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“I go hunting for downed Juniper with an open spirit,” says artist William Daggett, about searching for new canvases in the high Sonoran desert. “It helps me find a personal connection with the wood, so when I discover the perfect snag, it feels as if it’s been looking for me, too, waiting patiently to be brought back to life.”
Daggett, who is an award-winning, American sculptor, collaborates with Mother Nature to create nature-inspired fine art pieces through his deep connection to wood, one that goes beyond Juniper’s twisted branches, one rooted in his personal history.
“I’ve always been a creative soul,” says Daggett, even when he was a young boy. This artistic vein runs deep.
“When I start a new sculpture, I spend time with the piece of wood,” says Daggett. “I try to open up to its essence until I get a sense of what it’s saying, or how it wants to express itself.”
This love and connection to the wild comes through in each piece of his abstract art: birds, eagles, horses, flames, hands and other elements of nature organically surface during the manifestation process.
This evolution can be a moving target, notes Daggett. Occasionally, he says, the sculpture takes an unexpected turn. “Happy accidents, I like to call them, which often result in something magical.”
“What I find most rewarding,” he says, “is art that shows movement and emotion, which often draws strong feelings and tears out of patrons viewing my work.”
For the last seven years, Daggett has been one of 100+ juried artists showing at the Arizona Fine Art Expo, a highly-coveted residency that runs for 10 weeks in Scottsdale. “Over the years, my clients have enjoyed hearing the story of how I manifest my one-of-a-kind sculptures,” he says, “shepherding them from raw twisted wood to a new life form, which starts in my imagination.” Daggett is humble, but grateful for this gift.
With the success of Daggett’s “Wood Whisperings” Juniper sculptures, and a recent Parkinsons diagnosis, he is expanding his art to include additional mediums: casting his most special pieces into his forthcoming “Gold Reflections” collection, which sets them in 18k solid gold.
“It’s my hope that my sculptures—in whatever medium they embody—will continue to touch art collectors in the same way they’ve touched me, through an emotional connection to each piece born from nature. Now, transitioning them into gold sets them free on their final journey, elevating them to their highest level.”