Added: Jul 15, 2010

From: johnsendelbach

Duration: 2:23

http://www.johnsendelbach.com/ Artist Statement:Art is for the mind of the beholder. So, ever the iconoclast, I'll let you figure it out yourself. Artist Biography In 1966, on the 62nd birthday of Salvador Dali, a child was born in a red Plymouth Valiant in front of Buffalo's Mercy Hospital. The youngest of four, John Sendelbach had entered the world amidst global unrest and social awakening. With early memories of the ceasefire in Viet Nam, his formative years in the seventies were spent playing in the woods, fields and creeks of Orchard Park. During these halcyon days of Schwinn Stingrays, Hotwheels, treeforts and bicentennial firecrackers, John was strongly influenced by his first generation father, a sheetmetal contractor and draughtsman, and the many tools available around the house. He showed an early propensity for creation, always tinkering with model cars, chopper bicycles and motorless gocarts, as well as making award winning models of the White House and the Eiffel tower. Excellence in classwork and atheletics in his early years, gave way to an interest in popular music and cosmic explorations in his teens. Buying his first album in eighth grade, Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here", ameliorated his earlier influences of the likes of Led Zeppelin, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Deep Purple. A serendipidous discovery of the Grateful Dead in 1983 forever changed his world view, and led to a near fanatical following of the band for the next 15 years. In his early twenties, John began playing guitar which led to writing and performing original music. His scintillating guitar work is a true representation of his artist's soul, while his melodies and lyrics add to the original flair that set his originals apart. Beginning college as an engineering student, John found his studies to be boring and not relevant to his true interests. Eventually he found his way to Cornell University in the department of Floriculture and Ornamental Horticulture. Still not satisfied with the trajectory of his future however, he entered the University of Massachusetts for a Masters of Landscape Architecture. Dovetailing his graduate school work and independent streak, John founded Whirlwind Fine Garden Design in Amherst, MA, and practiced landscape design/build for ten years. In 1998 John won first place in the Amherst Public Arts Commission's "request for public art", which resulted in the permanent installation "Crossroads Salamander" on the Cushman Village common. In 2000 John sold his interest in Whirlwind to his business partner, and began producing stone and metal art in earnest. Showing his work at the likes of Paradise City Arts Festival, Berkshire Art Festival, Deerfield Craft Fair, Roycroft Art Festival and Amherst Crafts on the Common, he began his exploration of sacred geometry, Rube Goldberg type contraptions and myriad metalworking techniques. In 2003 he was invited to create another public art piece for Amherst, a stone memorial titled "Mill Canal Newt". In 2005 John was commissioned by the Class of 1956 to design a stone plaza surrounding the recent bronze statue of the Minuteman on the UMass Amherst campus. Throughout the 2000's John has created upwards of a thousand works of art, and has been commissioned and collected worldwide. Presently, 'bach, as he has become known, resides in Shelburne Falls, MA with his best friend Totem the Dog.

Channel: Howto

Rating: ( ratings)    Views: 157    Comments: