Transcript (Unedited)

Tom Heath

Welcome back to another fabulous installment of Meet the Artist, the series put on by the Tucson Gallery inside of the proper shops here in downtown Tucson, 300 East Congress, right across the street from the fabulous and venerable Hotel Congress. Each and every week we have a different artist come in and do a live meet and greet with their fans. And then beforehand we record this podcast and try to do it before the crowd gets too rowdy. I want to have an art riot on our hands, but we are excited to bring to you another artist today. And if you want to check out any of our past episodes or more information about the gallery or any of the artists that we have in the Tucson Gallery, head over to our website, thetucsongallery.com. But enough of the promo. Let’s get into the good stuff here. We are joined today by, I think, the first time we’ve had a sculpturist on the show. We’ve got Adam Holman. Is that an official term? Are you a sculpturist?

Adam Homan

I’m going to go with that. Sculpturist. Sounds good. A sculptor, probably. Sculptor? Sculptor, yeah. Sculpturist. Yeah.

Tom Heath

Interesting.

Adam Homan

The metal artists tend to get called just a wide variety of things. Like when I’m at a show, it’s like, are you a plaquesmith? Are you a welder? Are you a metal artist? Are you a sculptor? It’s all good.

Tom Heath

So I think sculpturist is the word. I might have made that up, but we’re going to go with it.

Adam Homan

I think we should trend that.

Tom Heath

We are going to hashtag sculpturist if you’re out there. So you’ve kind of given away the secret here. But your sculptures are they tend to be made of metal ish type materials?

Adam Homan

Yes, mostly metal steel, mostly stainless steel. Anything I can scavenge. Gears, old vintage things, typewriters cameras. You name it, I’m into it. I like finding interesting things and incorporating them into my work.

Tom Heath

Yeah, I’ve seen tools and chains, all kinds of things that normally I would either step over or be looking to discard. And you’re like, no, it’s interesting.

Adam Homan

When I go into a store or some kind of a recycling place and I see a wrench or something, I don’t see wrenches anymore. I see robot arms and roadrunner legs and that whole thing.

Tom Heath

That was going to be my next question. Then. If you haven’t seen Adam’s work, you’ve got to head over to our website, check it out. You’ll get a really fabulous look at it and you’re all over town, so people probably have run into you at some event. But you don’t see the parts. You see the holes. When you look at it, you see a pair of ice scripts, you immediately know, hey, that’s actually a part of something.

Adam Homan

Yeah, I don’t ever find an object and think, I got to make something around that. I always see parts. So if I’m making, let’s say, a roadrunner, I’m never going to make it out of a gear that I like, it’s always going to be, does that gear fit the Road Runner? So a lot of guys will find a gear and say, I got to make something out of this. I’m the other way around. I’m like, I got to make a Road Runner, and I got to use these parts if they fit organically into the piece. So I kind of work from that perspective.

Tom Heath

And how long have you been creating art in this fashion?

Adam Homan

We figure it’s about 27 years now, probably full time. About 25. So, yeah, I started in the late 90s, mid, late ninety s, and I really didn’t know what I was doing. I kind of figured it out as I went. I had a couple of family members that knew how to weld, so I got the basics down, and then I just started running with it. I didn’t know what I was doing. I walked into a gallery in Bisby with some Polaroids and showed them, and they’re like, all right, bring it down. And they called me a week later, stuff sold. Bring more. And then it started snowballing from there. And then when I got into the art shows, that’s when I was like, oh, I can actually maybe make a living at this. And it just took off.

Tom Heath

So there wasn’t a foundation, like, you weren’t out putting up fences for people or installing doors, and you’re like, hey, I can turn into art. You just woke up and said, I want to use hot flame and create art.

Adam Homan

Well, when I first started, I was just making characters and the creatures that inhabited my imagination. And then I did do some just for money. I would do security doors and gates and things like that. So that was like good training in the sense that you had to actually know how to do decent welds and make sure everything’s going to hold together. And I would go and install doors and that whole business. The money was okay, but it wasn’t for me as far as excitement.

Tom Heath

My business partners in this, you know, Tony Randar, and they’re real estate agents, I bet they’re all over town. And this house is really special because it has an Adam Holman door. A swinging gate was put in here.

Adam Homan

Years ago by this is where Adam had his nervous breakdown because the gate was a half an inch off on one side.

Tom Heath

Are you a perfectionist in that regard?

Adam Homan

I’m really not. And that’s the problem with the gate, because you have to be a perfectionist, and it doesn’t come natural to me. With sculpture, it’s great because you can just kind of wing everything. It doesn’t have to be perfect, especially.

Tom Heath

A note on the cake. Just lift it up a little bit, it’ll be fine.

Adam Homan

Just jiggle it, it’ll be all right.

Tom Heath

So you get into R. What was do you remember what the first sort of creation was? That was artistic.

Adam Homan

The first thing I did was a gargoyle. And yeah, I remember making the gargoyle and getting done with it. I mean, it took me like, a week to make this thing and it was the first thing I stepped back at and looked at it objectively and thought, this is good. I feel like this is pretty cool. And that gargoyle, actually, I sold it here at a gallery called Apparatus, I think, at the time. And it went to this gal and she took it and she moved to Oregon and then she got hired overseas in Japan and she took it to Japan with her. And then I think Australia after that.

Tom Heath

Your first piece?

Adam Homan

My first piece to Australia. And then a couple of years ago, before the pandemic, I got a call from her and she said, I’m retiring. I’m moving into an assisted living place. I don’t have the room for it. Do you want it back? And I was just like, oh, my gosh, yes, please. So I actually ended up getting that gargoyle back after about 25 years and a world tour. So now it’s a permanent resident in our house and it’s kind of fun to look back and see that sort of thing.

Tom Heath

Do you still look at it and say, it’s this work of craftsmanship that you remember or have you progressed and.

Adam Homan

Think, I’ve definitely changed, but I do appreciate the work. I was approaching it from a different perspective then. The piece still has character and that’s really what it’s all about for me, is creating character and animation and giving it life. So I was pretty happy to see it.

Tom Heath

Inside of the gallery. We’ve got a lot of, I would say small and maybe medium sized pieces. A lot of things that are countertop or desktop. But I’ve seen your work. You’ve got huge monolithic statues and things of that nature.

Adam Homan

Yeah, I do it all. I like creating small and large. I like the small in the sense that I can usually turn them out in a day and there’s a feeling of satisfaction. The big ones are more of a commitment. And then there’s always the sale of the big ones tends to be a little slower than the small ones. So you got to find the right people in the right spot. But Tucson has been stepping up lately. Like, my big stuff is really selling and finding homes and, man, I’m stoked about that.

Tom Heath

It’s great we had someone actually come in. I think you were at one of the shows where they came in and like, oh, yeah, we know Adam really well. He’s doing something. We’re working with our landscape architect and designing our whole backyard. And we’ve got this idea for a piece and Adam’s helping us. So their yard is going to be designed around whatever you end up creating. Oh, good.

Adam Homan

Well, I’m glad that you heard from them because I haven’t heard from them lately and I was wondering what was happening. They’re still interested.

Tom Heath

There’s definitely interest. The person helping them with their design is struggling, I guess, is what they were.

Adam Homan

Yeah, they’ve had a rough time with their designer and I don’t know what’s going on there, but I can’t wait.

Tom Heath

To get a piece because it’s going.

Adam Homan

To be the coolest piece ever.

Tom Heath

But they’re still interested. If I run across any of the other clients here. Now, correct me if I’m wrong in this, but I understand, or at least I’ve heard rumors that your family might be involved with this project or your daughter might be helping.

Adam Homan

They always helped my family. My dad particularly went to all the shows with me when I was getting started and traveled all over the country doing these crazy art festivals. So he’s always been involved. He’s 80 now, so he kind of stays more local. My daughter is eleven and I’m just to the point now where I’m going to get her the gear she needs to start working in the shop and I think she’s interested. So I don’t want to push it too hard because kids will tend to if you could push it too hard, they’ll be like, no, I’m not doing that. And then my wife has always been super supportive and has helped me over the years at the shows and her feedback and creativity.

Tom Heath

Were you married when you were doing this or did you get married after?

Adam Homan

I got married after she was getting.

Tom Heath

Into it wasn’t like you got married and said, by the way, I’m going to support the family by picking up scrap metal and turning them into robots.

Adam Homan

Yeah, that turns the whole game around. When you’re married and you’re the sole provider for your wife and daughter, like the monthly income depends on you, and you’ve got this crazy business of selling robots and creatures and things like that, it takes a turn where it’s essential that you have a smart business. And I’m not a natural businessman by any means and kind of had to learn along the way here because before that I was just picking art shows and traveling and if I made money, great, if I didn’t, it was okay. And now it’s like, you better make.

Tom Heath

This count because I understand kids eat every day.

Adam Homan

They do, they eat every day. I try to discourage that, but yeah, she demands it.

Tom Heath

Well, she’s eleven, so you can start getting her with the acetylene torches and such and get her out working. Did I use the right terminology there?

Adam Homan

I do use an acetylene torch, yeah, absolutely.

Tom Heath

Throwing stuff out there? No, sorry. I saw the video of Union. It’s a cool video because you get to that little head flip and the mask comes down like Iron Man and then you light up the torch.

Adam Homan

Yeah, it’s funny, you get so used to wearing the gear, so I’m constantly in a helmet and a respirator and gloves and all the safety equipment. I’m really careful because I’ve seen the other metal artists with some pretty serious injuries and health issues over the years, and so I’m kind of vigilant about that. One guy showed up at an art show, he was a metal artist, and he was missing his nose, so he actually cut his nose off by accident. And yeah, I’ve seen some weird things, respiratory issues and I mean, fingers. Yeah. It’s not for the faint of heart working with metal.

Tom Heath

Is there a large community of metal artists in Tucson?

Adam Homan

Yeah. One thing that crossed my mind the other day was that I went back and I did a show that I kind of began at, and when I started that show, there was a guy by the name of Ned Egan, and Steven Dirks was doing work then, too. And when I started, the metal dudes were so supportive. There was no competition. There was just sharing of knowledge and information. And you got to do this. You need this kind of equipment. You should do this show, you should do that show. I always appreciated that about Tucson, really supportive metal people, as far as that goes. So, yeah, that was awesome.

Tom Heath

And do you carry that forward? So are you helping others or you’re like, no, I’m in it now, so I got a family to feed. You guys stick to the acrylics.

Adam Homan

No, I feel like the more the merrier. And I always encourage anybody that approaches me and asks questions or I give my information out freely. It’s a good thing to share and yeah, you give back that way, too.

Tom Heath

And I’ve seen several other metal artists in town as well. And even though it’s the same concept, you can see a style.

Adam Homan

Oh, yeah.

Tom Heath

I mean, it’s clear that this is an Adam Holman. When you look at that, it’s not going to get confused with someone else.

Adam Homan

Right.

Tom Heath

So it’s like any other art form. Everyone might use the same paint, but they’re going to create something that’s their vision.

Adam Homan

Yeah, I think that happens a lot. Like people that don’t know steel work or metal work, they might not see distinctions, but you definitely develop a style over doing it for 27 years. And my style was kind of distinct right from the beginning, and I’ve kind of been grateful for that. I haven’t run across too many people like me. There’s a few guys out there that do similar stuff, but my stuff is different enough where we’re not confused. If you know what you’re looking at.

Tom Heath

Where in your mind do these creatures come from? Because you have really interesting compositions. One of the ones that’s most popular in the gallery is a typewriter that is a robot kind of writing its own story, and it’s the typewriter base. And now that we’re seeing all this stuff with like Chat Bots and AI and all that, I’m just telling people, this is like the prototype, right? Adam designed the first type, his own words. But was this your concept or did you see something or did someone come up to you?

Adam Homan

I’ve always just been a fan of animation, and so I loved the vintage typewriters and cameras, and I used to take typewriters apart and use their guts and stuff in my sculpture just because they’re amazing. And then when I was really like, why not preserve these awesome pieces of technology and bring them to life and make them artwork? It was just a natural fit for me. So I got a whole children’s book in my head about these characters walking around. Oh, interesting, that’s coming. I do have a degree in creative writing, so I should probably use it at some point.

Tom Heath

I was going to ask some of your stuff. It does tell a story, like with a typewriter, it’s typing a story. I would imagine you do different ones with different typewriters.

Adam Homan

When I’m creating a piece, I’m always thinking from that perspective, like, what’s my audience? How are they going to perceive it? What’s the reaction, what’s the feeling going to be when they look at it? I’m usually shooting for a smile or a good feeling or a laugh or thought provoking with some of the strong female figures I do. So, yeah, I’m always thinking kind of like a writer in that sense. Like, how is my art going to be perceived by the audience?

Tom Heath

That’s interesting that you say, because, yes, the sort of male characters seem a little more goofy, but your female characters are really strong, they’re focused, they’re powerful. Yeah, I didn’t realize that.

Adam Homan

But I always make sure that the female forms are strong and empowered. I think that’s super important to me. I think the sacred feminine has been trounced on for thousands of years and now you see women claiming their power and doing amazing things in the world and man, I’m all for it. I think that’s great. It’s what we need, and we need a balance in society between masculine and feminine. And robots, of course.

Tom Heath

Robots. Do you sketch things out in advance or do these just come together?

Adam Homan

I’m a terrible sketch artist. Like, it would do it just injustice for me to sketch things out. So no, they just kind of come into my head. If I’m going to create like a horse or a roadrunner or something, I’m definitely going to look at some pictures to make sure I get anatomy right for that. But for the most part, like dragons or robots or the creatures I make, you can kind of just use your imagination and go wild.

Tom Heath

We’re going to have to get you connected then with a graphic designer and artist because I do think you have a story to tell with your characters.

Adam Homan

Definitely. Yeah. I know that when I was young, some of my biggest influences were stop motion animation and I always loved that genre. And I remember seeing Clash of the Titans when I was a kid and just being fascinated about how they did that. And then the Imperial Walkers and Empire Strikes Back, that stop motion animation was so cool. Mixed with the new technology they were using with the motion capture cameras and all that stuff, it really blew me away. And that’s really what got me into artwork because I started studying the guys, the model makers and all the guys behind the scenes that were doing that stuff. And I was really drawn to it and had my own creatures in my mind. I walked out of Star Wars in 1977, and from that point forward, I had to make my own stuff. It spurred creativity. And I mean, I’ve heard that so many times from so many people. Like something happened with that time period in that movie. It birthed a generation of creatives. And it was really an honor to meet

Adam Homan

Dennis Muren, who is one of my friends and clients. He was the guy he was head of Ilm for a while and did the stop motion on the Imperial Walkers. He was integral in bringing in computer technology into the industry. He found the guys to figure out how to do the Jurassic Park dinosaurs and CGI. And, I mean, he’s just like he’s got like nine Academy Awards and he.

Tom Heath

Has an Adam Holman.

Adam Homan

He’s got a whole bunch of my stuff. And I got to go to his house and meet his wife. And he brought a bunch of the other guys in the industry over. And it was like one of those nights where I was just, this is it. It’s not going to get any better.

Tom Heath

Pack it up. I’ve hit my pinnacle.

Adam Homan

Yeah, it is awesome. And he’s such a cool dude, and he’s been really super supportive. So, yeah, that was definitely a validation early on. And yeah, good experience.

Tom Heath

Well, your stuff is very popular in the gallery. We have several different pieces and people will ask, is this an original? And it is. We might have multiple roadrunners or cameras or typewriters. They all are unique and created by you individually. But you do have a theme and you kind of keep with them.

Adam Homan

Yeah, I mean, it’s different than, say, a bronze artist who’s got a mold that they’re making the piece each time. I’ve got to do each one by hand, and they’re always different by default. So every one of them is one of a kind in my mind, even if I’m doing the same style or whatever.

Tom Heath

I don’t have any vice grips, but I got a pipe wrench. So there you go. Exactly. There you go. You got a claw instead of a hand today. You’ve been extremely busy. So besides the Tucson Gallery, where do people keep track of you? Facebook. Instagram.

Adam Homan

Yeah, Facebook Instagram are kind of my go to. I send out is it just Adam.

Tom Heath

Holman or is it Adam? Yeah.

Adam Homan

Facebook’s. Adam Holman. Metal sculpture or Adam Holman. I post on both and then Instagram’s. I think Adam underscore Holman at instagram. I’m around. I’m in, obviously, some galleries online. And, yeah, I’m just honored to be in this gallery and being a part of the success of this Tucson experience here, because I think Tucson is full of amazing, creative people. I remember going to art shows all over the country. I’d be doing a show in Seattle and I’d look at the list of where the other artists are from and there’s always like four or five from Tucson. I never knew them, you know what I mean? Because I was busy doing art shows. Right. And now it’s becoming different. There’s a sense of community here developing that I’m kind of seeing and being more of a part of. And I’m really cultivating that. And I want to support the arts here in Tucson the best I can. So thanks for providing a space to do that.

Tom Heath

Yeah, that was the concept we wanted to not just have art, but create community, make accessibility and have a wide range. When you come into the gallery, you will see some more well known artists and some that are up and coming.

Adam Homan

Right.

Tom Heath

And then with our Meet the Artist events, the idea is to connect you with the public. And really we find that a lot of times it’s not just the public that comes, it’s people that are trying to get into your artwork forms or they’ve got questions or how did you do this or how did you do that? So it really becomes that community feel and we’re excited about that.

Adam Homan

That’s awesome. Very cool.

Tom Heath

Well, Adam, thank you very much. Thank you for being here. And if you want to learn any more about Adam’s story or any of our other artists, we do a weekly podcast called Meet the Artist. You can get more information on our website, thetucsongallery.com. There’s also an events calendar when you can find out when everyone’s going to be live. We’ve been doing the meet and greets on Thursdays for the first few months and next month, which will be April of 2023, we’re going to start doing some Fridays to see how that works out. But head over to the Tucsongallery.com for more information about all of those events and anything else that’s coming up. We’re doing a lot of fun stuff here in the gallery and we’re inside of the proper shops, which is a collective of different retailers, and they also are having fun and exciting things like wine tastings and agave tastings and painting classes and all kinds of stuff. So head over to the Tucsongallery.com for more information and spread the word. Let’s

Tom Heath

help build this community of artists here in Tucson and make Adam’s Tucson dreams come true.

Adam Homan

I love it.

Tom Heath

All right. Thank you, sir.

Adam Homan

Thanks, Tom.

Tom Heath

Thank you for listening to meet the Artist. This is a weekly production by the Tucson Gallery located inside of the proper shops at 300 East Conga Street in Tucson, Arizona. The mission of the Tucson Gallery is to support local artists by providing a space to show their art, a forum to engage with their audience, a virtual presence to connect with global patrons, an outlet to earn a fair price and an opportunity to hone their business skills. Head over to thetussandgallery.com for more information about our live events, listen to other Meet the Artist podcasts and check out the wide selection of art, gifts and other items created by Tucson’s modern, thought provoking and forward thinking artists.