Sedona artist Rick Rowley creates in his studio cSedonaTimes 2010

Sedona AZ (January 5, 2010) – When a mortal looks at a chunk of clay, a wooden log, a piece of granite or a blank canvass, that is what he or she usually sees – a chunk of clay, a wooden log, a piece of granite or a blank canvass.

But when the eyes of an artist fall upon the same objects, they see the hidden beauty inside the physical form of the object and they strip away the outer veil until the truth locked inside is revealed. On canvass they see the work before the first stroke of the brush.

From apparent nothingness, the artist creates something that touches us deep inside, with no words needed.  The artist brings forth emotion each and every time we gaze upon that which the artist revealed from what once were ordinary objects – now elevated to art.

There are numerous mediums that artists can choose to express themselves through. Most, choose one and focus all their time to that one medium, whether it is bronze, wood, stone, canvass or clay.

Yet, there are some artists who have mastered all the above mediums and express themselves in ways few in the world can say they do.

One such artist is Rick J. Rowley, owner of Rowley Designs Fine Art Gallery located at the Hillside Center in Sedona.

Proficient in stone sculpture, bronze casting, painting and woodwork, Rick’s gallery is a veritable cornucopia of art, featuring larger-than-life bronze sculptures, wood carvings of intriguing and captivating figures, exquisite granite carvings of animals and fantastical creatures, charcoal sketching, oil paintings, you name it, all created exclusively by him. The Lost Woodsman’s Gallery has art for every price range from $10 to $80,000.

So where does he get his ideas and inspiration from?

“Challenges,” he says.

And where did he study to learn the skills necessary to produce his numerous art forms?

“My mind,” he says.

According to Rick, he grew up in Great Falls, Montana and raised in the rural community of Power, Montana where he opened his first gallery at the age of 32.

At that time he was a successful executive for a major corporation earning a three-figure salary but his need for art seduced him away.

“I started my first carving on a bar of soup and when I was nine-years old and in the Boy Scouts I made my first wood carving with a pocket knife,” he said. “I had seen my father make a large carving with a chain saw and I picked up on that as well. I didn’t do my first bronze sculpture until I was 25. I continued doing my carvings more as a hobby than anything else. By the time I was 32 I had created numerous pieces of art and friends and family began challenging me to become an artist full time.”

He said he had to make a tough choice between the security of a good job in the corporate world and the uncertainty of pursuing a new career in the world of art.

“I never saw myself as an artist,” he said. “I don’t consider myself any more than an average man. But people close to me were challenging me to get into art full-time. They said I could sell my art. I saw a bronze sculpture selling for $20,000. I said to myself ‘I could do that.’ With a chunk of clay in front of me I decided to go for it.”

So he quit his job, cashed in his 401K.

“I said to myself if I am going to make it I have just one chance,” he said. “I decided to go out and spend it and open an art gallery.”

He said he opened his gallery in a small Montana community. Other friends and family members who were not convinced leaving the corporate world to pursue his art was the right thing to do perceived him as having lost touch with reality.

“I was perceived as being lost,” he said. “People were asking what was I doing because I had a successful job. They wanted to know what had happened to me. So I decided to name my first gallery ‘The Lost Woodsman Studio.’”

With his ability to create life-size and larger than life-size original would carvings with a chainsaw he was able to produce enough pieces in a short enough time frame to run a successful gallery.

He scored accounts with major commercial outlets like Costco and Walmart and soon was mass-producing his art.

“The bronze sculpture market is a very competitive market,” he said. “It cost a lot to make a mold so I developed my own system where I could produce a $100,000 bronze sculpture, sell it at $50,000 and still make a substantial profit. However, making wood carvings with a chainsaw was where my real niche waited.”

He encountered little competition against his wood carvings in the art world.

“Working with a chainsaw is dangerous and dirty,” he said. “It was something unique in the marketplace. By perfecting the chainsaw I could create a large piece in a short time at a minimal cost with a high return. I found my niche and a demand.”

His gallery in Montana grew to include bistro-style restaurant with artful dining and a work studio. He was commissioned to create art for major outlets; opened his own foundry for his bronze sculptures; traveled to China where he lived with the local population, learned to speak the language, opened a manufacturing company and trained local artists in his techniques for mass producing replicas of his art.

While growing his business and creating new art he came to Sedona one day and he was hooked.

“I came through Sedona 15 years ago while marketing my sculptures throughout the USA,” he said. “I had accounts in Northern Arizona. When I passed through Sedona I thought to myself this is one of the most beautiful places in the country. I said to myself one day I am going to do it, move to Sedona. Now I am here.”

He packed up his bags and family and opened his gallery at Hillside in July 2009 in the midst of one of the most challenging times for those in the art business and for Sedona.

“With the economy in such bad shape it is now time to attack the monster head on,” he said. “I said it’s time to take a look at Sedona. I believed I could do it and I believe in Sedona. I am a believer when one is faced with adversity in life, one must face the monster head on; understand the beast; strategize the operation of your mission; envision plans A, B and C; be prepared for a few cuts and bruises. Fear nothing and believe in yourself. You shall defeat the adversities of life and live thereafter, never forgetting that special gift possibly sleeping in your hand – your ability to do. Desire is great enough.”

For more information on Rick’s Lost Woodsman Gallery, call 928-204-5888.

This SedonaEye.com article by Tommy Acosta, Sedona Times editor.

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