A couple months ago I had the opportunity to visit a gallery show for McLean Bronze. After walking around the multi-floor gallery space and getting a chance to really appreciate the finer details of Jack and Alice’s metalworking, I knew that UMG had to get involved with their art. Coincidentally, their son and close friend were amidst making a documentary about McLean Bronze – both of them live on opposite coasts (New York and San Francisco respectively), so I took it as an opportunity to continue the McLean Bronze story and delve deeper into the inspiration behind their pieces on a regular basis.
In this case, I wanted to introduce you all to McLean Bronze while also highlighting his Little Deep Boats series. To my delight, Jack offered to actually start creating a piece right in front of my eyes. It was incredible to see how his process had refined over the two decades that he’s been producing these boats. You can actually see a photo of the finished product on the new UMG Facebook page. Shortly after, we settled into good conversation accompanied by some amazing vegetable stew that Alice had prepared, coffee and Christmas cookies. As I was starting to pack up, Jack brought down the ultimate surprise – a gift from his collection for UMG to take home…which just happened to be the piece that I was so drawn to from their gallery show in October. Here’s a quick iPhone snap of it:
Needless to say, after a great day of filming at McLean Bronze, I am extremely excited to see where this project leads. The more I am exposed to their art, the more I’m looking forward to intimately introducing you to the metalworkings from this Johnsburg-based studio. As an artist myself, it is extremely inspiring to know people like Jack and Alice who were able to sustain a comfortable life doing what they love. Here are a few stills I took while I was shooting video:
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