 |
|
John McCombie
Artist, Sculptor, Cowboy
|
Born in a coal
mining town in the hills and valleys of Western Pennsylvania, John
experienced a hardness and a softness throughout his growing years. The
hardness coming from the area in which he was raised, a region of black
coal and and steel that digs it and the softness being the tender-loving
care and guiding hands of his parents. It was there that he first began
to learn from nature, hunting, and hiking in the woods with his brothers
and cousins.
|
 |
After two
years at Kent State University, John was drafted in the United States
Army and served a year in Vietnam (1967-68). This added to the hardness,
living the war's harsh reality, and yet he tempered from that time a
commitment to the values he holds deeply today. The importance of
family, allegiance, and the need to do the work one truly loves.
|
 |
When
he returned home from Vietnam, he married his wife Barbara and
again the softness of life was felt at the birth of his first
child. John still had a fire burning within himself, and though
he had returned to college to get his degree and had left
teaching to start a successful pipelining company, John answered
the call within him. His calling was to work with bronze. |
|
Soon he had a foundry of
his and before long, he was producing accurate and detailed sculptures.
His animals portray the balance of nature and a contrast with man's
frequent in ability to achieve a similar harmony. The Native American
who also interests and inspires him, portrays a searching for spiritual
communion with a more natural world.
|
 |
 |
The
pieces depicted on this website are the result of self-teaching,
perseverance, and loyalty to his craft. It's been a long and
involved journey and when asked how long it took him to make a
particular piece, he replied, " A lifetime."
John
is a member of the American Bell Association, a non-profit
organization of nearly 1,700 members in the United States and
other countries. Its members are lovers of bells and meet
annually at locations across the United States.
|
|
|
