“I am an artist and a craftsman at heart. I have been toying with sculpting for 30 years. We live in rural Marshall, MI, and I have a small but adequate barn for a studio, which makes even greater creativity and production possible. Because we live in the country, I can fire up my bronze foundry (which I designed and built with the help of friends and family) in the backyard whenever it is that time in the process. What a difference place, space, and resources can make!Aside from my aesthetic, there are two things that set my work apart. First, every piece is unique. Most bronzes are created in editions so many copies exist. There are no copies of my sculptures, so when you buy one you are buying the only one. Second, I handle the entire process of making the bronze from beginning to end. Nearly all bronze sculptors pay foundries to make the bronze versions of their work. I do it myself. My ideas are born in three dimensions. I never sketch ideas for sculptures because it limits me to familiar images. I am much more creative in the round than in two dimensions. The process I use is akin to found object sculpture — finding things and putting them together in some interesting way. The only difference is that I make my own objects rather than finding them. These objects are forms and shapes made from sculpting wax. The process begins with glossy sheets of wax, which I break up, assemble, disassemble, drip wax on, scratch, and otherwise abuse. Using a torch, a soldering iron, and other tools, I try to create individual forms that are interesting in their own right. Then, working from the resulting “bone pile” of these odd forms, I assemble my sculptures.The resulting pieces vary greatly because they grow from the chance meetings of these various unrelated individual forms. Much of my work makes references to the human figure, while some is more abstract, referencing symbolic and totemic images. While working, I consciously avoid familiar references. If I create a form that looks or feels too familiar, I will break it or cut it in apart or otherwise alter it and use it in some way other than the obvious reference. If I find I can’t make a form unfamiliar, sometimes I drop it on the floor to change it in some unplanned fashion and then reassemble some or all of the pieces into a different form. This forces me to be more creative in resolving the “how do I make this part of something interesting” puzzle that my creative process is about.” Jeff is an educator by trade -- a math teacher, then the principal, and back to teacher again. He has worked in rural, suburban, and urban schools with nearly every type of student and demographic. He came to teaching after stints as a tool design engineer and a fine arts student at Kendall College of Art and Design.