KEVIN TROUTMAN
"Afoot and light hearted I take to the open road. Healthy, free, the world before me." - Walt Whitman
BIO
Both travels and the search for new adventures have filled Kevin's life since adolescence. He has always appreciated and nurtured his ability to find the beauty of things in God’s creation. He is fascinated by how physics and mathematics uniquely define the beauty of the physical world we experience. Kevin was drawn to explore architecture as the embodiment of this blending of science and artistry, beginning his career as an intern architect, later to become president and CEO of STK Architecture. For several decades, Kevin enjoyed the privilege of leading and mentoring a unique culture of creative, dedicated professionals who have now ascended to lead STK into the future.
Kevin, always inspired by the charming artistry in nature, continues to express this by putting natural elements together unconventionally with fabricated elements to create eye catching sculptures embedded with meaning. His work is deliberate in the placement of material to give way to a uniquely beautiful perspective of the natural world. Through sharing these perspectives, others may find inspiration and joy in their own adventure.
PORTFOLIO
RIVER OF ETERNITY
Each of our lives flow as a river bound for eternity. Like rivers, areas of peaceful harmony, fast water or obstacles can be in our path. Some obstacles are unyielding, dark, ominous, making our “rivers” cloudy and unclear. We must struggle to find the way forward. Wisdom is realizing the best way forward has already been provided by the One who made us eternal. Still, we must choose it. When you have no answers, release control, listen, stop fighting the current. Trust the loving, gentle hands holding, guiding, lifting you to the best course where the waters are clear again.
Throughout this journey upon a flowing river, delicate sliver threads from Heaven descend through rusty nails on a tree supporting the loving hands which guide us. He has blessed and kept us. God’s face is shining upon two unique flowers in his garden of many. They are now watered by the same river, flowing as one together towards eternity.
Materials Used
“Aa” Lava igneous rock, hand selected multi-aged Manzanita shrub branch, 5/8” (16mm) sea green and cobalt blue colored glass marbles, kiln-formed hand fabricated multi-colored glass “flowers”, 1/8 inch thick perforated aluminum sheet with staggered 3/8 inch perforations, 1/8 inch aluminum post anchors, 28 ga silver coated copper wire, 3/8 inch steel dowel rod, clear two component epoxy adhesive.
GEM OF A COOKIE
Rising through a fissure formed by Black Tourmaline crystal ore, a tube of America’s oldest cookie, the Oreo, arises. Also formed by pressure and heat, this black and white “gem of a cookie” has satisfied over 450 billion sweet tooths since first forming deep in the ovens of Nabisco in 1912. The raw primordial beauty of Black Tourmaline, White Quartz, and shimmering Mica, geologically fused, is reflected in the Oreo’s refined, artful surface symmetry fused in a layered composition. This interactive, purpose driven, sculpture was inspired by Oreo aficionados who wish to savor both the satisfying flavor & visual beauty of this Gem.
Materials Used
Black tourmaline ore from Juan Diego Flats mining claims above Anza, (Juan Diego allegedly is Alessandro of Helen Hunt Jackson’s “Ramona”), 4 inch electric box cover plate, 2 ½ x 10 inch BPA free food grade tube with lid, 3/32 inch threaded rod, 1/8 inch I.D. aluminum tube, 9 gauge aluminum suspended ceiling wire, 3/32 standard nuts, 3/32 acorn nuts, #8 steel washers, 1 inch steel washers, black & white semi-gloss paint, adhesive backed aluminum duct seal tape, clear 2 component epoxy, vinyl adhesive backed press on numbers, 18 Oreo cookies (original).
FLOWER OF 10
A meaningful illumination of love and celebration of ten years of life through a perfectly unique, potted floweret. New vibrancy emerging from barren, ancient soil. This sculpture incorporates hidden sequences of 4’s (since it was honoring a 4 th grader) and 10’s in the blending of the natural elements.
Materials Used
Colored & marbled glass, threaded steel rods, brass nuts, copper sheet, clay pot, crushed basalt rock, nylon washers, neoprene O-rings
PRICKLY PRISM
Emerging like exotic wind from a silent breath, flowerets of rhythmic colors display the mimetic beauty in nature. Interlocking hewn stone blades rise to address the early solstice sun and play with its complex light. The evening brings new light with glowing vividness.
Materials Used
Colored glass, chrome plated nuts, threaded steel rods, steel rebar (aged), Arizona Rosa sandstone, steel pipe, nylon washers, neoprene O-rings, copper 22 gage insulated wire,
flat plate LED lights
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THREAD OF JOY
Plate tectonics shift, ancient oceans retreat and the desert’s first saguaro, the “Sentinel of the Southwest”, rises. Formed from the essence of the ocean and its “Great White” predecessor, Saguaro’s core displays God’s creative spark, giving life through eons of transitions and imbued with a gift of His eternal Thread of Joy. This first saguaro has grabbed onto this thread of joy, seizing the daunting moment to surf the last great wave out of the Pleistocene, into the future. Saguaro’s legacy of joy is now expressed in the dancing forms of his children, Sentinels themselves, scattered across the Southwest.
Through each of your transitions, take a lesson from Saguaro. Hold on to your own eternal thread of joy God has given you and never let go – it is His legacy and promise to you.
Materials Used
Fossil Creek New Mexico 1 ¼ inch stone slabs, driftwood recovered from Ediz Hook Port Angeles Washington, colored glass with veining, small diameter soft drawn copper pipe, 1/0 AWG multistrand aluminum electrical wire, Santa Ana River stone from San Bernardino mountains, 3/32 chrome plated threaded steel rod, chrome plated steel standard & acorn nuts, nylon washers, neoprene O-rings, clear two component epoxy adhesive, programmable LED “fairy” light string.
WOMAN DANCING ON THE WORLD
Inspired by Kevin’s companion, a woman’s joyful spirit lightly pirouettes on her glistening orb, created as a gift. The "world" rises from a base of stone imbued with God’s brilliant structure expressed through the golden ratio of natural beauty. At each node 33 hearts rise connecting to the use of God’s name, Elohim, 33 times within the creation account in Scripture. Behind her the Trinity’s power rises back to Heaven on either side as two central intertwining chords support her in the gift of a relationship with the loving creator, Elohim, through his son Jesus.
Materials Used
Small diameter soft drawn copper pipe, ¼ inch multi-strand copper electrical wire, 10 gage copper electrical wire, 3/32-inch brass rod, hand selected Mexican Beach Stone, Arizona Sedona red sandstone, copper pipe “T” fittings, brass pipe strap, two component epoxy, spar varnish. (note: stone is mated and balanced to base and is not glued).
ONE WILLOW
In another one of Kevin’s celebration of lives, this sculpture’s deep symbolism and imagery is what makes it so remarkable. A little girl’s unfolding strength is rooted in the multi-aged
manzanita branches bonded and nurtured by love flowing through adoring hearts signifying her family. The happy leaves remind us of God’s gift of new beginnings. When placed
near sunlight, these branches will dance with colors, reminding Willow that she is a vivacious blessing to this world and loved immensely.
Materials Used
Hand selected multi-aged Manzanita branch, colored glass, copper refrigerant pipe, shaped brass rod, copper 20 gage wire, brass nuts, threaded steel rod, nylon washers, neoprene O-rings, spar varnish
FLOWER OF HIGH RANK
As a flower blooms, pulsating primary colors of exquisitely formed glass sway in the gentle breeze, as an eclectic stem and roots vivaciously penetrate through cracks in stone, emanating the fragrance of a resilient life.
Materials Used
Colored glass, threaded steel rod, brass nuts, aged verdigris copper sheets, small diameter soft drawn copper pipe, large diameter hard drawn copper pipe, Arizona Sedona red sandstone, nylon washers, neoprene O-rings, 22 gauge insulated copper wire, LED lights, spar varnish
ANABELLE'S "FOUR"EST LIGHT
Forms of the nurturing forest assemble to watch over four year old Anabelle by day, then glow with soft light at night to guide her through darkness. Four open petite pinecones, having given their seeds, float above the forest floor of stone, bark and Lichen. Four arcing white veins pass through the symbolic glass “A”, pointing to four pinecones hovering at the ends of four branches. Each pinecone holds four seeds symbolizing wisdom or knowledge at four different levels, soon to be spread in the fertile soil of her mind as she reaches into the joyful future, for
new experiences.
Materials Used
Multi-aged Manzanita branch, Sedona Pinyon pinecones, Sugar Pine bark with Lichen from Mt Laguna,CA forest, colored glass with textures and veining, 3/32 inch diameter brass rod standoffs, Arizona Red sandstone, two component epoxy, gloss spar varnish, switched 12v plate LED light
THE SNAG
Revived and once again branching out elegantly, with well-formed pinecones delicately placed and hanging in sweeping helical patterns, the DNA of timeless natural beauty has
been recaptured out of decay.
Materials Used
Water worn and aged branch recovered from a Sierra meadow stream, mixed species of pinecones from forest floor, aluminum rods, brass wire and nuts, multi-hued stone base
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