SAM MACDONALD

SCULPTOR

Gallery

Trout & Salmon

Shoals

Salt Water Game Fish

Other Fish

The salmon represents nature and  free spirit  in the wilderness and the fact this icon is now threatened epitomises the  dire situation that we as humans  now find ourselves in due to greed and  beligerance.

From the audacious precotious parr to the noble old spent Kelt the salmon in all it's stages has been  a source of fascination and intrigue to me. A trout makes sense and is logical, cast the right fly  imitating the correct insect at the correct depth  and the trout will try to feed on it. A salmon however has no such constraints and seems to have no rymn or reason as its still a mystery why it choses to attack, play with or pluck at  a gaudy imitation of nothing particular when it doesn't need to feed . When you catch a salmon it's more like the salmon has allowed you and has given you a gift so you have to treat this creature with reverence it deserves.

It's the sense that this creature that has been our goal for so long still holds onto mysteries and we constantly learn from it. It teaches us all lifes emotions,  frustration, joy, intrigue,satisfaction, respect and most importantly patience and expect the unexpected.

Growing up beside a small salmon river it was one quarry prized above all others. In folklore Sommerled became Lord of the Isles on the condition he catch the fish he was after when they asked him which he then did.

As an artist sculptor the salmon is the quintisensial form following function, superbly aerodynamic and incredibly powerful , a thing of real beauty. So powerful it can power upstream and leap through a torrent of fast flowing water to continue undaunted on up to it's spawning ground.

This leap is such a show of force and grit over adversary that fascinates all and always causes an involuntary gasp when first seen by an on looker.The colours from the fleeting silver to steely blues and then the rich coppery tones as it changes into its coat of many colours are it's many beautiful  apparels. The object of every artist is to grasp touch or hold that transient awe that this fish can hold.

In some work the fish appear between large sheets of metal, as if viewed through the remains of a sunken superstructure. A strange aspect of this visual experience is how the mind's eye invents the hidden and disappearing parts of the group, assimilating a more rounded sense of the unique shape of each species than one might do studying a single specimen. Gold leaf is used to accentuate the flash of a synchronised turn of many separate creatures becoming a larger, unified entity.

The Gallery shows examples of my work, past and present. Some are available for sale and others are examples of works that can be commissioned.

Salt-water game fish have a unique fascination for me. From the beauty of a tarpon breaking the surface, to the sheer power communicated through the line of the first run of bonefish, to the tranquil strength of the crab-eating permit. Trying to capture their aesthetic beauty is like my quest for the Grandslam, improbable but very rewarding!

The Gallery shows examples of my work, past and present. Some are available for sale and others are examples of works that can be commissioned.

Diving offers an insight into a different world that still remains one of the few largely unexplored environments on earth. From the ominous hatchet fish, lurking at depth to the beautiful needlefish skating across the surface, all have an aesthetic value. Even their skeletal remains have a beautiful sculptural structure. The quiet and calm that fishing brings enables an in depth observation of nature that I reflect in my work.

The Gallery shows examples of my work, past and present. Some are available for sale and others are examples of works that can be commissioned.

 

SAM MACDONALD

SCULPTOR

Tel: 07711 825 931

e-mail: s.macdonald54@yahoo.com

      sammacdon

© Sam MacDonald 2016

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