Larry’s Cabin

Larry’s Cabin

When Larry called and told me he wanted his lakeside cabin sculpted a few things went through my mind. Then he sent me a couple of pictures of his cabin while we were on the phone. All I could say was “That’s quite a cabin Larry. This has been the largest home sculpture I have done to date. Another first for me was hiding the lights beneath the landscape so I didn’t have to cut holes in the cabin walls. This project tested my patience to the... Click the image to see different views and the full story.
Sarah and Bob’s House

Sarah and Bob’s House

This house was done as a collaborative piece between myself and another Artist, William. This was a first for me and William. He worked closely as I taught him my craft. The story behind the late Sarah and this being a gift for her husband Bob is too long to tell but it is both happy and sad. Through this project I got to know two wonderful... Click the image to see different views and the full story.
Pat’s Home

Pat’s Home

This was the most difficult home I have sculpted to date. I worked for days on getting the proportions right. No matter what I did nothing worked out correct. Then I  examined each picture I took and discovered the  manner in which the “A” frame was constructed. That small discovery made all the difference. This was a birthday gift to Pat’s Husband. They have lived in this home for more than 40 years. Pat’s Husband kept adding on to the home as the years went by. As always, it was an honor to sculpt their... Click the image to see different views and the full story.
Helen’s Home

Helen’s Home

Helen‘s Home, This has been my most difficult project to date. I almost gave up at one point. I covered it up for a few days and worked on another piece of Art. I almost dreaded going back and trying to finish it. But I did, it took many tries to get the garage roof system to work. When I was done sculpting it, I decided at this point I can tackle any... Click the image to see different views and the full story.
Nancy and Marion’s Home

Nancy and Marion’s Home

My cousin Nancy and her husband Marion’s home. This home was a big break through for me, it was the first home that I added landscape to, up until their house I was just sculpting the home itself. I had a flash of inspiration and thought why not add the landscape also. I don’t remember if Marion commissioned me to do it for Nancy as a gift, I think he did. The one thing I remember Nancy saying to me is “the house is just beautiful, see good things come to those that... Click the image to see different views and the full story.
Uncle Howard and Aunt Sarah’s Home

Uncle Howard and Aunt Sarah’s Home

This home came about when I donated my services to a charity auction. My Uncle Howard bought the service. So I sculpted his and his wife , Aunt Sarah’s home. I always admired my late Uncle,  he was a genius at business as well as other things. He had a great future vision of where he wanted all his businesses to eventually be located. When he was interviewed by a reporter he was asked “Do you owe your success to being a Christian” He replied back, “No my Christian beliefs have nothing to do with my success. But my Christian beliefs have everything to do with what I do with my success.” I had long since believed in that philosophy, but when I read what he said, it just confirmed my thinking. I still believe that God and making money have nothing to do with each other. God has bigger things to take care of, like, how to feed the... Click the image to see different views and the full story.
Alan and Debbie’s Home

Alan and Debbie’s Home

Alan and Debbie’s Home Edward Hopper, a great American painter, often did houses and parts of houses in his work, He is probably known best in America for his painting “Night Hawks” An artist duplicated his painting but put Elvis, Marylyn Monroe, James Dean, and someone else who was famous and died too young, in the painting. It was a brilliant marketing idea, even though it was a stolen idea from Hopper. Anyway, my point is I am akin to Hopper only in... Click the image to see different views and the full story.
Marie’s Home

Marie’s Home

This was a home owned by a couple that owned a restaurant. All the employees of the restaurant got together and commissioned me to do it for them. I worked all night on it and I was still not finished with it. It was to be delivered the next day for their employee banquet. I told my wife we have to go, so I grabbed my paints and brushes and told my wife you drive and I will finish it on the way. We had to drive to Pennsylvania a 3 hour trip. I finished as we pulled into the restaurant. We were invited to stay for the banquet, so we stayed long enough to eat. After eating I told Debbie, my wife, I gotta go, I’m getting sick. So we left before the employees presented the owners with their sculpted home. Marie, the owner sent me a nice thank you card for my... Click the image to see different views and the full story.
Delmar and Margaret’s Home

Delmar and Margaret’s Home

Delmar and his wife Margaret (my first cousin). They owned a corner lot in Hartville, as hartville grew and more and more businesses grew up around them, they decided to move and they commissioned me to do their home to keep memories. When Delmar picked it up, he asked me how do you do this? I answered time and patience. He asked more questions about how I start and how I sculpted the details, he was very curios about the process. He was especially intrigued about how I duplicated their shingle pattern, it is not a normal shingle pattern. I had to invent a way to duplicate the shingles. I just kept answering, Delamar, it’s just time and patience. He said I know that Jon but I want to know the proccess. I said “well Delmar, I never show people how I do my work”... Click the image to see different views and the full story.
Perry and Betty’s Home

Perry and Betty’s Home

Perry and Betty’s home. After I started my home sculptures I use to pass this house all the time, it was just down the road from me. One day as my wife and I were coming home from church I told her I would love to sculpt that house. About 3 weeks later Chris, a friend of mine, called and said all the employees of Perry would like to get together and commission me to do it. It was a pleasure to do... Click the image to see different views and the full story.
The Cabin

The Cabin

This was the home that started my business. It was my cabin on Lake Erie located in Conneaut, Ohio. I lived there for one year as a single man and then married my wife, Debbie, and we lived there for one more year. My job as a teacher got cut due to funding. So before we left I sculpted my cabin to keep alive the memories Debbie and I had there. I met a lot of new people and made many new friends. I have fond memories of watching the sunsets over Lake Erie. It seemed like every day I would come home the water was a different shade of color, from greys to blues to greens. When Debbie asked what happened to the cabin I told her that it had blown up in the kiln. I later gave it to her as a birthday gift. She cried when she opened it up. She said “our first home together.” I said “ya I know I lied to you but I knew you would understand when you saw... Click the image to see different views and the full story.