3.29.2012

Bill Georgenes - The Toy Master

S P I R I T   O F   A   S T U D I O


Photography & Text by C. Whitney-Ward



Artist Bill Georgenes is a very happy man. He gets to play with toys all day long, a simple childhood joy that eluded him because both he and his mother were sent to live in a sanatorium when she was diagnosed with TB. But he's making up for those lost  years by plying his amazing eye, heart and talent - he was trained at the Massachusetts School of Art and received an MFA from Yale -  to his equally amazing toy assemblages. 






When you step into his Santa FE studio/home every surface is 'encrusted' with  sculpture - in varying stages of doneness.











But, they all begin with an empty cookie tin and box of toys...



A few pieces will be added...



And then Bill might move on to another in-progress sculpture and another, slowly adding and building, going back again to each one, adding more toys until it's right - like creating a symphony, he says.  Then he paints them, first with whatever acrylic paint he has around, and then with a final coat of silver or gold. The wonder is in their detail and how one toy flows into, around and above/below/behind the next and creates a happy whole.


And when Bill gets 'stuck' with a toy sculpture he's working on, he switches artistic hats and  works on his paintings - large 'optic' canvases filled with color and texture.




All this is a far cry from his days as an art restorer, repairing Rembrandts and Monets at the Fogg Art Museum in Cambridge, MA.  But, I don't think the Toy Master would have it any other way.

Please CLICK HERE to see a wonderful video of Bill and his work.

B I L L   G E O R G E N E S

505.989.8289