About Us
Our Commitment
We have a 100% satisfaction guarantee policy and are proactive about making sure it happens. No excuses! We make it our mission to assure that you know exactly what you are buying. Your sculpture is hand made with great care and attention to detail. We are committed to providing a safe, secure, and enjoyable shopping experience. We go the extra mile in packaging your purchase for safe delivery into your hands. Buy with confidence. Today’s investment will become tomorrow’s heirloom.
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Who We Are
We are husband and wife Alan and Nina Derrick. I (Alan) am the artist and sculptor. My chosen medium is steel. I design, cut, shape, weld, and paint the steel to create my works of art. In addition to being the artist, I also handle the IT stuff, cleaning & maintenance, and general problem solving. Nina pays the bills, takes the pictures, posts the listings, and handles order fulfillment. We share purchasing, errands, email duties, and walking the cat. Together, Nina and I work very hard to get my sculptures listed and sold right here on the internet. When doing business through this site or contacting the studio, you are dealing with one of us.
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Where Alan Comes From
I was born in Chattanooga, TN in 1956 and raised in Huntsville, AL. My wife, Nina and I were married in 1988. We’ve lived outside Gurley, AL in a wooded mountain cove since 1990. I originally puttered around in my parent’s garage as a teen making things out of metal, especially steel. It wet my appetite and gave me a basic understanding of the material's properties. Through my education and work experience during the years which followed, I picked up a strong foundation of skills involving interior home design & furnishings, architectural design, construction, and wood working. Beginning in 2001, I turned my focus back to metal, this time in MY garage. I read all that I could find, attended classes, and experimented a lot. By 2004 I had built the shop I now work in. I finally left my day job and became a full time artist/sculptor in 2007.
I now dedicate all of my time and energy to producing stylized fine art sculptures influenced by my life experiences. I am currently focused on creating portraits inspired by iconic figures from everyday life past and present. I also routinely experiment in other subject matter.
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Understanding What Drives Alan
I try to build on my strengths and avoid relying on my weaknesses. So that you can better understand why I do what I do, I’ll share a little bit about my strengths and weaknesses here:
Some of my weaknesses include; I can’t spell worth a damn (TGF spell checkers). I have lousy hand writing (Even I have a hard time reading it). I’m not much of a socializer (Beer helps with that). I’ve screwed my back up in the past (so I don’t do back breaking stuff). I’ve got a touch of dyslexia (so I do just about everything twice). Nina Says I’m impatient (I say that “stuff stresses me out”). She also says that I’m too picky. (She’s probably right and I can’t seem to do anything about that).
Some of my strengths include; I’m analytical, and good with techie stuff. I’m good at visualization, especially 3D. I love a challenge and never give up. I’m creative, especially when it comes to aesthetics. I’m in good health (for my age). I’m good with my hands (I cannot explain the lousy handwriting for the life of me). Nina couldn’t think of anything to add. Damn, this list is shorter than the weakness list.
So, to take advantage of my strengths… I’ll start with an idea for a subject and do some research, mostly via internet (who would guess?). Usually by the time I’ve gotten to know my subject pretty well, I’ll have an idea of what I want to make. At that point, my sculpture will be 90% designed. That is to say that I will see it in my mind just as it will look when finished. From that point until I start to paint it is all about high flying computer graphics and good old fashion hands on workmanship. When it’s time to paint, I’m really just a guy having fun with his tools. If I had to make a living with a paint brush I’d be in trouble for sure.
I’ll tell you what really motivates me. It gives me a great feeling of accomplishment when I’m done with assembly and I hang that final work of art on the wall for photographing. Sometimes it’s even better than I had imagined. I really enjoy the pride that washes over me. I just love the experience. It always drives me to rush back and start on the next project.
I know you’ve heard it 1000 times over; “You’ve just got to see it in person to appreciate it.” Well that’s very much the case with my sculptures. People write us all the time to explain how their new sculpture looks way better than what they expected. As far as motivation goes, getting email and phone calls like that doesn’t hurt either.
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