Name:Poet
Ryan Hobbs
Life Span: 1973-current
Location: Eugene, Oregon USA
Poet grew up along the river of the Willamette in the town
of Springfield Oregon. His early interests were: painting,
drawing and being outdoors. When he was an early age his
grandmother noted his talent in art and started painting
with him every time he visited. His first love of art came
with mixing colors of oil paints. He became so interested
in the colors that he did most of his early work with out
a brush. Being trained in how to draw and paint in the style
of realism, Poet's natural course of design lead eventually
to the abstract. Poet recalls one of the most important
lessons of his trainning in art, “It’s
not what you put in the picture it’s what you leave
out”. This was the school of thought for most
of the abstract images that he has done,
When asked to describe his work he replied,
“I try to draw, paint, and construct pictures that
would have ones mind visually fill in the blanks”.
Why did you stop painting and move
on to steel sculptures?
I think the desire to create from such raw visual materials
such as steel is in my genius. Steel is versatile warm,
cold, deep, shallow, raw and perfected. When
creating with steel the sky is the limit. I get along better
with the steel, what can I say.
When did you start making furniture?
Building furniture has always been around in my family.
My father used to make beds and tables for my sister and
I growing up. He would construct them with such quality
that we had to pass them on to my cousins because they would
not break.. This type of furniture last forever. That appeals
to me on several levels.
What is your Goal?
My goal is to continue to create pictures from steel, make
fine furniture that is both beautiful, functional and custom,.
For example, let us suppose you have a piece of wood from
an old ship in your house and its been sitting there for
years. You want to do something with it, but not sure what.
Why not mount the wood in a table for years of enjoyment
and use?That's where I come in. This same principle applies
to marble, granite or anything that needs to be put to use.
I would like to see people be more in control of what they
buy. Not every one wants to buy art, however, people want
to buy furniture. That's where I cross the bridge and merge
the two; I would like to see people be more in control when
it comes to custom furniture. Just think about the possible
of fusing memories of the past eith something functional
and you end up with something that tells a story. That is
the expression of art, it's what I do.
Do you think some of your art is
a little morbid?
I’ve always been a fan of cult-ish things.
Cult stuff from movies to books. You know, I still enjoy
being scared and I do think some of the pictures I have
done are a bit on the morbid side, but I don’t sculpt
with the idea of making money. I sculpt for my enjoyment
and these pictures give me freedom of expression and creativity.
Any last words to tell people who
are interested in your style?
My style will always be different. I am willing to take
on any job. I will continue to have fun with my designs
and as time allows, I hope to show my fans a wider range
of feeling and attitude in my art and in my furniture.
