Man of Copper meets Man of Steel
Published 9:00 am Wednesday, October 8, 2003
Ted Hoppin and Steve Humphrey are, in many respects, opposites.
The island sculptors, who join forces on Oct. 11 in a show of functional artwork, are Winslow neighbors.
But while former realtor Hoppin is gregarious and – clad in shorts, knee-high green rubber boots and welding goggles – a little flamboyant, the flannel-shirted Humphrey is introspective and self-effacing.
Their personalities play out in their notion of fun; Humphrey’s sense of humor is dry, while Hoppin’s is raucous.
“I will sit on my deck and hear Ted and Ann laughing for hours,” Humphrey said. “Ted, he just draws the humor out of people.”
While Hoppin has been an islander since 1971, he came to fine art only a year ago.
Humphrey, on the other hand, is a relative newcomer to the island – he relocated from Seattle nine years ago – but he’s been at home with sculpture for three decades.
The artist taught college-level ceramics in San Antonio, Texas, and ran a fine art gallery in Austin. Most recently, he and wife Charlotte operated a blacksmith fabrication plant in Seattle employing 27 workers.
Different as they are, the two sculptors a common political cause: All proceeds from the art sale benefit a national campaign “to impeach Bush, Cheney, Ashcroft and Rumsfeld” run by University of Illinois professor of international law Francis Boyle.
They also have a mutual admiration and a high regard for their respective crafts – Hoppin works with copper, Humphrey with steel.
“I’ve made everything from pot racks to chandeliers and tables,” Humphrey said, “always with a focus on blacksmithing. I’m exploring the plastic qualities of steel.”
For Humphrey, design is his primary interest – one his involvement with the Seattle plant allowed him to pursue.
“I was fortunate to have a right-hand person who was a magnificent draftsman and engineer,” he said. “I could come up with concepts and do the initial sketches. To most people, they would have been indecipherable as objects, but he could read them.”
The lamp bases, wall sconces and other functional art that Humphrey shows Saturday feature organic, plant-based forms in steel.
Hoppin’ right in
Hoppin, the newly minted coopersmith, was inspired to begin art-making by a copper tree sculpture when he noticed in a Winslow store. He looked up the artist, Walter Massey, who agreed to teach him.
“After an apprenticeship with Walter, I began translating my ink sketches of flora and fauna into the vocabulary of copper,” Hoppin said.
His eclectic garden, featuring Japanese-style plantings, doubles as an outdoor gallery for his copper gates.
Some have plant forms delicate enough to move in the wind. One is a geometric lacing of copper welded in sections that resemble bamboo.
“I like gates because they’re a transition between where you are and where you’re going,” he said.
“I like copper because it has an organic quality that becomes more lovely with age and weathering.”
Hoppin has covered a lot of ground in just a year – both aesthetically and in developing a career in sculpture.
“That was a very hard thing to say, that I’m an artist,” Hoppin said. “I wish I’d said it 40 years ago, but I didn’t.”
Getting to know Humphrey has accelerated his development, he says.
“I like it that Steve is an artist and lives up there,” he said. “He’s been so helpful. He’s the ‘copper fairy.’ It’s actually quite touching.”
When his neighbor and mentor Humphrey insists that he himself is “not yet a master craftsman,” Hoppin rolls his eyes.
“You have,” he tells Humphrey, “a very high standard of critique.”
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Steve Humphrey and Ted Hoppin show steel and copper works 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Oct. 11 at 663 Annie Rose, off Lovell. The event offers zucchini bread and zydeco music by Claudette Boudreaux and Tami Allen. All proceeds benefit the National Campaign to Impeach Bush, Cheney, Ashcroft and Rumsfeld. Information: 842-5513.
