John Perry

He developed “Pellucida.” a compound.of resins that can be presented in a variety of forms, the frosted white version resembling bisque porcelain, the beige version, Balanite, looks like polished ivory, and the black version, Ebonite, like polished ebony. Some of the pieces are air-brushed for a realistic look.    

     The response during the past 30 years has been such that John Perry’s work has passed into the possession of literally millions of people. During the past three years he has created increasing numbers of limited edition bronze sculptures. These and the Pellucida work are featured in the following galleries.

     The bases for many of the sculptures are the root burl of the manzanita bush. Manzanita grows abundantly in the high dry mountains of Southern California and Mexico. Back in the 70’s the burls were a bi-product of the clearance of firebreaks. In the creation of a fire-break if only the above ground branches of the manzanita are removed the bush sprouts back rapidly from the burl.

     To prevent this fire departments would often plough up the burls, bulldoze them into huge piles and burn them. I have heard of piles as large as a house that burned for a week.Since then manzanita has come to be recognized and valued by myself and other artists for its incredible beauty and variety of form.