It depends on the piece and what it’s made of. Indoors, polished aluminum will maintain a very high shine for many years. Outdoors, aluminum will slowly start to oxidize and the brilliant shine will still be reflective but will appear more gray. Aluminum pieces can always be disassembled and repolished by hand. We can provide guidance and materials to you at cost if you would like to do it yourself, and I can also send a studio assistant to your location at cost as well.

So far, the stainless steel pieces have not experienced any real change under long term outdoor exposure and our powder coated pieces behave the same way.

Many piece are now powder coated, an industrial process that has brought color to my work in a very long lasting way. The metal pieces get an electrical current, a dry colored powder is spray on the piece and then it’s backed a for a few hours at 400 degrees. The end result is easy to clean and will last for decades.

While over many years we have yet to experience a failure of ball bearings in the field we will replace any bearing failures in a sculpture at no cost.

When it comes to weather “bad” is a relative term. Here in New Orleans hurricanes are as bad as it gets and we would definitely recommend that a sculpture disassembled, brought indoors or secured for that kind of event. Fortunately with hurricanes, we have several days of advance notice.

I don’t have the resources for wind tunnel testing (yet) but this mostly comes down to common sense. Some sculptures are frankly more delicate that others. Some are easier to move inside. As you make a choice on a particular sculpture series, I can advise you based on your geography and placement what your concerns and solutions for weather should be.

Instead of using a cement base we create a strong frame underneath the base plate of the sculpture and literally screw it into the ground.

Check out the installation page for details. Long story short, by using Earth Screws to secure sculpture we get a very stable and secure installation that has stood up to hurricanes here in New Orleans. And perhaps best of all, it allows you as an owner to change your mind on location very easily.

Several customers have used and one of our galleries routinely uses cement pedestals. It’s second nature to them, but you can have a choice. So far, none of the clients with an Earth Screw installation have changed to cement.

Currently we do all our shipping via Fedex and/or UPS and it’s included in the cost of the sculpture. If you were wondering, those costs have doubled since this time a year ago.

Everything we do is flat packed so a traditional shipper can work very well. The problem with every shipper, whether it’s Fedex, UPS or a more traditional freight carrier, is that insurance for fine art is pretty much useless. We take a very defensive approach to packaging but If there’s a quality problem with shipping, that’s on me and I will make things good.

For me the beauty of the sculpture is always enhanced by a background of lush foliage. That said, care must be taken to ensure that new growth doesn’t interfere with the movement of the sculpture. I also like to caution clients that outdoor pieces underneath foliage will always be more work to keep clean.

I’m fortunate to have some great relationships with some very impressive galleries and gallerists. As you might imagine, every gallery is different and artists can have all kinds of relationships with them. Some artists even go so far as to grant a single gallery world wide rights for all representation and sales.

In my case, all of my galleries have pieces in their possession they are free to sell and they can also sell anything I’ve made and have available. I’ve had galleries sell from their own inventory, from mine and they have negotiated custom commissions with me on behalf of their clients. In turn, I can also work one on one with anyone that would prefer to be in direct contact with me.

When it comes to making a choice between one of my galleries or just calling me, it’s entirely up to you. Some people prefer the confidence of working with businesses that have decades of history behind them - others are just as happy to work with an artist and have a more direct and involved relationship, especially for commissions. Some people like professional designers will almost always go the gallery route though I handle those kinds of relationships and sales in the exact same fashion as my galleries.

While many artists feel exactly the opposite, I’ve always loved contact with new clients that share my love for things that move in the wind.

Traditionally that was pretty much true. If your sculpture required one or more custom wooden shipping cases, commercial freight carriers, a folk lift just to get it off the truck, a crew to come pour a cement base and a crane to put it in place . . . well then yes, being rich helps a great deal. I think the process can be much more simple and approachable for normal people.

It was always my goal to create work that was affordable (relatively speaking) and easy to deal with. To be honest, my largest most monumental pieces are extremely expensive and a crane (or at least a cherry-picker) would be required. But the vast majority of my work is very human-scaled and easy for one person to manage.