of the airport, so they approached me and talked to me about 20 years ago when they first started their big remodel, and they were very interested in that for the entrance of the airport as a bronze. The problem came in when a little poor artist wants to get paid for his work. They wanted to put in a 20 foot tall saguaro, scaling up my 6 foot tall one here and mount it growing out of a group of Catalina rock. So they had me come up with the whole proposal and price. Well first of all, a foundation had to be poured, 12”
18 ❘ August 2019 ®
thick with reinforced concrete, inch and a half bolts coming out of that, cranes to set everything in place, and it became too costly for a single project as a signature piece, so they passed on it.” I asked Greg about a wildcat
sculpture that he had in his living room. “I’m proud of that. I do North American and Western wildlife and I always try to sculpt to scale, including all muscle structure. While hiking, a bob cat jumped out in front of me. I snapped the shot and said ‘got it’. I started sculpting in clay. I wanted to do it life sized. A friend of mine, who was the chef at the International Wildlife Museum spoke with the curator about the piece.” “The curator of the museum wanted me to come every day and talk to people about it and do live demonstrations. Most artists don’t want to chat but I love talking to people, so I accepted and continued the sculpture at the Wild Life Museum. One day a man came to watch me sculpt “The Cat.” He would return daily and began to bring others with him. By the end of the week 12 people came and gathered. The man turned out to work for the University of Arizona Athletic Department. I was asked if I would sell it to the University. To make a long story short, I decided to donate it to the U of A. It was completed during the 1988 NCAA Basketball Playoffs and it was unveiled at center court half time
on CBS National TV. Over 17,000 fans were there. Lute Olsen, Sean Elliot, Chris Mills and others. It was a real thrill!” I asked Greg if that was his first
exposure to public speaking. It wasn’t. His first exposure was at Scottsdale Fashion Square, where he would explain the entire process. In fact, Greg has proven to be a major advocate for the investment casting process, having produced a video and a booklet explaining the process for interested parties.
Other pieces that he showed me
included a swimming horse, a bust of a cowboy and a Gambel Quail taking flight. The quail, one of the last pieces that Greg worked on, was cast in sterling silver. “I was fortunate enough that one of my editions of the quail, in bronze, had sold out at 25. It was a numbered edition, so I could not make any more, but I checked into whether I could recast it in sterling silver, not painted, but actual sterling silver. I ended up buying casting grade sterling from a foundry directly out of New Mexico, and would receive deliveries of 10 pound bags of silver through UPS.” To do the quail, Greg needed 27.5
pounds of casting grade silver for each casting due to the gates, cup and sprues. “Wow, what a process! I mean to work with fine silver, sterling, that was an eye
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