Robert Lyon was the SPW guest demonstrator for our December 16, 2008 meeting.  His area of expertise is sculptural forms.  Robert’s website features several photo galleries,  each focusing on a particular series of his work, as well as an in depth statement of his working philosophy.  Here is an excerpt:

“For several years, my sculpture has focused on abstraction, architectural images, and issues regarding the earth and our relationship to it. I draw inspiration from these sources, as I continue to explain my view of the world through the relationship of objects. Environmental fragility, memory, beauty, and a cultural identity are reoccurring themes in my work. With wood, pigment, flame, smoke, and carbon, I make the effects of my hands evident. Like many of the artists of the 1960’s, I am committed to the physical work traditionally associated with woodworking and the making of sculpture. This philosophy reinforces my link to previous cultures and civilizations, which often appears to be in contrast to the digital heavy age in which we live.

Bringing together natural and architectural concepts with wood, I try to meld the activities of man with those of nature. Because the work in part, celebrates the wood itself, I allow the wood to move and crack as if it has a mind of its own.”

 Robert Lyon