|
|
Artist Statement:
I am essentially self-taught
and do not follow set rules
when I work. All I do is very
original and my style is my
own. Whatever achieves the
result I want, is what I do.
I am very inventive, but also
very careful to create a piece
I and my clients can be proud
of. Refer to "Clints'
Comments" on my web site and
you will see that I have
brought lasting pleasure to so
many. I have been able to
tackle all requests, including
work for natural history
exhibits requiring accuracy,
and more-interpretive works
considered fine art by
clients.
Please view my web site
(www.birdcarvings.net)to see
what I do. If you are fond of
birds and other wildlife it is
a must-see. I would be
pleased to hear from you.
...
Further Information
| |
Artist Exhibitions:
Matt has exhibited at many
bird carving shows, including
the National Wildlife
Federation, the Chincoteague
Waterfowl Festival, the Easton
Waterfowl Festival, as well as
many others. He no longer
attends shows because he has
all the business he wants from
the internet....
Further Information
|
|
Artist Galleries:
Matt has had his work in
galleries in different states.
He no longer does because of
problems distance seems to
engender, such as galleries
closing and work
disappearing....
Further Information
|
|
Artist Reviews:
As I work mainly from the
internet, my work is not out
there for all to see, but some
work I've recently done for a
museum exhibit, soon to open,
should get a write-up which I
will include here....
Further Information
|
|
Collections:
Matt has his work in many
personal collections in nearly
every state in the USA
(including Alaska and Hawaii)
and on 5 continents. Some
collectors have commissioned
many of his carvings. Matt
also has carvings in public
institutions including The
Museum of the Adirondacks in
Tupper Lake, NY, The
Chincoteague ...
Further Information
|
|
Commissions:
Nearly all my work is done by
commission for individuals and
organizations, therefore are
too numerous to mention. See
Collections for some....
Further Information
|
|
|
Matt Cormons Biography:
| Biographical information for Matt Cormons can be found below. The artist may choose what information to display. Sometimes the artist chooses not to display personal information to the general public. |
|
Age
|
69
|
| |
| Gender |
Male
|
| |
| Status |
Married
|
| |
| Children |
2
|
| |
| Religion |
not provided |
| |
| Education |
Graduate Degree |
| |
| Hobbies / Interests |
Among my interests are: Birding, Photography, Bee Keeping, Writing, Reading, Hiking, Camping, Horses, Eating organically, Gardening and Biking. |
| |
| Favorite Artistic Medium |
Woodworking
|
| |
| Favorite Arthistory Movement |
Realism - (1850 - 1880)
|
| |
| Favorite Visual Artist |
not provided
|
| |
| Favorite Work of Art |
not provided
|
| |
| Biggest Artistic Inspiration |
Nature is truly my best inspiration. The beauty I see is the basis of what I do. |
| |
| Why Did You Become An Artist |
It was originally a means of earning money for my family doing something I found satisfying, appreciated and lasting, and which would give me the freedom to spend time with my family without worrying about schedules and pleasing the boss. |
| |
| Your Personal Biography |
Carving birds came quite naturally to me. I had always been keenly interested in nature and spent many hours of my childhood in the overgrown lots adjoining my home in New York's East Harlem. It was there that I began to learn about plants and animals (mainly insects). With reading and trips to many of the city's parks (which had a surprising variety of insects, reptiles, amphibians, birds and plants) and zoos, I was well on my way to becoming a naturalist. My interests led to a bachelor's degree in zoology from the City College of New York (CCNY)and a master's degree in animal behavior from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
I had never felt settled in the city and believed that one day I'd leave; it wasn't about to happen soon. After graduating from CCNY I worked for five years at the American Museum of Natural History as a teacher and lecturer, and later as a technical illustrator and field assistant (resulting in two new Venezuelan insect species named after me). After graduate school I taught middle school science at a private school in New York City, followed by twelve years as the director of an environmental education center in a New Jersey suburb across the Hudson from New York City.
Finally, in 1985, at the age of 44 (and against the advice of my less venturesome friends, neighbors and parents) I, my wonderful, always supportive wife Grace, and our two young sons decided to leave New Jersey for our dream of living a more self-sufficient lifestyle away from the intense pace of the city and suburbs. That April we moved to a 43 acre farm on Virginia's Eastern Shore and since then have been living very full, independent, satisfying and busy lives. Our two sons, whom we schooled at home, are graduates of the University of Virginia and are also pursuing independent lifestyles (in environmental law, piloting sea vessels and a tutoring business).
Geese, ducks, turkeys, guinea fowl, cows, goats, chickens and rabbits provide our meat; the goats and cows also provide milk, cheese and butter, and other milk products. We also enjoys venison, rabbit, squirrel and other game from our woodland and fields, and a variety of fish from our pond, the nearby bay and ocean. I make hay from our fields for our horses and other livestock, and we grow a variety of vegetables and any fruits we can grow organically (with the help of our honeybees).
In recent years I had been assisting my wife in her long term study of the endangered Roseate Tern, taking time off each spring from the farm and his carving to trap and band terns in the Azores. The resulting data have been published in leading ornithological journals.
My carving, which fits well into this lifestyle, provides a large part of the family income, but over the years had been supplemented in various ways, including a 'family farm and nature camp' for children, leading nature walks at nearby Chincoteague Wildlife Refuge, writing nature articles, reviewing nature manuscripts, growing organic produce for market, selling livestock and hay, and teaching adult education and English as a Second Language courses. Recently I've been heavily involved with photography, writing copy, illustrating, sharing ideas and acting as 'facilitator' for an innovative and very successful family literacy program initiated by y wife. I have also had major input into each of the eight acclaimed early reading books resulting from the program. I also enjoy writing; a children's novel I've written about an operatic starling has yet to be published.
Along with my interest in nature, I had a talent for drawing. However, my parents discouraged me from pursuing a career in art. Nor did my father, a highly skilled cabinetmaker who emigrated from Italy as a young man, want me to follow in his footsteps. they hoped I would have an easier life with a good-paying job.
But things were about to change. A year before moving to Virginia, I had met a decoy carver on the Eastern Shore and decided to carve decoys for a living. Even though I had never carved anything before I knew I could do it. I took a decoy carving course with a local carver and since then have carved about a hundred bird species and, as you can see on my web site, have gone well beyond decoys.
I had finally found my niche - applying my artistic talent to wood (to my late parents' ultimate delight). By the way, if you're wondering about Cormons being an appropriate name for an Italian cabinetmaker, check out the name in a good atlas or on the internet.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
| |
|
send an email
