Bob Speare has enjoyed an affinity with the natural world since he was very young. Growing up in western Massachusetts, he spent summers at his family’s cottage on a quiet lake, where he enjoyed exploring birds, insects, fish, frogs, snakes, plants and more.

 

After receiving a BS in biology and a short stint with the Smithsonian Institution, Bob spent the next 25 years with the Massachusetts Audubon Society, where he shared his knowledge and enthusiasm for birds and nature with people of all ages. Music and photography have been an artistic outlet for most of his life, and now through carving and sculpture, Bob continues to explore his deep connection with birds and other wildlife.

   

Artist Statement

In developing each sculpture, I look to recreate an inner beauty I see in birds in the most fundamental sense. Void of brightly colored delicate feathers, each piece represents an individual bound within an original form–a blueprint, drafted by the forces of nature through the millennia. My hope is that the viewer will experience each bird in this way, as if an ancestor of its modern form, preserved through time.

 

While I use a variety of nuts, bolts, screws, and other found objects in constructing each piece, I give special attention to each bird’s bill. The shape and size of the bill helps to define the species, and also tells us a lot about how form and function help it succeed within its niche.