News From the Studio

Clayton is rising at 4:15 am on clear mornings in order to bicycle down to the dock, row out to his skiff and motor to a spot where a multicolored granite rock caught his eye.  He particularly appreciates the way the early morning sun accentuates the brilliant yellow, orange and green of the rock, which contrast sharply with the dark crevasses in the shadows.  At a bit off high tide, on a typical windless morning, the placid sea provides a balance to the rough textured rock.  Cormorants and gulls regularly settle on this perch above the fish filled ocean and they donate a white cap of guano to complete the spectrum from dark to white.

Today Clayton is installing a life size fox sculpture at a local café/ice cream store. Since the name of the café refers to a fox and there are many foxes in our area, the sculpture is entirely appropriate. When Clayton installs life size pieces in public places they are always securely fastened so they don’t “walk away.” Each site has its unique characteristics – stones, gravel, grass, and Clayton has to plan exactly how he will place and secure the bronze. In order to not move a large heavy bronze to decide on its final position, Clayton often suggests that his clients borrow a much lighter fiberglass  of the bronze. That way clients can move it here and there, change the angle, etc., without a forklift running across their lawn.

Clayton’s family of origin moved to a coastal Maine island when their youngest child went off to school.  Clayton, as well as many of his nine siblings, go to Islesford when they can during the summer.  The advantage of the portability of painting is that Clayton can paint when he is on the island.  Although he has yet to arrive, two of his paintings, Reassurance and Pump House Lichen are displayed at the Islesford Dock Gallery.

Welcome to Clayton’s new web site! Although Clayton’s first artistic endeavors were sculptures, curiosity lead him to painting, and a confidence in his vision added furniture, house design, as well as gardens. This web site reflects all of Clayton’s abilities, giving a sense of him as a whole person who approaches all aspects of his life artistically.

Clayton doesn’t consider any of his artistic choices as static. The garden changes each year, often so Clayton can grow a plant he would like to paint or draw. Sculptures and paintings move around the house, studio and display spaces. Even the furniture is shifted seasonally so as to focus around the fireplace in the winter and to offer seats for the great views out the window in the warmer months.

This web site offers the opportunity to witness this dynamic vision of Clayton’s art in his daily life.

Apologies for such a long hiatus. Clayton and his entire family – wife and three offspring – have been working on renovating Clayton’s studio, which he originally built in 1976. Additions have been added to both the east and west ends, a new roof and new siding for the entire building and most recently a new interior paint job.

This new space allows Clayton to separate the dusty work, such as plaster casting, from the oil paint which picks up dust and dirt easily. One now enters from the east via a porch to a room that will have paintings, both stored and hung for view, and some bronzes or plaster casts displayed. The new west end will hold the recycled clay, the plaster, wire armatures and the other more dust carrying items of his sculpture paraphernalia.

This leaves Clayton’s original 18 by 24 foot work space free of clutter for actual work on both paintings and sculpture. The expected completion date? November 15. Come by and see the studio, but always call first because Clayton still works from life, both in his paintings and sculptures.

Clayton garnered an award with his still life painting entitled The Yellow Bowl which he entered into the annual juried show at the Philadelphia Sketch Club. This year the show was entitled The Art of the Flower since the show started at the same time as the Philadelphia Flower Show, though it continues until March 23. Drop by and see his painting, or if you aren’t in the area contact us to see an image.

Clayton has finished doing a sculpture of an immature Cooper’s Hawk, and is taking it to the foundry today. The name of the new sculpture is Birdfeeder since we found it after it dive bombed our birdfeeder and missed, hitting our house. While at New Art Foundry, Clayton put on the patinas on the last of the Lentil sculptures he was picking up.

Clayton meanwhile is continuing to paint. He is finishing up the winter landscape behind a horse portrait. This is, of course, problematic in keeping fingers warm while painting in temperatures that give the fields a coat of frost creating that green almost blue grey in the shadows cast by the rising sun. Hand-warmers are helpful, but they don’t cover his exposed fingertips. However Clayton has never truly minded the cold, so he lasts for a couple of hours on the days when the cant of sunlight is consistent with his painting.

The one man show in Wilmington was a success, and we had a lot of sales leading up to Christmas,both of paintings and sculptures. At this point we have sold out of the edition of Whistlepigs, the pair of groundhogs one standing and the other on all fours watching the intruding artist. Any unsold pieces are now back on display at Clayton’s place.

The October edition of American Art Collector is out, and Clayton is featured on pages 138-139! The invitations arrived and look great. If you are reading this and would like an invitation for the opening at SomervilleManning on October 12, please contact us.

Aside from getting paintings and sculptures ready for the upcoming show, this summer Clayton sculpted a foxhound for Mr. Stewart’s Cheshire Foxhounds. This year marks the 100th anniversary of this foxhunt, and the sculpture, Lentil, contributes to this occasion. An edition of 21, the proceeds of the sale of Lentil will go to support the Cheshire Land Conservancy Fund.

A bit about Lentil the sculpture: Huntsman Ivan Dowling picked Lentil (the hound) as the best example of this pack of crossbred foxhounds. He remarked to Clayton that in their breeding program, Lentil epitomizes the good looks and work ethic that they are aiming for. Clayton found that Lentil was an easy hound to work with as he sculpted her. “Once she understood what I wanted, she was a great model.”

There is going to be an article on Clayton in the October edition of American Art Collector! Their writer, Joshua Rose, was pleased to find that Clayton is an artist working in both oils and bronze. During the interview, Clayton spoke of being a self-trained sculptor, but that he had taken some painting courses from Arthur DeCosta at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. By happenstance, Joshua knew and admired Arthur, and more discussion ensued on Clayton’s approach to painting. We are looking forward to seeing the article in print!

Among the sculptures Clayton will display at the October SomervilleManning show is a mule complete with saddle and bridle, entitled Crackshot.

When the mule arrived at the arm nameless, the farm manager had decided Crackshot was a good name.   Clayton learned how fitting this moniker was.

After spending time talking to the mule and becoming acquainted, he set to work sculpting her.  He was squatting down beside her examining her front legs when she awoke to the fact that a stranger was beneath her and – Crack!  She kicked Clayton in the forehead so fast that he “never saw it coming.”   When he returned later that afternoon with the two inch cut glued back together, he was more appreciative of her name.