Pete Bauer Biography
Sometimes I wonder if I was a carver in a previous lifetime. Certainly I’ve had no formal training in art this time around. As a matter of fact, I nearly flunked wood shop as a freshman in high school and didn’t start sculpting wood until I was almost 40 years old. My interest in wood surfaced when, as a pilot in the Air Force, I had the opportunity to collect representative carvings from various cultures around the world. Yet it was many years after my flying days were over that I took a serious interest in sculpting wood.
My educational background is in the field of physical education with a specialty in gymnastics. Following my tour with the United Sates Air Force, I coached the University of Wisconsin Men’s Gymnastics Team for eight years; then created and directed the Badger Gymnastics Academy in Madison Wisconsin until 1992. In addition to holding a part-time lecturer position with the UW’s Department of Kinesiology I now spend much of my week sculpting driftwood.
Being a student of gymnastics, I have grown to appreciate form and movement. As a sculptor, I try to capture these qualities in whales, seals, dolphins and birds.
Driftwood is my main source of both raw material and inspiration. We scout the beaches of coastal Oregon for pieces of driftwood that suggest a particular animal or bird. Sometimes we simply find beautiful abstract shapes to collect. Often hidden in the twisted sun bleached roots of huge old white cedar, myrtle wood, redwood trees are nature’s playful sea creatures. I just try to liberate them.
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