Raymond is a Canadian artist raised and trained in British Columbia; his home and studio is on the side of a mountain in North Vancouver, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Born in 1947 of immigrant parents, he developed an early passion for both imagining and creating. Largely self-taught, his artistic vision and skills have also been shaped by time spent with a variety of master carvers and sculptors. Over many years, he has nurtured this drive to the creation of works of art that are both exciting to see and which demand to be caressed. Soft curves meet hard edges, shapes dance with shadows, beckoning the eye to further exploration. Working with wood, gemstones, minerals and precious metals, his jewelry and sculpture excite the imagination.
Many works are a synthesis of natural materials with highly treated surfaces and forms contrasted with natural textures. Inspiration for his jewelry comes from the materials he works with, patterns and shapes call to his creative spirit. Sculptures are born in the wood that finds him, supplied by windfalls, friends and arborists. He is drawn to roots and knots, furthering these features by incorporating natural cracks and parts of the tree where insects and rot have affected parts of the wood. Working with all the forces that affected the tree, he creates suggested objects and wistful forms combined with the richness of rare and semi-precious minerals and bone. Minerals are often infused in a matrix of silver or gold.
His work reveals elements of both devolution and evolution – removal of material to reveal hidden forms plus additive processes to highlight and enhance. He often wakes from a dream to sketch a design or to go to his studio as the spirit moves him, sometimes in the middle of the night, returning to bed as everyone else is rising. Works in process are often at his side while he sleeps, inviting the muses that pervade his dreams to call.
The results of his artistic passion are varied – unusual rings, one of a kind pendants, natural edged bowl forms inlaid with vibrant colored minerals and metals, prehistoric etchings on slate encased in frames of exotic woods, evocative forms, amulets, objects of precious metals and fanciful creations.
