About

Who am I?

I am a ‘Creative—a Pluralite!’ I was born in what then was Calcutta, in British-India.  I spent my formative years at a British-styled Boarding School in the foothills of the Himalayas, where I was introduced to art (painting and drawing) at a very early age.  I was only ‘so-so’ at it!

In my late teens I left India for England.  There, for a while, I pursued what I thought would be a career as a  Royal Navy pilot in the British Fleet Air Arm.  That did not pan out and subsequently I entered the academic world.  I moved from London to Scotland, first to Glasgow where I obtained a Ph.D. in Cognitive Child Psychology and worked as a Research Developmental Psychologist.  During these years I married, raised a family and worked in the academic and clinical fields for a couple of decades.  Six years on I moved to  Edinburgh to Lecture in  Psychology at the Teacher’s College, in addition to a post as a Clinical Child Psychologist at the Children’s Hospital.

In 1980 I moved to California, to undertake research into SIDS and teach at various Bay Area campuses but throughout these many years I couldn’t keep away from creating art—painting in oils and acrylics, sculpting in wood, writing, just ‘doing!’ 

Finally, in the mid 80s, I gave up the academic world to pursue life as a sculptor.  I worked in metal—specifically copper—for a couple of decades, however, after increasingly detrimental health effects of welding and using toxic acids to create patinas, I quit this medium and searched around for something ‘safer.’  A thought came to me, ‘Can I sculpt with paper?’  Well, why not!

What do I do?

Some people might call it Papier-mâché, that is incorrect.  I prefer to call it ‘direct fabrication—with paper.’

These sculptures fall into four broad categories:

(a) Realistic and figurative life size rendition—Titled ‘Icons of the 20th Century.’

(b) Abstract human forms, life size and miniatures.

(c) Abstract shapes.

(d) Books Alive—creating sculptured facsimiles of iconic books with the characters emerging from the pages.

(Although I’m not very good at drawing figures, I am able to sculpt them—go figure!)

How do I sculpt?

I study numerous photographs, illustrations, and drawings of the subject.  For figurative work, I research the person’s height and other  physical dimensions before deciding on a particular, iconic pose—for example, Ray Charles at the keyboards, the Dalai Lama, hands clasped together in salutation, Winston Churchill gesturing his famous ‘V ‘for victory sign, and so on.  I begin by creating an armature, usually out of cardboard.  Around this foundation, I apply layers of heavier archival paper and when dry, I cover the piece with Momi paper, a wonderful product from Japan.  It’s fabric-like properties can be used to create complex curves.  The larger sculptures take many months to complete, I need to wait until a layer is completely dry before moving to the next stage.

Why am I doing It?

The answer is simple: I have a burning passion to create!

 

Why did I choose the subjects I did?

As a teenager while out autograph hunting I briefly met the Dalai Lama in Calcutta, so obviously, he had to be one.  Many other famous people sprang to mind, in fact far too many, which made it difficult to chose. Finally, I decided I would create twenty-four full-size figurative works in this series.  My body of work would include sculptures of famous scientists (such as Albert Einstein, Stephen Hawking), famous musicians (Ray Charles, the Beatles—yes, all four with instruments, Louis Armstrong, Michael Jackson, etc;) politicians (Winston Churchill, Mahatma Gandhi) . . . and others (Mother Teresa, Marilyn Monroe, Amelia Earhart, Charlie Chaplin).  To date, I have finished six sculptures of this series.

 

 

Understanding my art?

I trust my work speaks for itself.  There is something wonderful about being in a room together with life-size facsimiles of Einstein and Ray Charles, Hawking and Mother Teresa, the Beatles and others . . .

My life Philosophy

I am particularly attached to two saying: “It will all work out in the end—if it hasn’t worked out, It’s not the end!”

And another, from the Dalai Lama:  “There are only two days in the year that nothing can be done.  One is called ‘yesterday’ and the other is called ‘tomorrow,’ so today is the right day to love, believe, DO and mostly live.”

My other interests

I spend part of my week writing.  I have published novels, books of short stories and poems. I have written screenplays and plays for stage (including musicals)—many of which have been produced and performed.  In 2008 I founded the Fairfax Theatre Company (a non-profit company) and currently serve as its Artistic Director.  I am an Eighth Degree Hanshi in Bushido, (conferred in Kamakura, Japan) and founder of Bushido International Dojos. I retired from the Martial Arts some years ago.

What I dislike!

Jealousy, unpunctuality, posers (especially ‘artistic’ ones), and fakes.

Postscript

For those interested in this sort of stuff, I am a triple Sagittarius! Driven!

Cheers!

SMP

🙂