Q&A with SEWE featured sculptor Don Rambadt
Don Rambadt, this year’s featured sculptor at the Southeastern Wildlife Exposition, was bit by the welding bug in college. After that, he changed his major and his career took off.
In his 13th year at SEWE, Rambadt enjoys sharing his work with others, and hopes to evoke a sense of discovery with his art.
Based in Trevor, Wis., Rambadt talks about his travels, the instructor that changed his life and a new sculpture this interview inspired him to do.
Q: You show across North America and abroad. Where has your art taken you?
A: I’ve been fortunate to be able to see quite a bit of the U.S., as I generally drive to all the exhibitions I show in. I’ve also taken some great trips to Indonesia, Australia and Central America to get inspired and gather reference, but it’s the things I see in my own “backyard” that I always tend to gravitate back towards as my subjects.
Q: Of all the places you’ve been, what’s your favorite?
A: As far as traveling for shows is concerned, I’ve always loved my annual trip to San Diego. Not only do I get a chance to visit some of the most beautiful geological features in the country as I pass through Utah and the Southwest, but I usually get to spend a few days enjoying all that Southern California has to offer, as well.
Q: How many art expositions do you participate in each year?
A: It varies depending on what my schedule will allow, but I usually do between four and six. Since the majority of the sculptures I create are one of a kind, I like to have at least 3 months between exhibits in order to really focus on quality work.
Q: How does SEWE stack up to the other expositions you participate in?
A: It’s a fantastic show. The fact that its been around for 30 years now speaks to how well the show is run and the quality of the artwork exhibited.
Q: How many times have you shown at SEWE?
A: This is my 13th year in a row. I’ve found a great audience down here for the type of work I do, so I keep coming back.
Q: How long have you been sculpting?
A: I started working in metal about 20 years ago, when I took a sculpture course in college. The instructor brought his old arc welder in from home to give us an introduction to welding.
I vividly remember the first time a stuck two pieces of metal together. It was like a whole new world of possibilities opened up and I was completely hooked after that.
By the end of that course, I changed my major from biology to fine art, transferred schools and have been working in metal ever since. That one instructor literally changed my life.
Q: If you weren’t an artist, what would you be doing with your life?
A: I can’t imagine doing anything else.
Q: Do you sculpt from photographs, life, memory or imagination?
A: I guess I use all four really. I sculpt mostly from the memory of events I’ve witnessed, and imagination to compose the piece.
Once I have the sculpture underway, I use live observation, photographs and other reference material to re-enforce the mental images I’m working from.
I keep a well-worn, and slightly singed, copy of the “Kaufman Focus Guides” to birds at my workbench that I reference for coloration, markings and general proportions.
Q: How long does it take you to complete one of your works?
A: It really varies. Sometimes, if all goes well, I can finish a piece in a day. Sometimes I’ll work on and off on a piece for several years. Occasionally, I’ll spend days or weeks on a piece that I end up scraping.
Q: How many do you produce each year?
A: Again, it varies. I’d say I create between 20 and 40 new pieces a year, but it depends on what type of work I’m doing. I did quite a few large-scale pieces this past year, which obviously take a bit more time to construct, but are really gratifying to complete.
Q: What is the price range of your work?
A: The pieces I’ll be exhibiting at SEWE will be between $750 and $15,000.
Q: What’s your personal favorite as far as your pieces go?
A: I can’t say I really have a favorite. There’s been quite a few that I’ve had a hard time parting with, but the fact that someone was willing to give them a good home allows me the opportunity to keep making more.
Q: Do you have a favorite that you’re bringing to SEWE this year?
A: I’m bringing a lot of pieces I’m really excited about, and have what’s probably the most diverse body of work I’ve ever shown, so it’s tough to pick a favorite.
I have a pair of barn swallows in flight that I’m particularly fond of, and a Northern Shrike piece that I tried some new techniques on. I think it’s usually the works in which I pushed my own boundaries a bit and tried something new that excite me the most.
Q: What is it that attracts you to wildlife art?
A: I’ve had a lifelong fascination with the natural world, so it’s always interesting to see how different artists interpret it. Just about every artist at the show has a their own vision of what’s beautiful or fascinating to them, and their artwork allows you to see the world through their eyes.
I think I just love to take a look at things from a different perspective, and a show like this is an amazing opportunity to do so.
Q: Why birds?
A: I can’t pass a pigeon on the street without stopping to see what it’s up to. There’s just something inherently fascinating to me about birds so they’ve always been my primary subject matter.
Q: Is there one phase or step that is most challenging?
A: For me it’s the chemical patination, or coloring, of the finished work. It’s a critical step in the process and one that can make or break the outcome of the sculpture. It can be technically challenging and things can go awry in a heartbeat, so I always breath a sigh of relief when everything turns out the way I envisioned.
Q: What would you say has been your greatest accomplishment?
A: I still have a photocopy of the $50 check I got for the first sculpture I ever sold.
Q: Do you have any regrets?
A: Not yet. You’ll have to ask me in another 40 years.
Q: What’s your favorite part of your job?
A: Sitting back and looking at a piece when it’s half-finished and thinking “this is going to work.”
Q: How did your “Magnetic Migration” project come about?
A: The project evolved from a series of sculptures I was working on which featured “movable” woodpeckers and nuthatches that were attached to rather abstract steel forms with magnets.
I was really enjoying the contrast of the rather delicate birds against these massive steel forms, but felt the scale at which I could create them was limited by practical reasons, namely I couldn’t see hauling 3,000-pound steel slabs around the country.
I decided to solve the problem by using “ready made” steel structures such as bridges, fuel tanks and the like to achieve the contrast I was looking for, and at the same time create a quasi-public art piece.
I made a bunch of little stainless steel nuthatches, then found interesting placements for them as I traveled around the country and photographed them to document the artwork.
Once the photo is shot, I leave the bird in place for the curious and attentive passerby to enjoy. The migration aspect came to mind later, as I thought it be fun to ask the people who found them to relocate the piece and create a composition of their own, with the incentive being that I’d send them another nuthatch to keep if they sent me the photo.
I engrave my website (donrambadt.com) onto the bird, which describes the project and shows some of the placements.
Q: How many were placed and where have they been?
A: I’ve placed six so far, and have given another six to other artists to place. They’re scattered around the country from coast to coast, and a few have made it as far as England, Israel and Japan.
Q: Have you put one in Charleston?
A: Hmm. I haven’t placed one in Charleston yet, but now that you mention it, I will have by the end of the weekend. There’s so much great ironwork around I’m bound to find a perfect spot.
Q: Do you get any leisure time while you’re here for SEWE?
A: It’s a pretty busy weekend at the show, but we always manage to get out on the town at least a evening or two. Charleston is an excellent walking city, so it’s easy to find a great restaurant or place to unwind within a stone’s throw of Meeting Street.
Q: Do you have a favorite restaurant here in Charleston?
A: There’s so many to chose from depending on what you’re in the mood for. I’ll be going to FIG for my third time on Friday night, so I guess I’d call it my favorite so far.
Q: If you had a good friend attending SEWE, what advice would you give them about buying wildlife art?
A: I’d tell them to take the same approach as I do and not be afraid to splurge a little if they found something that really moved them.
I have artwork in my home that I purchased years ago that I still enjoy every single day. Being able to explore an original piece of art on your own terms, one in which you can really see the artist’s hand at work: the textures and brushstrokes, the subtleties of form and shadow, is an experience I can’t imagine living without.
Q: Who are some of your favorite fellow SEWE artists?
A: Adele Earnshaw is at the top of my list for the painters. She’s truly an “artist’s artist,” and one who’s always pushing her boundaries.
I like artists that aren’t afraid to break out of their comfort zone a little, especially when that comfort zone has been successful.
I think Roger Martin is doing great work sculpturally. He’s innovative with his approach to composition, but his work is still classical and approachable, and always has a story to tell.
Q: As Charleston is a city bursting at the seams with artists, what advice would you give to those just starting out?
A: I’d say stick to your guns when it comes to developing your own stylistic approach, but don’t be afraid to take on projects that aren’t what you’d normal do if they present themselves.
I spent a lot of time making all kinds of strange things when I was first starting out, from prototypes for remote-controlled cars to models of talking dogs for a computer animation company.
I think as long as you’re employing your artistic talent in some way, you’re going to learn something and become a better artist because of it.
Just keep your brushes wet and your fingers dirty, and never stop growing.
