Walter Massey
 

Master Copper Sculptor, Walter S. Massey, began his artistic career at a very early age drawing and painting under the guidance of his grandmother as she produced countless still-life paintings in oils and acrylics from natural scenes around their South Carolina home. Later, his penchant for hands-on learning, turned his interest to more “structural” media in the building of intricate model ships, automobiles and airplanes and, eventually, to copying historic armor and weaponry.

As a young adult, Walter took undergraduate and graduate studies in psychology, literature and art at university. Drawn again to hands-on learning, he then embarked on a self-styled course in the practical study of sculpture, moving from metal casting on through various forms of metalsmithing. Determined to develop a style outside the realm of traditional copper repoussé, he began by working on detailed figures from nature, constantly developing more and better ways to fabricate figures “ in the round”. His work today is the result of using his experiences in structural work and training as a welder to develop his own techniques for producing large metal sculpture while bringing the typically “structural/functional” medium of copper more fully into the modern world of fine art.