Email this article to a friend
September 24, 2007
An Addiction for Clay
Sometimes, a bad razzing from a few good friends can bring out the best in someone.
Written by Kristen Delisle
Weeks works on a bust of Preston Smith to be placed in the Preston Smith Lubbock International Airport.
While watching some buddies mold clay into art, a young, freshly graduated Garland Weeks wanted to learn the difficult art of sculpture. He took multiple jabs of protest from his friends, but Weeks rolled up his sleeves and dug right into the challenge, making history ever since – out of clay.
“I developed a passion for sculpture overnight,” said Weeks. “I was hooked the first day, and my addiction continues to grow.”
It takes a mere moment in time to spark a passion, but a lifetime to develop an addiction. Weeks, a Texas Tech alum and Lubbock resident, has produced more than 300 sculptures, many of them representational figures from history including the Revolutionary War and World War II.
Currently, he has 30 works on display in the “Balance of Nature” exhibit at the National Ranching Heritage Center in Lubbock.
Weeks said sculpture was not something that came easily to him, but something about manipulating an idea into clay inspired him to continue learning.
“I’ve had to work at it,” he said. “Of all the arts, sculpture is the most physically demanding. I don’t know anyone who was born knowing how to sculpt.”
Weeks typically spends 12-15 hours a day sculpting. When not working, he enjoys reading, and finds inspiration for new sculptures from the world around him, particularly Mother Nature.
“There are some subjects that are picturesque, some that are sculpturesque,” said Weeks. “I get my ideas every day, every where. I read everyday. I draw a lot of inspiration from the written word, but also from the world around us.”
Weeks, whose Texas family roots trace back to 1835, was a member of the rodeo team while in college. He was also a member of the Student Government Association, becoming friends with current Chancellor Kent Hance during their tenure together in student politics.
After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics, Weeks moved to Colorado and spent several years working in the cattle feeding industry. Weeks spent his days working and his nights and weekends sculpting. Though he enjoyed his job, Weeks said he would think often about sculpting while he was at work and decided that was what he really wanted to do.
Weeks moved back to Lubbock in 2000 to his own apartment and studio. He said he enjoys the level of intellectual curiosity in Lubbock produced from living in a college town and he currently has several projects in the works, including a WWII memorial for Savannah, Ga., a first responders monument for the Lubbock Regional Public Safety Memorial and a bust of Preston Smith to be placed in the Preston Smith Lubbock International Airport.
Weeks is the only Texas Tech graduate to hold a fellowship position with the National Sculptors Society and currently is teaching a sculpting class in Italy.
With all of his success, Weeks says it’s still tough to make a living as an artist.
“It’s still a struggle,” he said. “It’s always a struggle.”
Web layout by Jon Fox
Image courtesy of the Garland Weeks Web site
Story produced by the Office of Communications and Marketing, 806-742-2136.