Pat McVay

Wood Sculpture

Pat McVay's history in the arts goes back 30 years to Paris, where he began his career by repairing furniture and lively, zealous discussions at local cafes made for lots of broken furniture! Pat was given a small shop, a few tools and lots of paint used to hide mistakes. There was a blue period, a red period and a white period and soon, people began asking him to create new furniture. Then came work in porcelain tile, and after moving to the Olympic Peninsula, his attraction to the natural forms of the forest led him into wood carving. Currently, most of his work is large-scale carvings from already-downed trees, using everything from a chain saw to fine chisels. His whimsical and even comical sense is often the basis of unique carvings of people and animals. Many of his works are visible in public spaces up and down the West Coast. He was a founding member of the Northwest Stone Sculptors Association and the Cascade Wood Sculptors Guild. He shows his work at "Music for the Eyes," a gallery in Langley, Washington and at Island Art in Clinton just up the hill from the ferry on Whidbey Island and his home.

TRAINING AND EDUCATION
1971: Self taught. Working in various mediums - wood, stone, clay, cast metal, concrete snow, and ice. Recent work in welded steel.
1971-73: Travels around Europe's museums and galleries
1969-1971: Anthropology, English Literature at Spokane Falls C.C. and Western Washington State University, Bellingham.WORK

An interview with Pat McVay
by Whidbey TV Productions

Pat McVay shares the stories behind some of Whidbey Island
and the Pacific Northwest’s most recognizable sculptures.

EXPERIENCE
1983-present: Sculpting, full time. Specializing in large wood sculpture; other works in stone, clay, cast metals, concrete and ice.
1973-1983: Custom made hardwood furniture, carved signs, hand-painted porcelain dinner sets and tiles, some wood sculpting.
1973: Splitter in twisted woods of Olympic Rain Forest, Humptulips, WA.
1970: Logger, fisherman and cook, Annette Island, Alaska.

Website: www.mcvaysculpture.com

Pat McVay

Wood Sculpture

An interview with Pat McVayby Whidbey TV Productions

An interview with Pat McVay
by Whidbey TV Productions