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The Michael Garman Museum & Gallery Newsletter
November 2nd,  2012 Issue No.6
In This Issue
Upcoming Events
Adventures of a Vagabond Sculptor: Refining my Technique: Part Two
Greetings!
Honky Tonk: 
just one of Michael Garman's American Moments Series--inspired by his own life & travels.

 
The next edition of Adventures of a Vagabond Sculptor  is here.

 

Each month we will share one of Michael Garman's stories, in his own words, describing the adventures and experiences that have inspired his work for the past 50 years. 
 
This month we are continuing the story of Michael Garman's early career in Dallas, Texas and the events that led to his decision to become a reproduction artist.

Upcoming Events 

Buy One, Get One Free*
Magic Town Admissions  &  Michael Garman Sculptures
*Buy One, Get One of equal or lesser value FREE.  Offer applied to regular, retail priced items.  Cannot be combined with any other sale or offer.  Available for in-store purchases only.  Offer available only between the hours of
5:00pm - 8:00pm Mountain Time.  Cannot be used at www.michaelgarman.com
 Please call for more information:  800-731-3908
 
Ends November 4th
Offer available on all marked sculptures at www.michaelgarman.com.  Orders must be placed by midnight 11/04/12.  Cannot apply to previous orders.  Does not include shipping/handling, accessories or personalization.
 
Saturday, December 1st
Special Autograph Day on Saturday, December 1st at The Michael Garman Museum and Gallery in Old Colorado City.  Meet the artist, Michael Garman, and get your sculptures autographed while you enjoy more stories about his travels and adventures--the experiences that have inspired 50 years of artwork that honors ordinary American heroes.
AUTOGRAPH DAY

One Day Only--December 1st, 2012

 

Meet Michael Garman.  Get your sculptures signed by the artist.  Listen to his first-hand stories of the construction of Magic Town and the inspiration he drew from his years as a vagabond, hitchhiking throughout North & South America in the 1950s & 60s.
  
Fans look forward to this special event--usually held only once or twice a year. 

Make sure you stop by The Michael Garman Museum on Saturday, December 1st.  Not only will you get the opportunity to meet Michael Garman, you can also enjoy Christmas in Magic Town--with special festive decorations.  This annual event runs from November 23rd to December 26th. 

Bring the whole family.  Enjoy the special events we have planned, and please let us help you honor the hero in your life this holiday season.
 
Defenders of Freedom.
We have 22 different sculptures
 in our Defenders of Freedom series - honoring the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines, as well as firefighters, linemen and nurses. See them all at www.michaelgarman.com.
 

 

 
Magic Town Tour

The Michael Garman Museum & Gallery

2418 W. Colorado Ave.
Colorado Springs, CO 80904
(800) 731-3908

www.michaelgarman.com

 

 

Adventures of a Vagabond Sculptor

Refining my Technique: Part Two

Dallas, 1962

 

Mold-making is incredibly intricate and mathematic. Sculpting, especially clay sculpting, is not. It's emotional and creative. I babble to myself and to my characters when I'm sculpting. It is raw creativity. But when it comes to making a mold, then I need to awaken this methodical, logical portion of my brain.

     Molds are more or less gigantic puzzles. It takes a great deal of thinking, planning, and engineering to make these puzzle keys that all need to go precisely in place. Ten, fifteen, twenty different pieces, and all of them have to fit exactly or the whole thing falls apart. It was a delight to learn that.

  

     Imagine a character - Prairie Companions, for instance.  Now think about pouring that guy. Every gap, every space, from his boot to the tip of his hat, has to be poured upside-down. The casting material has to flow evenly all the way around each turn, filling each and every groove, and then it must dry systematically.

     From the beginning, I sculpted for the mold - mentally imagining how I would pour this guy, how I would break him out of the mold. I'd have to keep in mind the seams, where I'll break it apart. How can I blend them into this character? All the decisions I would eventually have to make about this guy had to be imagined right there as I was sculpting. But the end result, if I poured it just right, I'd be able to pull the whole thing out as a single entity.

     The next step was to paint my pieces. I've always loved my painted versions. Back in the day, bronze was the only choice. But that's not the case anymore. Yes, it's traditional. But the world around us is brilliantly colored. Art should reflect that.

     I mixed my own paints, beginning with raw, clear lacquer and tinted colors. I still love lacquer, the way it spreads - so thin and luxurious, even the way it smells. I could achieve a kind of detail there that I lost when I moved to water-based paints. I made the change when I began hiring people, because of the toxicity. But I lived with lacquer, living in the rooms with my work, for 20-some years, and I never developed any health problems. Oh yeah, listen to me, sitting here hacking, breathing oxygen from a tube, and saying, "I never had any health problems at all."

     The first character I made strictly for reproduction was a sailor sitting there, smoking a pipe, wearing a peacoat. It was pretty crude, but that was when I started understanding the mold-making process coupled with the sculpting process-that you sculpt with the mold in mind.

      I made a couple dozen reproductions of that little sailor, and then took him around, selling him for something like $4 each - just ridiculously low prices. But I lived cheap, drank cheap, and thought I was quite successful until people started asking, "What else do you have?"

      In 1965, I created my first series-four nautical pieces: First Mate, Salty, Tramp Steamer Captain,  and Tug Boat Captain.

 

 

     I also created my first western cowboys.  I spent months perfecting these characters. Then I'd load them up on my motor scooter, and off I'd go, selling my wares to just about anyone at all - drug stores, gift stores, furniture boutiques. I wound up selling them in some of the strangest places. I'd walk into bars and show off my pieces. They set them up on display behind the bar, and customers would ask, "Where did you get that?"

     "Hell," they'd say, "from that Irish kid. You know? That cute little drunk that was here last Friday."

      

     So that was how it all started.  No plan, no idea where I would wind up, and no thought that 50 years later I would still be doing what I love, still telling my stories the only way I know how.  I don't sell my pieces off the back of a motor scooter anymore.  But other than that, the process remains about the same.