rod
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
I was working in my shop this evening, getting back into 10 hour days, when the phone rang. It was our colleague, Joe Rundell, engraver and sculptor. Joe and I have made a habit of staying in touch over the phone, however there has been a long gap since our last catch up, mostly because I have been out of action.
We know Joe has not been posting much on the Forum, mostly because he has been working flat out in his new and inspiring career… full time, life size sculptor ( and occasional engraver). We also missed Joe’s presence at the FEGA convention, over the last few days.
Starting at age 71, Joe taught himself clay sculpting. With just a few pieces in his portfolio, and rejected as an amateur by the local fine arts college, he nonetheless won the commission to sculpt, and have cast in bronze, many of the US auto industries' eminent business heroes, people like Chevrolet, Nash, Buick and others.
Tonight’s phone conversation filled me in and got me up to date. Once or twice in the past, I have posted on the Forum a short account of Joe’s work, and again he said he would really like it if I continued writing a word or two about the huge commissions stemming from his new career. Those who know Joe and have seen that fine gun of his, engraved and carved with ancient classical themes, know that carving was his natural talent. No need to look at his present work through a magnifying glass, its all life size now.
And no need for me to write an essay about Joe’s work, that has already been done in a great article, with slide show, published in the New Your Times. Here is the link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/31/automobiles/a-sculptor-puts-auto-pioneers-back-on-their-feet.html#
In the last couple of years, Joe and his wife have moved into a large home built in the 1800’s, and are restoring it to its former grandeur. No longer cramped in his former tiny sculpting studio, now he has plenty of room to swing the proverbial cat. He works with no regular hours, just as the passion dictates, sometimes going on till the wee small hours, on such nights he will sleep late and breakfast with his wife at lunchtime... then back to his studio.
Its all written up in the ‘Times, enjoy, and let us wish him well!
Rod Cameron
We know Joe has not been posting much on the Forum, mostly because he has been working flat out in his new and inspiring career… full time, life size sculptor ( and occasional engraver). We also missed Joe’s presence at the FEGA convention, over the last few days.
Starting at age 71, Joe taught himself clay sculpting. With just a few pieces in his portfolio, and rejected as an amateur by the local fine arts college, he nonetheless won the commission to sculpt, and have cast in bronze, many of the US auto industries' eminent business heroes, people like Chevrolet, Nash, Buick and others.
Tonight’s phone conversation filled me in and got me up to date. Once or twice in the past, I have posted on the Forum a short account of Joe’s work, and again he said he would really like it if I continued writing a word or two about the huge commissions stemming from his new career. Those who know Joe and have seen that fine gun of his, engraved and carved with ancient classical themes, know that carving was his natural talent. No need to look at his present work through a magnifying glass, its all life size now.
And no need for me to write an essay about Joe’s work, that has already been done in a great article, with slide show, published in the New Your Times. Here is the link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/31/automobiles/a-sculptor-puts-auto-pioneers-back-on-their-feet.html#
In the last couple of years, Joe and his wife have moved into a large home built in the 1800’s, and are restoring it to its former grandeur. No longer cramped in his former tiny sculpting studio, now he has plenty of room to swing the proverbial cat. He works with no regular hours, just as the passion dictates, sometimes going on till the wee small hours, on such nights he will sleep late and breakfast with his wife at lunchtime... then back to his studio.
Its all written up in the ‘Times, enjoy, and let us wish him well!
Rod Cameron
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