|
From them I developed an early interest in film special effects. I read everything I could find on the subject of stop motion and soon began experimenting with a 8mm camera that I found in a second-hand store. I would sculpt and animate dinosaurs, cave men and other creatures. The experience was invaluable. "King Kong" was the catalyst that spurred my interest in both dinosaurs and special effects.
Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, (the home of the famous Carnegie Museum of Natural History), I spent many a long afternoon studying the mounts in the renowned dinosaur hall. After graduating high school I studied with the Pittsburgh Filmmakers while attending Point Park College. My goal was a Degree in Filmmaking. I had a dream of going to Los Angeles and working in special effects for motion pictures. My first taste of special effects animation work came while working part time at
Anivision, a Pittsburgh based animation studio owned by Rick Catizone. After working on several movies in Pittsburgh with filmmaking icons Tom Savini and George Romero, I made the move to Los Angeles in January of 1987. I gained experience creating special effects make-up and puppeteering on many "B" horror movies.
The culmination of my 12-year film career in special effects was as key sculptor and puppeteer
of the life-size Tyrannosaurus Rex for "Jurassic Park." At the end of production I decided I had had my fill of the Hollywood life and that it was time to branch out on my own.
My lovely wife Christine and I built a home in Sedona, Arizona where I began my own sculpture studio in 1992.
My paleo collection of limited edition bronze sculptures ranges from 1:35 scale to life-size and highlights Late Cretaceous North American dinosaurs. I have had the pleasure of showing my art at the annual Sedona Sculpture Walk, Sculpture in the Park Show and Sale in Loveland, CO and the Tucson, AZ Mineral and Fossil Show. In November of 1999, I completed a 1/8 scale sculpture of the new sauropod
"Jobaria" under the direction of paleontologist Dr. Paul Sereno for an exhibit at National Geographic's Explorers Hall in Washington, DC. My first Public Art Commission was unveiled in 2002, a life size bronze Dilophosaur for the Mesa Southwest Museum in Mesa, AZ. In May of 2000 several of my pieces were shown in a T-Rex exhibit at Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History. In October of 2000, I was selected by the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology to be the first recipient of the annual John J. Lanzendorf PaleoArt Award for my sculpture
"Jobaria". I am honored to have received the award again in October of 2001 for my life-size commission, "Dilophosaurus."
Discover Magazine featured my life-size T. rex bust on the cover of the April 2005 issue.
My work has also been published in several books including: "The Making of Terminator 2: Judgment Day," "The Making of Jurassic Park," "Hunting Dinosaurs,"
"Dinosaur Imagery - The Lanzendorf Collection", "Mesozoic Vertebrate Life", (celebrating the career of Philip J. Currie), and in magazines such as Arizona Highways,
Cinefex, Prehistoric Times, Southwest Art, Sculpture Forum, Earth Magazine, Wildlife Art and Amazing Figure Modeler.
Several of my pieces, including a casting of my life-sized T-rex bust, are now on
permanent display at Disney World's Dinoland Park® at the Animal Kingdom® in Florida. In 1997, I was hired by L-Squared Entertainment to sculpt six dinosaurs for computer animation for the
IMAX® film "T-rex, Back to the Cretaceous." In 1998, the Franklin Mint commissioned me to create a dinosaur sculpture titled "T-rex: Fight for Survival." I also sculpted
three dinosaurs for use in the 2000 Discovery Channel television documentary, "When Dinosaurs Roamed America".
Cowboys and dinosaurs may seem an odd combination, but for me they go together like Bogey and
Bacall. When I was young, I read the fascinating accounts of the great fossil hunters of the late 19th century, and how, in their search for new discoveries, they braved the badlands, which
were swarming with outlaws. Several of my favorite films such as, “The Valley of Gwangi”, “The Beast of Hollow Mountain”, and the 1949 version of “Mighty Joe Young”, involve
cowboys encountering dinosaurs and other fantastic creatures. These movies, along with all of the great TV westerns of the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s, were what fed my imagination as I was
growing up. So it seems quite natural for me to pursue my passion for the colorful figures of the Old West. I was pleased to demonstrate and show my Western works at the Mountain Trails
Gallery, Tlaquepaque Arts & Crafts Village, Sedona, Arizona as a Guest Resident Artist from August through December 2008. With my artwork I want to portray the courage and rugged
individualism of the men and women that conquered the Wild West. Look for the same sense of realism and attention to detail that I've become known for in the world of Paleoart.
|
