Love is an invisible force. It is real. It is powerful. Use the power of love to fulfill your life's dream. Love is just as important as air, food and water. You can't live without it, whether it's self love or love by another or an inspiration. Bee Love (Now in maquette form). "The power to have all the good things in life is love. Love, because when you love, you are using the greatest power in the universe." Rhonda Byrne The Power.
I never thought of wanting to be an artist. As a kid, I use to hand letter names on bicycles for the neighborhood children. My payment was the leftover model paint. One of my many jobs during my high school years was making hand lettered signs for a supermarket. This position developed my graphic art skills.
Fast forward a few years, I was extremely fortunate to find my dream job. I taught high school industrial arts in Connecticut. During that time, I discovered screenprinting and fell in love with the process. Because I taught sheet metal and welding, I was able to make all the equipment necessary to start a screenprinting business. That was the beginning of a new life. The pull of this art form was so strong that I left teaching, moved to the resort community of Southampton, New York and started a screenprinting and embroidery business. I found it extremely satisfying to get paid for my artistic skills, use my creative talents to design and produce a product. Decades later, I sold this apparel printing business.
Looking back, I've been a graphic artist my entire life. I'm still a graphic artist, only now, I call myself a 3 Dimensional Graphic Artist. I will be the first to admit that my art concepts or ideas are not new but the execution is. My art ideas come to me like a lightning bolt, it strikes and is unrelenting. I make a maquette (model) to get the idea out of my head. It's no longer an thought or imagination. It's real now, only physically small. I study the maquette from all sides. It tells me how to construct the sculpture and the scale. Many obstacles present themselves in this phase; even the decision to move forward or not. Each piece only comes to life if I breathe life into it. Many sculptors will use a metal fabricators to make their artistic pieces, I choose not to do this.
Vision is what you see in your imagination. This exciting phase of my artistic life expresses the affirmation that love has dynamic power. Throughout history, art has been used to convey a social message. My message is Love. It is my hope that these new and unique art pieces speak to people's minds and touch their hearts. I am grateful that the sculptures from the Inspired by Love series have been embraced by the community. I am also grateful for all the love and support. Thank you.
James Ding Artist