Eric Hultquist

I began working in ceramics in high school and this continued into college. I loved the potter’s wheel which seemed magical. At the slightest touch, the clay seemed to form itself into any form I could imagine. At 22, I moved to Los Angeles where I worked as an artist at an animation studio in Santa Monica. I returned to Arizona in 1995, after completing a Master’s Degree in Washington D.C. and taught computer art and animation for a short time at a technical school (Cad Institute) in Tempe. Following that, I taught classes in World Religions and Critical Reading at Mesa Community College for sixteen years. Shortly after returning to Arizona, I designed a couple of occasional tables and joined The Furniture Society. This brought me into contact with sculpture professor James White and I began taking classes in Neon Sculpture at ASU. Jim always said: “No one starts out to be a sculptor. They just try everything else and one day, they kind of fall into it.” At the same time, I began taking classes in Structural Metal Sculpture which ended up making steel my favorite medium. Shortly after classes started, Jim picked up an acetylene torch, heated a steel rod and bent it like putty. “Steel is just like clay,” he said, “all you have to do is heat it up a little.” My jaw fell. I was hooked! I loved working in ceramics, but it never dawned on me that steel could be turned into putty with a little heat. Though I took Neon Sculpture nine times over the years, nothing ever grabbed me like steel, which became my major medium. At some point, during this time I built a lamp. Then I built another and another. Although each lamp was different there were similar stylistic elements in my work. So, I just kept on building lamps. Additionally, I’ve also written a book, The Fundamentals of Mixology about the art of signature cocktail creation. I’m a long-time resident of Mesa and at present, I’m engaged in creating Art Lamps full time.