Reflections from the Forge by Richard Prazen

Richard Prazen Artist Statement

Ever Since I was a young boy, I have been fascinated with Making and creating things.  I grew up with two older brothers and a sister that were very artistically creative.  My Father was a very creative man and an inventor of sorts.  He came up with so many creative industrial inventions, that with that sort of creative background, it was hard not to be inspired.  I learned to love art and fabrication.  This evolved into the basis of my artistic ability.  I learned the fabrication business and was driven to apply the art at a very early age.  I started by building things like ships and cars and railroad sculptures, and that evolved into a fascination of wildlife, particularly birds, Eagles and other types of birds.  I have also gone into other things like Dragons, Indians, Horses, Large Spiders, and a large variety of things.  I have helped develop a style of metal murals in two dimension, like scenes that hang on a wall like a bas relief.   I started doing the wire deer sculptures and other things in 1983 and that developed into a huge industry.  I love diversity and have never said no to a request for me to build something.  Large or small, it didn’t matter, I always loved the challenge of figuring out how to build whatever someone asked for.  I knew that with that challenge would come growth.  I am proud to have come from a tradition of creative abilities and that I can say that I have too been able to have developed my own style of metal sculpture.  I truly thank God for my abilities and love to share my art with others.

Sincerely,

Richard Prazen