Wood to judge 'Art on the Green'

Jerry Wood, stone sculptor in Saratoga, will be a judge for the Art on the Green competition in Green River, Wyo. on Aug. 14 and 15. Wood was originally asked to be a participant in the competition, however he did not feel that it was feasible to complete that work in stone due to time limitations. “I was going to participate in it last year,” Wood said. They have 24 hours to complete a piece of work, whether it’s painting or a sculpture. A lot of the sculptors use the oil based clay.”

Wood is one of three judges, and he has judged competitions in other towns in Wyoming. Wood has been working on stone sculptures since 1979 when he went to a summer art school. His sculptures are typically made from alabaster due to the various different colors available, and they can be seen on display at the Laura M Gallery in Saratoga. Of his process, Wood says that he typically does not start out with an idea. “I start carving and as the forms emerge, that brings me into what I’m going to carve.”

“Lately, the favorite has been “Winter Wind” that I completed, and it was a collaboration with a friend of mine who couldn’t carve anymore,” Wood said of his work. “And she handed it to me and said ‘You’re the only one I trust to complete this because we carve so similar. It was really exciting to do a collaboration that she had started and then put my work in.”

“What I like about it is to see what other artists are doing,” Wood says of judging Art on the Green. “There are a lot of great artists out there, everywhere, and just seeing what they complete and visit with other artists.”