You may have seen them in shops or at the homes of friends: meticulously designed gargoyles and mythical creatures sure to draw even the most sober minds into the realm of the mystical. Arguably producing some of the most beautiful and innovative sculpture in the Merrimack Valley today, Lowell artist Jay W. Hungate has a passion for his work that emanates through the contours of every piece.
As a Massachusetts College of Art student, Hungate worked at the former Sculpture Studio in Boston, creating architectural models and reproducing designs for other artists. It was here that he fell in love with sculpture and learned many of the techniques that he still uses in his work today. It was also this experience that convinced him that he needed to go out on his own. “I was spending all of my time making other people’s designs a reality,” he says, “and much of the time I wasn’t happy with the direction they would take them in when I was done. I knew I needed to start doing my own work.”
After establishing his first studio in Framingham, where he was also to meet his wife, a Lowell native and an artist herself, Hungate’s business took off when he began selling his gargoyle designs at a boutique on Boston’s Newbury Street. Demand for his work was high, and he expanded his line to include several more grotesque creatures, many of which remain very popular.
Photo by Kate Harper
Aside from his plaster- and cement-cast chimera statuary, Hungate’s other love is stone carving. During a brief period of study at Northern Arizona University, Hungate took a stone-carving course and was immediately hooked. He spent time in Italy studying at the Carving Studio in Carrara and purchasing pieces of marble, joking that he spent his entire life savings shipping stones home from Europe. Today Hungate continues to study the art of sculpting granite at studios in Proctor and Danby, Vermont, making frequent trips up north.
Though painstaking and time-consuming, Hungate’s stone carvings are true marvels. His pieces have been featured at juried exhibitions and museums throughout the Northeast and have been sold to several private collectors. Many of Hungate’s sculptures are inspired by his wife and two daughters, the artist’s heart clearly lying with his family. Asked how he gets ideas for his stonework, Hungate smiles. “I get inspiration from the stones themselves. Some of them sit in the studio, untouched for years, until one day I’ll look at one of them and see what it can become.”
See Hungate’s work: Brush Art Gallery: 256 Market Street, Lowell, MA, (978) 459-7819: www.TheBrush.org.
See Hungate at work on the first Saturday of each month during Open Studios Day: Western Avenue Studios: 122 Western Avenue, Lowell, MA, (978) 349-8069: www.WesternAvenueStudios.com.
To contact Hungate directly or to view his work online, visit his Web site at www.JWHStudio.com.
Jay W. Hungate – Master Sculptor – Jan/Feb 2009
Photo by Kate Harper
You may have seen them in shops or at the homes of friends: meticulously designed gargoyles and mythical creatures sure to draw even the most sober minds into the realm of the mystical. Arguably producing some of the most beautiful and innovative sculpture in the Merrimack Valley today, Lowell artist Jay W. Hungate has a passion for his work that emanates through the contours of every piece.
As a Massachusetts College of Art student, Hungate worked at the former Sculpture Studio in Boston, creating architectural models and reproducing designs for other artists. It was here that he fell in love with sculpture and learned many of the techniques that he still uses in his work today. It was also this experience that convinced him that he needed to go out on his own. “I was spending all of my time making other people’s designs a reality,” he says, “and much of the time I wasn’t happy with the direction they would take them in when I was done. I knew I needed to start doing my own work.”
After establishing his first studio in Framingham, where he was also to meet his wife, a Lowell native and an artist herself, Hungate’s business took off when he began selling his gargoyle designs at a boutique on Boston’s Newbury Street. Demand for his work was high, and he expanded his line to include several more grotesque creatures, many of which remain very popular.
Photo by Kate Harper
Aside from his plaster- and cement-cast chimera statuary, Hungate’s other love is stone carving. During a brief period of study at Northern Arizona University, Hungate took a stone-carving course and was immediately hooked. He spent time in Italy studying at the Carving Studio in Carrara and purchasing pieces of marble, joking that he spent his entire life savings shipping stones home from Europe. Today Hungate continues to study the art of sculpting granite at studios in Proctor and Danby, Vermont, making frequent trips up north.
Though painstaking and time-consuming, Hungate’s stone carvings are true marvels. His pieces have been featured at juried exhibitions and museums throughout the Northeast and have been sold to several private collectors. Many of Hungate’s sculptures are inspired by his wife and two daughters, the artist’s heart clearly lying with his family. Asked how he gets ideas for his stonework, Hungate smiles. “I get inspiration from the stones themselves. Some of them sit in the studio, untouched for years, until one day I’ll look at one of them and see what it can become.”
See Hungate’s work: Brush Art Gallery: 256 Market Street, Lowell, MA, (978) 459-7819: www.TheBrush.org.
See Hungate at work on the first Saturday of each month during Open Studios Day: Western Avenue Studios: 122 Western Avenue, Lowell, MA, (978) 349-8069: www.WesternAvenueStudios.com.
To contact Hungate directly or to view his work online, visit his Web site at www.JWHStudio.com.