Edward Walsh: Stainless steel is by far the most difficult of these materials especially when one brings the finish up to a mirror polish--a time-consuming, labor-intensive process, but one that gives a beautiful result. Many of the tools used for sculpting in one medium are transferable to another--particularly in the grinding and polishing steps.

Edward Walsh: I make drawings first and from them I make small to full-scale models, especially if the piece is to be made in stone where the material is not replaceable,

Edward Walsh: I always have several pieces under way. It is a great luxury to be able to "wait" for the right answer to present itself. This type of waiting can take days or years and comes about while working on another piece and often occurs while working in a totally different medium. Inspiration comes from doing.

Edward Walsh: At present, I have a few water-like and also some kinetic pieces under way.

Edward Walsh: I worked as an apprentice to figurative sculptor Manuel Carbonell a Cuban refugee who had moved to New York. Manuel continued my education and understanding of the human body using the book by the 16th century anatomist Versalius. Manuel gave me this book; I return to it time after time for an understanding of the figure begining with the skeleton as the body's frame and its covering of muscle and skin. It is a real treasure for me, and I recommend Versalius to anyone who uses the human form in their art.











Edward Walsh: Later, I went to Italy to create my own art pieces while also learning about and mastering the various hand and pneumatic tools used to carve marble. I rented space and compressor time in one of the oldest marble carving studios in Pietrasanta and worked next to a man who had been carving since he was fourteen--for twenty years. I would watch him closely, ask a few questions of him in my bad Italian and then set to work in my piece of stone. He was especially kind to me when he would say "basta" (stop) and point to his "occhio" (eye), which meant, "watch me". He then would take the tools out of my hands and give me a demonstration of what needed to be done for each critical step of the carving process that I was presently working on. He was my teacher in the most giving of ways.

Edward Walsh: Either through age or through staightforward simplicity of design, line and form Egyptian, Greek, Chinese, Japanese, Mayan and African works have always caught my attention. Rodin, Michelangelo, Mestrovic, Archipenko, Giacometti and Brancusi top off my list of heros.

Edward Walsh: The practical aspects of creating sculpture make it very different from painting: As a professor in college once said to me: "The economics of an artists' materials most often drive and permit the artist to produce a work of art." The materials expense to create just one sculpture would be enough to pay for an entire show of paintings and their associated framing. Also, sculpture is often exposed to outside weather conditions, which demands every consideration in the choice of materials and how they are combined or bonded together.

Edward Walsh: The recognizable image is what I seek and pursue. It is the quiet interior strength of that image in art which the viewer can return to time and again without becoming bored or jaded. It is my ultimate goal.