Custom sculpture commissions arrive by three different routes, and which one you are on changes almost everything about how the work gets made. A private site, a city public art programme and a commercial space each start from a different question. What stays the same is that the site comes first and the object comes second.
Three routes a commission takes
A private site
Someone has a spot and wants something in it. This is the most open-ended route, because there is no brief to answer to beyond the property itself. “Blue Slugger” went in at The Living Room in Santa Rosa in July 2026, set into a planted bed beside a path, and the work of that job was as much about where it stood as what it was.
A public art programme
Cities run these on a cycle and they work differently. “Blue Jig & Jag” was selected by the City of Florence Public Arts Committee for Art Exposed ReVision Florence 2026 to 2028, one of six sculptures placed at designated plinth locations along a 0.7 mile stretch of Highway 101, on public view through 2028. Works in the programme are available for purchase and the city keeps a portion of the proceeds to put back into its arts fund. “Wedge” went into the City of Sebastopol’s Community Sculpture Garden on the same basis. More on that side of things on the public art page.
The practical difference is that you are answering a call rather than a client. There is a committee, a fixed display period, and usually a location that has already been chosen.
A commercial space
Businesses commission for a different reason again. A piece from the Psychopop series went into 365 Recreational Cannabis, and work has shown at the Center for the Arts in Healdsburg and at the Bothwell Arts Center in Livermore. Here the piece has to work as part of a room people move through every day, which puts different pressure on scale and on how it is fixed.
The four decisions that shape the work
Whichever route you are on, a commission comes down to the same four things. Everything else follows from them, which is why a commissioned sculpture artist will want to see the site before talking about the object.
- The site. What is behind the piece, how people approach it, where the sun is, what the ground is doing. A piece designed for a treeline behind it does not work against a pale wall.
- The scale. Large work needs distance to be read. The available viewing distance often sets the size before anything else does.
- The material. Salvaged industrial material behaves differently from fabricated steel, and reads differently too. Most of my work starts from something that already had a life.
- The finish. Powder coat or raw. This decides how the piece ages and it is not easily changed afterwards.
Where the material comes from
When I bought the property in Forestville, the farm equipment came with it. Rusted drag grates, transmissions, cider presses, early model car frames, wood chippers. I still rummage through salvage yards regularly, as much for ideas as for parts. That is the starting point for most custom metal sculptures that leave this studio.
The work itself combines welding with architecture and engineering, which is the part of artistic metal fabrication that people underestimate. A found object was built for a job that has nothing to do with standing still outdoors, permanently, at an angle. Making it do that is structural work, and it happens before any of the visible decisions get made.
Pieces are sent to a shop in San Francisco to be powder-coated so the coating stands up to the elements. Some works keep their rust, because the rust is the point. There is more on both in the piece on how upcycled sculpture art is made.
How the piece gets held down
Four options, and the site decides. Set on a prepared plinth, which is standard for public work. Mounted on a post, which lifts a piece clear of planting and gives it sky behind it. Rooted into the ground below grade, the most stable and the least visible. Or suspended, usually from a tree, which changes the piece entirely because it moves. Across the 132-acre property all four are in use. The detail is covered in the piece on outdoor sculpture installation.
My crew and I have installed more than two dozen originals roadside over the past five years, on top of everything sited across the ranch, so installation is not an afterthought bolted on at the end. It shapes the design.
What to have ready before you get in touch
None of this is required, but the conversation moves faster with it.
- Photographs of the site, taken from where people will actually stand rather than from directly in front.
- Rough dimensions of the space and the viewing distance available.
- Any constraints you already know about. Overhead cables, buried services, an HOA, a heritage listing, a gate too narrow for a truck.
- What the piece is for. Marking an entrance, filling a view, anchoring a courtyard, or standing on its own in a field are four different briefs.
- Which of the three routes you are on. A private commission, a call for artists, or a commercial fit-out.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between commissioning a sculpture and buying one?
A commission starts from your site. An existing piece starts from the object and then finds a place for it. Both work, but a commission lets scale, material and fixing be decided around the spot the piece will live in.
Do you take commissions for public art programmes?
Yes. “Blue Jig & Jag” was selected by the City of Florence Public Arts Committee for its 2026 to 2028 programme on Highway 101, and “Wedge” went into the City of Sebastopol’s Community Sculpture Garden.
What materials do you work in?
Metal, fiberglass, ceramics, wood and salvaged industrial material, including farm equipment, surfboards and architectural glass. Most pieces combine several.
Can a commissioned piece live outdoors permanently?
Yes. Work is powder-coated at a shop in San Francisco specifically so the finish withstands weather, and pieces are installed on the Oregon coast and across Sonoma County.
Do you handle the installation as well?
Yes. My crew and I have installed more than two dozen pieces roadside in the past five years. Details are on the installation page.
Start with the site. Send photographs of the spot and a rough idea of the space, and we can work out whether a commission is the right answer or whether something already made would suit it better. Get in touch or call (707) 654-3251. Current work is on the commissions page.