In October 2006 I had the privilege of meeting Martin Dawe, a prominent sculptor and the owner of CherryLion Studios
in Atlanta, Georgia. I met Martin at a Public Art seminar where he was speaking and, afterwards, I had a chance to
speak with him. Through that conversation he invited me down to his studio and I have since been able to help out around
the studio when he gets behind on some of his pressing commissions. Martin has turned out to be a great friend and an
inspiration in the furthering of my career as a professional sculptor. I had the opportunity to interview Martin about his life
and career as an artist.
Steve: I understand you were born in South Africa?
Martin: Yes, I was born there. My parents are both British and moved there after World War II.
Steve: What made your family move to the States?
Martin: We moved to Manhattan, NY in 1958 when my dad got a job there. We took a boat from Cape-town to
London and then came over on the Queen Mary.
Steve: How old were you?
Martin: I was two years old.
Steve: What were your early encounters with art and who was an influence in your childhood?
Martin: The earliest encounter I can remember from my childhood that started me being an artist was a drawing I did
when I was in kindergarten. I drew a picture of a man with a beard wearing a top hat. People said it looked like
Abraham Lincoln and told me I was an artist. If that hadn’t happened I probably wouldn’t be an artist today, I don’t
think…unless you believe in fate. As far as influences...I would have to say my mother. She was very appreciative of art
and had some great art books that I looked at a lot. I fell in love with Van Gogh by the time I was ten or eleven years
old. My parents also had a good friend, Carter Scattergood, who was head illustrator for Lord and Taylor. Lord and
Taylor, until recently, used to do drawings for all their ads instead of photographs.
Steve: What led you to become a sculptor?
Martin: Well, first I was too chicken to go to art school. I had always heard you couldn’t make a living doing art so I
initially went to the University of Maine for Forestry. I did that for a couple of years and realized I hated it, so I enrolled
in art school at Boston University. It was a real strict, classical type of training where we did all kinds of art and it was
pretty evident after the first year that I was a lot better at sculpture than anything else.
Steve: Who has been a main influence on your work?
Martin: I would have to say Rodin to begin with. I saw a Rodin exhibit when I was sixteen in Trenton, New Jersey and
it just overwhelmed me. I identify pretty strongly with late 19th century French and Italian figurative sculpture. Then,
going into the 20th century, I would have to say Giacomo Manzu, Marino Marini, Daniel Chester French, and Augustus
Saint-Gaudens. There are tons of influences like that.
Steve: When you decided to become a sculptor did you realize the challenges you would face?
Martin: Yes, that’s why I avoided it for a long time. In fact, when I was applying to art school in Boston I met with a
parent of a friend who tried to talk me out of it, saying it was going to be a miserable life and no artist (or very few of
them) made a living at their work. So yeah, I had an idea.
Steve: What gives you the most pleasure about your work?
Martin: Being alone, having my hands in clay and talking to my creativity.
Steve: How does your working process begin?
Martin: It varies depending on the commission work. I like to start with words. When designing a piece from the
ground up I look at the mission statement and, using a thesaurus, I’ll try to develop imagery like that. For instance, when I
did the juvenile court piece for Fulton County the mission statement mentioned balance, and I thought that was a very
sculptural word and very appropriate for juvenile court, so I based the sculpture on that.
Steve: What do you consider the most important characteristics of your sculpture?
Martin: I would have to say gesture, non-verbal communication through body language and innovative playful texture.
Steve: How do you deal with the business aspect of art?
Martin: I don’t mind it now but I was a slow learner. It wasn’t till someone started selling my studio that I even started
making money, but now I’m pretty good at it.
Steve: How do you stay motivated when things get hectic in your studio or everyday life?
Martin: Deadlines keep me motivated and being passionate about what I do. I’m very fortunate. I feel very lucky and
blessed to be able to get up almost every morning and do what I love.
Steve: As someone who teaches art, what is your particular approach?
Martin: To try and figure out how a person sees and expand how they see. Hopefully I can give them a few “aha”
feelings that change their perceptions with their own creativity and their understanding of structure. Really changing how a
person perceives the three-dimensional world around them.
Steve: Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Martin: If it can just keep going the way it’s going I’ll be happy. I would like to be doing some enormous figurative
sculptures or relief pieces for high-rise lobbies. I’d like to work bigger and bigger I think. I’d like to have a second
studio up in the mountains and maybe develop some of my non-commission work, but I like the commission work the
best. Steve: How do you feel your sculpture speaks to the viewer?
Martin: Hopefully intellectually, especially on the pieces I’ve conceived from the ground up. Some of the commission
work I do is just decorative and I hope people see it as well done.
Steve: What do you see as the next evolution in your work?
Martin: A refinement of what I’m already doing.
Steve: Do you feel you have a good balance between your sculpting and the rest of your life?
Martin: Yeah, my whole life is about my work. That’s what it takes to have a studio that’s doing what CherryLion is
doing. It is my whole life and I love it. I love the people here and I love the space. There were many years of struggling
and I never thought of giving up and it’s finally grown into what it is now. I have a fun social life and I take lots of trips
and it’s nice to be able to afford to do some things like build a house and who knows what’s next…maybe adopt some
kids, we’ll see.
Interview with Martin Dawe