IDOLS OF ART WALK: Douglas Clark

Douglas Clark

• Age: 58
• Hometown: Grew up in Edna, Texas and now live in McAllen
• Influences: My first professor, Jack McClenendon. I met him when I was 18 and started going to college and who respected his interest in art.
• Upcoming shows: Artwalk on Sept. 5
• Website/ Myspace page: www.douglasclarkart.com  

How did you become interested in sculpture?

I grew up on a rice farm in South Texas and shaping the land with tractors and plows gave way to shaping clay into figures. The earth is still the medium.

What is the hardest part of making your vision into a three-dimensional object?

I found out long ago that starting was the hardest part of any project. I have learned to ignore insecurities about how things will turn out and to just start working. The first steps will always guide me on to the next steps and those in turn will show me the way through to completion.

Your sculptures show great emotion. How do you create so much feeling in people's faces?

I don't show emotion as much as I just reveal emotion. The subjects that I sculpt have their own stories and it is up to me to show what is already there. In that sense, I am more of a reporter than I am a creator.

What was your favorite project to work on? Why?

The sculpture of Janis Joplin brought me my first international press, not because of me, but because of her story, and the story of her hometown reconciling itself to the memory of its most famous daughter. On that project I met more people than ever before on a single project and the sculpture was a catalyst to the building of the Museum of the Gulf Coast in Port Arthur Texas; a museum of Pop culture as well as natural and local history.

Is there anything you won't sculpt? Why?

I once withdrew from a sand castle competition on Galveston Island because my fifty man  team voted to do a sculpture  which was intended to ridicule a sitting U. S. President.

Who is your favorite artist?

Rodan is my favorite sculptor. I came face to face with his Burgers of Calais in Houston while I was on an unrelated errand, and at eighteen years of age, I was struck dumb by the work and I knew that I had to do sculptures like those.

What is your favorite medium to sculpt with?

Clay is my favorite medium, of course we turn everything that we make into bronze, but clay is the first and most basic material in the process. Clay is available to everyone and it is what you first introduce new students to on their way to becoming sculptors.

What is the most interesting place art has taken you to?

Mexico is the most interesting place that art has taken me. I have used art foundries in several cities in central Mexico which has given me the chance to explore the interior of Mexico and to learn Spanish. Plus meeting many fine artists across the country who have become good friends and who have taught me much.