tony mayo
Mediums Used
Tony Mayo has an enviable International reputation for Innovative and exciting sculpture meticulously crafted from exotic and unusual materials collected during excursions to ninety-four (94) countries to date.
“The Process Tony Mayo Follows To Create A Sculpture” Tony Mayo only uses hand tools to create his sculptures. On very rare occasions, when it is necessary to remove large amounts of material to arrive at a basic shape, he may use power tools. But the actual shaping, refining and final finish is always produced with hand tools. Mayo works by hand because he feels it puts him in touch physically and emotionally with the essence of the material in which he is working. Mayo says, “I know if I am working by hand, it is going to take me a long time to create a work of art. I believe that realization forces me to slow down and take my time while manufacturing the finished product. That awareness compels me to not hurry and to be more patient and exacting.” Tony Mayo’s completed work is refined and finished beyond what the human eye can normally see. When working, he wears magnifying goggles while using small hand tools. Sometimes he makes his own tools because there are no available commercial implements that will allow him to create some of the difficult angles and details he takes great pleasure in producing. Mayo likes the challenge of pushing various materials to their limit, forming them either very thin, or into demanding shapes that are normally not attempted. As he sculpts a piece, again and again Mayo looks carefully at it from every possible angle to make sure each line or surface is as straight, evenly curved, or smooth as possible. He does not want any bumps, ridges or uneven areas. As he brings a piece to completion, he closes his eyes and lightly run his fingertips over all surfaces, feeling for irregularities which his eyes, aided with magnifying glasses, may have not detected. If anything unsatisfactory is discerned, Mayo carefully reshapes and smooths it to his high standard. The final polishing is extremely painstaking and time consuming. After the surface has been meticulously smoothed with exceptionally sharp tools, it is sanded with 400 grit wet/dry sandpaper. The 400 grit is followed by 600 grit, then 1,000 grit and finally with 2,000 grit wet/dry sandpaper. On some occasions, Mayo may work up to 3,000 grit paper. Mayo uses the 400 grit sandpaper to form the final shape, removing extremely small amounts of material, almost as one might use a super fine file. Frequently, as Mayo puts the final polish on a sculpture, he will discover uneven areas; he then reworks those sections and goes through the entire polishing process once more. Usually Mayo’s sculptures incorporate undercuts that are only the thickness of a sheet of paper. Imagine sanding and polishing into those sharp undercuts, as well as into numerous small holes and difficult angles, using a tiny piece of sandpaper held with your fingertips. Often, Mayo must make diminutive custom tools onto which sandpaper can be attached in order to get into hard to reach areas. Hand sanding to a polish can take 100 or more hours. When carefully observing Mayo’s sculptures, you will notice that even the bottoms and other unseen areas, as well as the smallest hard to reach regions are smooth and finished to a polish. Mayo’s desire is to make his finished piece of art absolutely as perfect as he is able, and to that end, he will rework a piece over and over. Some of his sculptures evolve over several years and take as much as 2,000 hours to complete. Often mayo’s art contains details so small that most people can’t see them without the aid of a magnifying glass.
Sculptures by tony mayo
Credentials
Qualifications
Bachelor of Science, St. Cloud State University, St. Cloud, Minnesota, U.S.A. Majored in Education;
Double Minor in Art Education and Physical Education Master of Arts, St Cloud State University, St. Cloud, Minnesota, U.S.A. Majored in Ceramics;
Double Minor in Jewelry Design&Construction and Art History Master of Fine Arts, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.A. Majored in Glass Blowing;
Double Minor in Ceramics and Art History,Bachelor of Science, St. Cloud State University, St. Cloud, Minnesota, U.S.A. Majored in Education;
Double Minor in Art Education and Physical Education Master of Arts, St Cloud State University, St. Cloud, Minnesota, U.S.A. Majored in Ceramics;
Double Minor in Jewelry Design&Construction and Art History Master of Fine Arts, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.A. Majored in Glass Blowing;
Double Minor in Ceramics and Art HistoryExhibitions
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Awards
2014-Voted an International Member of The Explorers Club, New York City
2014- Invited with fifteen others on a Dinosaur Fossil Hunt with Dr. Philip Currie (one of the worlds foremost paleontologists). The hunt took place along a 190 kilometer stretch of river where participants canoed, camped and hiked under the most extreme conditions through an area containing one of the thickest deposits of dinosaur fossils found anywhere in the world. A person could hardly take a step anywhere without stepping on fossils 2015- Invited to join Globalization ICAS (International Contemporary Art&Sculpture)Publications
2009- Mayo wrote a column titled “Mayo’s Musings”. It ran in several British Columbia newspapers
2009-2016- “The Abbotsford News: numerous articles about Mayo`s art, travels and research
2013- Published book: "Twenty-Nine Lives; One Man`s Twenty-Eight Brushes With Death" An autobiography of some of Tony Mayo`s most dangerous and near fatal escapades during his explorations to 93 countries around the world
2015- Interviewed and taped for the television program “Joy Of The Journey"; was aired many times starting November 2015,2009- Mayo wrote a column titled “Mayo’s Musings”. It ran in several British Columbia newspapers
2009-2016- “The Abbotsford News: numerous articles about Mayo`s art, travels and research
2013- Published book: "Twenty-Nine Lives; One Man`s Twenty-Eight Brushes With Death" An autobiography of some of Tony Mayo`s most dangerous and near fatal escapades during his explorations to 93 countries around the world
2015- Interviewed and taped for the television program “Joy Of The Journey"; was aired many times starting November 2015
In the year 1942, Tony Mayo was born in the small picturesque community of Owatonna in Southern Minnesota, U.S.A. Tony spent his childhood in the American Midwest moving with his family to Minneapolis, Minnesota and then on to Stevens Point, Wisconsin, Grand Rapids, Michigan and back to Stevens Point before returning to Minnesota where he attended Edina High School and the University of Minnesota. Tony earned a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Arts from St. Cloud University, and a Master of Fine Arts Degree from The University of Minnesota. Tony’s earliest fond recollections include making miniature cars and houses out of mud from his parent’s garden, and sitting at the dining room table receiving memorable drawing lessons in graphite pencil from his talented Grandmother Harrington. Tony has had a passion for creating art ever since. In 1974 Mr. Mayo immigrated to Canada settling first in the Northwest Territories where he spent over two years traveling much of Canada’s Arctic working for the federal government establishing Inuit Art Co-ops. Tony Mayo now resides in beautiful Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada located in the Fraser Valley. His studio overlooks the Fraser River and is surrounded by stunning snow-capped mountains. From early childhood, Mayo has been interested in ancient stone tools and weapons, collecting his first arrowhead when he was only seven years old. Finding that artifact speared a lifelong interest in indigenous peoples and their traditional ways of life. To date Mr. Mayo has traveled ninety-three countries, visiting the most remote parts of those nations. His intent has been to collect artifacts and document as much information as he could relating to endangered or threatened cultures and people. Mayo has spent over nine years of his life outside North America following that pursuit and documenting with copious slides, videos, drawings, diagrams, photographs, interviews with elders, audio recordings and notes. Tony Mayo is an accomplished artist and his art often demonstrates his fascination with world cultures and frequently incorporates rare and unusual materials obtained during exotic travels to ninety-four (94) countries to date.
The Renaissance and Michelangelo, the sculptor, painter, author, poet, architect and water fountain physics
1989 - 2005- Numerous reviews and interviews in "The Abbotsford News"
2009, March- "The Abbotsford News"
2016, April- “The Explorers Club Canadian Chapter Monthly Newsletter”
2016, June- "The Abbotsford News"