I was happy to see that there were plenty of limpets on the beach, which are usually hard to find. (Look close, you'll see them on many of my masks!) Strangely, my wfe found drift wood to be in short supply this trip... not at all typical of Homer Spit, her favorite place to gather sticks. (Sometimes trees) That just means we'll be making a drive south again in the very near future. :-) So friends, I'm back in the studio, feeling inspired and gearing up for another season.
Thank you all for your support, ~David
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Are you an Artist or a Copy Machine?
"For years I've not understood how a person can copy work from years past and call it art. Then it had meaning, maybe a purpose, and now a price tag. I find it sad as a Native American artist, that we have not just lost our way in things, now our things are for sale for the low, low price of no self-respect. And no respect for our elders. See through the eyes of tradition, but step firmly into your future. Stretch your talent like your legs. Once again, make your elders proud. You are not a copy machine, you are an artist." ~David Groat
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David Groat is an Aleut clay sculptor from the Bristol Bay area of Alaska. He is descendant of the Qagaan Taya}ungin tribe of the Unangan people (named "Aleut" by Russian explorers). David's ancestors are from Unimak, the easternmost island of the Aleutian Islands which extend westward from the Alaska mainland. Like those before him, David and his family depended on the sea for their livelihood, fishing for salmon in the Bristol Bay waters. Influenced by the land, the sea and his people, his art reflects his culture, yet is contemporary in design.
David is a graduate of the Institute of American Indian Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico. He has won many awards for his imaginative clay masks and sculptures. His work is strong and powerful, full of depth and definition. David hand-builds each mask and figure, and paints them using variations of native designs of antiquity and ideas developed from stories and images of his own life. He decorates his masks with artifacts, as well as stones, driftwood, bones and shells he's collected along Alaskan rivers and beaches. Even rusted metal washed ashore becomes part of his work. Each piece is unique, a free-flowing creation of stunning beauty and individuality.
David is a graduate of the Institute of American Indian Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico. He has won many awards for his imaginative clay masks and sculptures. His work is strong and powerful, full of depth and definition. David hand-builds each mask and figure, and paints them using variations of native designs of antiquity and ideas developed from stories and images of his own life. He decorates his masks with artifacts, as well as stones, driftwood, bones and shells he's collected along Alaskan rivers and beaches. Even rusted metal washed ashore becomes part of his work. Each piece is unique, a free-flowing creation of stunning beauty and individuality.
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David, his wife Carolynn, and their children live in Wasilla, Alaska.