Today we’d like to introduce you to Paul Lotz.
Paul, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I have considered myself an artist from a very young age. My parents supported my dream of becoming an artist and guided me through Art College in Philadelphia, where I also spent a semester at their Rome campus. Although my life steered me into the business world for many years, I continually used my artistic talents solely for myself.
Many years after moving to San Diego in 2006, I tried my hands at sculpting with ceramic clay. I created one-of-a-kind figurative sculptures that were very delicate and breakable. Someone suggested I try the lost art of bronze sculpting. They told me where to buy the proper clay and showed me where to have my sculptures cast. I was hooked! I taught myself the processes and limitless boundaries I could achieve. I became obsessed with my newfound medium, although my styles were taking on a new creative perspective. Based on the troubles going on in the world and my personal life, I felt the need to sculpt things to make the world smile. I chose a more whimsical style for my art, filled with crazy details that also involved short stories to help people understand my hidden art’s meanings.
By 2012, I was invited by a San Diego Gallery to show my works downtown. Still working my full-time business job, my need to sculpt grew deeper. I was gaining a small collector base that sustained my newfound obsession. For several years, my needs of creativity were satisfied. In 2020, the pandemic hit the world hard, and my business job collapsed. Yet I found art galleries were opening up all around. They began contacting me to show my works. My collector base boomed, and now there was no turning back. Since then, I have been blessed to be represented by so many wonderful galleries around the world. I can say I am gratefully living my childhood dream as an artist.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Surprisingly, my leap into the art world has been a smooth one. Of course, there have been challenges and hurdles to leap. But I am tenacious and have great patience. The main struggles would have to be understanding the “art business” part of it all. Learning what is needed to make a successful business that galleries want to work with, presenting myself and my product to sell to the world, and also understanding what collectors are looking for these days. Time changes, and you must stay on top of it.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a bronze sculptor. I had no idea what that involved until I began teaching myself all about it. Yes, it is a very complicated, expensive, and difficult medium, but it holds no limits to what can be created. It takes not just my enormous time but that of 12-14 other artisans to make molds, create wax versions, bronze pourers, welders, chasers, stone cutters, and painters. But, to begin this process, I make my art in clay to release what is inside me. I believe the world craves a bit more laughter these days. So, my works are created to invoke a happy, whimsical nature at first glance, and through the stories I write about them, tell a deeper tale.
I never assume my work is good. I usually feel it is too weird, and no one will like it. But again, I do it for myself. So, to answer the question of “what am I most proud of,” is that others believe it is good enough to grace their galleries, homes, and businesses with it. For that, I am most proud and grateful.
What I believe sets me apart from others is a tough question. There are so many talented artists I share gallery space with that I sometimes wonder how I am there, too. I can only say that I strive to create works that make people stop, stare, think, and ultimately smile. I believe in details and hidden things for the viewer to find. I want them to have an emotional experience when viewing my works. If this sets me apart from others… then there you have it.
No matter what my profession has been over the years, I have always strived to add a creative style to it and, most importantly, remain grateful for what I have been given in life. When I create art, I put my whole self into it and hope someone else understands it. But it is always for me first. It often surprises me when someone else wants it. My mind works
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
Ultimately, people collecting my craziness!
Contact Info:
- Website: PaulBLotz.com
- Instagram: @PaulBLotz
- Facebook: SculptorPaulLotz
- Youtube: @PaulBLotz
