Who wants sculpture? (WAS Informazioni)

Quoted text begins.My problem is: who wants sculptures? Common people don't
buy sculptures, they buy souvenirs or useful objects. I
fear that sculpture is only a capital outlay for
few,that are in the hands of art managers and art
critics.
End of quote.

Who wants sculpture? I would guess quite a few people.
How many can actually afford it is a different question
but that one can be answered by how much the artist
charges for his work. The hours of carving required for
most pieces prohibits pricing the work too low. I mean,
who wouldn't want one of Walter Arnold's gargoyle
drainspouts or one of Seamus O'Mahoney's Celtic
sculptures if they only asked $30 a piece for them?

The way I figure it there are two reasons to work stone.
One is for money and the other is for
self-gratification. Unfortunatley many times we have to
carve what is called for in order to earn what we need
to survive as working artists. Wether it is for public
buildings or head stones we often end up carving what is
in demand even if we would rather listen to our personal
muses.

Many scupltures carve for the shear joy of creating
something out of such a resistant medium as stone. They
either sell their works or not. There is always room for
one more in the garden if no one wants to pay the true
value of the work. The best time is when the two reasons
combine. You might get a commission that gives you
latitude in what the final sculpture would be, or you
might simply love to carve, no matter what piece is
called for. Then you are one of the lucky few that can
do what they love and make a living at it at the same
time.

I personally have no plans to carve sculptures for great
public works. I want to carve for me. I wan't to look at
a stone and release whatever I see inside. If the public
has no need for it, oh well. There is always room for
another piece in the garden :)

Scott Rhoades