The Motorcycle Piece…..2007

I’ve always liked motorcycles. In high school I did an elaborate batik of a chopper that took me 6 months to do. The headmaster of the school wanted to buy it but we couldn’t come to terms.

The idea for this piece came to me as I was leaving church one Sunday afternoon. I saw a beautiful custom chopper in the parking lot. As I looked around, I noticed the man who was obviously the owner of it walking towards his ride. He was dressed like a biker. The contrast was very interesting, because this church was in an affluent and upscale community. As I wondered how this biker might have felt, it occurred to me that it doesn’t matter. What matters most is that he wanted to be in the house of the Lord for at least one of the same reasons the other 1000 well dressed people were there. In Akron, OH, there is a church call ABC that stands for Akron Bible Church. The pastor rides a Harley and insiders call it Akron Bikers Church. I wanted to capture the thought of a biker who loves the Lord.

This piece was done as I was recovering from a ruptured Achilles tendon. I was in a cast for 8 weeks so working on a small piece of wax was great therapy for me. I did this in wax so I wouldn’t need an armature (support structure) for such a small piece. When I finished the piece, I had three editions done. I still have two of them. The bike is kind of funky and the rider’s pose is relaxed, but the back of his vest has the words “Jesus is Lord”. Sometimes I don’t know if I want to meet this person or I am this person.

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