HartForest

About the Artist

As a child I was always interested in animals. When I was old enough to hold crayons and pencils I began drawing and painting wildlife. At the age of ten I brought home a beautiful road-killed gray squirrel that became the catalyst for my expansion into taxidermy. Then, at age 21, the Carnegie Museum of Pennsylvania, PA, accepted me as an apprentice to study advanced taxidermy, mold making, and sculpture. I had the good fortune of working the first nine months with Harold Casey. He was an outstanding teacher who showed me new ways to study animals, but the most important thing I learned from him was how to think. Those were my golden months: I was hungry for knowledge and had an instructor who fulfilled my needs. He fostered my desire for an intimate knowledge of animals that became the foundation on which my educational system was built. I made anatomical drawings and face casts&#59; I watched animals and learned about their lives and behavior&#59; I devised ways of casting and measuring. I was forced to work out my own interpretations and dig deeply for the knowledge I sought.

The hundreds of animals that I modeled to produce mannequins for taxidermy provided me with the best training and education possible. I measured the animals, skinned them, prepared the skeletons for armatures, and sculpted over them. All this was enjoyable, but the time came when I wanted to develop a more impressionistic style: to work with texture, incorporate more movement, and produce artwork in a lasting material. Bronze offered this opportunity, as well as the freedom to do pieces from paperweight size to monuments. It also allowed for more creativity, which required innovative ideas to make them work, and it stimulated my imagination for more exciting sculptures.

I have accepted invitations to give sculpting seminars throughout the United States, as well as in Canada, England, and South Africa.