Art is a very important part of my life and I use it to explore myself and communicate some of what I feel to others. I enjoy the process as well as the products and can lose track of time for hours when I am welding. When asked why I do sculpture, I might answer, “Because I can’t sing.”

I have had very little formal training, taking no art classes in high school or college. During my career in social services (Santa Clara County and state of California), art was a hobby. I attended occasional workshops, such as basketry, weaving and ceramics. With retirement in 1995, I wanted to devote more time to art. I began taking classes through adult education, University of California Extension and West Valley Community College in papermaking, drawing, design and watercolor.

I have always enjoyed tools, and would rather shop at hardware stores than department stores. In 1997 I wanted to learn to weld but was leery of using my husband’s arc welder, so he gave me an oxyacetylene unit and our neighbor taught me the rudiments of gas welding. As I began to “melt and mold” metal, I felt that I had found my art medium and decided to try my hand at metal sculpture. I enrolled in a metal sculpture class at West Valley and learned the fundamentals of casting in bronze. That was intriguing, but not as satisfying as working directly with metal.

Since that time I have also taken University of California Extension workshops in direct metal sculpture and forging. Learning to weld steel, however, has been primarily a matter of practice and trial and error. My work is not planned out in detail prior to beginning a project. I have a general idea of what I want to depict and sometimes make a sketch, but as the work progresses it takes on a life of its own and my role is to help it evolve. Often I find myself cutting off or melting a large part of what I have done and revising it into what it wants to become. Each piece is individual and cannot be duplicated.
My first metal sculptures were birds and fish, which reflected my interest in nature. I have worked in full three-dimensional figures, silhouettes and relief. Some are free standing, some are on stakes that can be put into the ground and some can be hung on walls, fences or trees. In addition to the oxyacetylene unit I started with, I have also acquired a MIG welder, two plasma cutters and forging equipment and tools. I have a small metal sheer and use both power and air grinders to finish my work. I usually work in mild steel and do not paint the metal except with heat from the torch. I do sometimes fuse bronze onto the steel or use a metal finish to enhance its color. Some pieces are coated with clear acrylic to prevent rust, but others are initially made from rusted metal. My metal ranges from new rod or sheet steel to old rusted sheet metal, pieces of pipe and other salvaged pieces. In addition to helping me salvage metal, my husband has been extremely helpful in keeping me supplied with oxygen, acetylene, welding rods and other consumables.

I have lived in California since 1960, and in the Santa Cruz Mountains since 1974. Our home is surrounded by San Jose Water Company property. Our nearest neighbor is almost a mile away. We have no fences. Lager Beer Creek runs year round in front of the house. We enjoy trails for hiking and riding our ATVs. Fulfilling an interest in native plants, I belong to the California Native Plant Society.

This time of the year I enjoy foraging for edible mushrooms. The chanterelles are superb. I also work at controlling invasive non-native plants such as yellow star thistle and french broom. This cuts my welding time, but keeps me fit.
Although some of my equipment is inside a workshop, most of my work is done outside. I have an outdoor area under a deck overhang with a welding table, anvils, vises, coal forging furnace, etc. The ground is surfaced with gravel and I keep a fire extinguisher and water hose close by to guard against fires from sparks. So far the only fires have been holes in my clothes.

I joined the Los Gatos Art Association several years ago and then learned about the Mountain Art Guild from the Mountain Network News, so joined it too. My work is on the Web sites of both organizations. Both organizations have given me the opportunity to be inspired by other artists and to have a way of seeing my own work through the eyes of others. I especially identify with the members of the Mountain Art Guild and have found them to be extremely supportive and helpful. 

My work is not created with the thought of a sale. I still have quite a few of the sculptures I have made, but many have been given away and a few have been sold. I am not opposed to selling my work if I know that someone is really interested in owning it; however, I don’t want to feel that I have to create art for the purpose of selling it.

I have shown work at the Los Gatos Museum of Art through the Los Gatos Art Association and have won several awards, both honorary and monetary. I have also exhibited work at the Mountain Art Guild show. I currently have a piece in the Los Gatos Council Chambers “Walls to the Future” show. The piece was to reflect my vision of the future and had to hang on a wall rather than be free standing. I created a disc with an eagle, a wolf, a salmon and an owl called “Guardians of Nature.” One gallery expressed an interested in showing my work but I have held back due to my fear that if pieces did begin to sell that I would be “pressured to produce.” I have not done any work on commission but have created several pieces at the request of friends and family members. The requests were general (a fish, a bird, a Scotty, an angel and a Kokopelli), so preconceived notions did not limit my creativity.

Working in metal is extremely satisfying, but the medium does not lend itself to mass production and is difficult to photograph. My hardest decision is in knowing when to quit. There is always more that could be done to almost any sculpture. Generally, once I sign my name I try not to go back and do any more. I can look at some of my early work and see things that could be changed but try to resist as changes might improve the piece technically, but might also alter the character and feel of the original sculpture.

 
I currently have two pieces of work in process. One is a forged and welded buffalo skull and the other is a globe depicting “Mother Earth.” Whether they will be completed remains to be seen. I also am planning several new silhouette and relief pieces.

Anyone who is interested in learning more about what I do may email ellafisher@aol .com or call 408-353-3238.