Norbert Ohnmacht

Click images to see artist's work.

"I grew up on a farm, close to the earth, watching the creation of life as it sprang up out of the ravishing beauty of nature and the ordinary turmoil of everyday life. From the beginning, the driving force to become a sculptor came from the inspiration of being around the labor of hands: hands that planted seeds, that put food on the table, that helped animals give birth, that created the absorbing images of bronze sculptures in our rural church.

"Now, as I sit holding a wet lump of clay in my own hands, my being tingles with anticipation. Which dream essence waits, this time, to be birthed into form? The mystery of creation tantalizes me. I push and pull the smooth, cool clay, listening to some deep inner urge, watching it slowly take shape. The vision leads my hands, grabs my being and draws me into its very soul. Eventually the work possesses me, fills me with emotions that, initially, pour into the piece, then begin to reshape my own personality in some unfathomable way.

"Each beginning piece of work reminds me of the seeds planted on the farm of my childhood. Like them, I have not needed formal training for the growth of my own spirit to flourish. All I need is the primal mud of clay, the water of inspiration, and the life giving rays of creation to invite my being to flow into visions which possess me and leave an indelible mark on my being, even as the sculptures rise up, fully their own beings, conveying their own messages to the sentient world."

Education: Fort Hays State and Pittsburg State University and Loveland Academy of Fine Arts

Exhibitions: Loveland Sculpture Invitational - Loveland, CO; Garden Of Sculpture Show - Hudson Gardens - Littleton, CO; Yuma Arts Association Show and Sale - Yuma, CO.

Norbert is a member of Yuma County Arts Association and the Colorado Hospital Association. He is a Board member of the Kit Carson County Hospital.