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Mind molded to sculpt

Sculptor discovers purpose, flow after divine epiphany

FINDING FLOW – Local sculptor Jake Griggs massages clay as he sits by a sampling of the pieces he created in his Bridgeport garage studio. His pieces are often scaled up and cast in bronze. Messenger photo by Austin Jackson

Local sculptor Jake Griggs sat in a rolling chair, endlessly massaging a small piece of clay between his thumb and fingers, as his mind churned.

Before him is his next project, surrounded by dozens of other sculpted forms suspended in time within an insulated garage in Bridgeport.

Through sky-blue eyes, Griggs looks beyond two-dimensions, muscle and bone structure as he brings detail to the form.

His focus is on flow – the way hair falls and how clothes and skin wrinkle in action. If he doesn’t work the clay constantly, it will no longer be malleable. So he makes it move until its ready to stand still.

Griggs gets lost in his work. He loses time, focusing on just one detail that animates and brings a striking realism to a piece.

“Flow is everything,” Griggs said, pointing out how the manipulation of detail brings movement to a still sculpture.

Capturing flow is more than just part of Grigg’s unique gift as a sculptor. It’s part of a philosophy that bleeds into his golf game, spiritual life and capturing people stuck in time through clay and bronze.

“All of my pieces, I always have this sense that there’s this flow,” Griggs said. “There’s flow to life. That’s how I see it. You can do it the hard way or you can flow in life, and follow your call and purpose, like being on a lazy river.”

From Griggs’ garage, marked by sculptures and various tools, the flow of the world is captured in still objects that seemingly move. There’s the kind smile of James Wood captured in a piece that will soon go into a family member’s home.

By the sculpture that further immortalizes Wood are biblical figures acting out their stories with authentic realism, next to mock ups for life-sized pieces that will be displayed outside buildings. His work includes cowboys, heroes and portraits – pieces that help bring back memories and tell stories.

The time in his garage is part of a divine calling spent along the lazy river of God’s will to Griggs.

“I sculpt because it is in my heart,” Griggs said. “It burns in me to sculpt. I feel pressed to make something that encourages people, I try and make pieces that are encouraging to the world.”

It wasn’t always this way.

Griggs worked in oil and gas before he was called to sculpting. It was a diversion from his original life goal to become a pastor. He enjoyed art, but never had college training. Several years ago Griggs said he felt this odd urge to sculpt. Despite his desire, it just wasn’t working.

“For years and years, I could not get it in my head how to sculpt,” Griggs said. “One night, I was working and felt this overwhelming sense. After about two-and-a-half years, I walked away. I said ‘Lord, I am done. I cannot sculpt, find another man.’ For some reason that night I went inside and grabbed a Bible… I cracked it open to the only place that talks about an artist. Exodus Chapter 31. It just opens up in front of me.”

Exodus Chapter 31 tells the story of the formation of the Ark of the Covenant and how God imbued the gifts to an artist to create the Ark for the Holy Tabernacle. That night, Griggs said he had an epiphany, an act of divine intervention that suddenly gave him a unique ability to sculpt.

It was an ability that came overnight, Griggs said.

“I prayed, I said, ‘Lord if you can do that for him, you can do it for me.’ I asked the Lord to give me that. I literally went to bed not feeling anything,” Griggs said. “I woke up, and I was able to sculpt. I don’t know any other way to explain it. I was able to sculpt, a miracle happened in my mind. It was a miraculous transformation of my mind. All of the sudden I could do it…What took some sculptors 10 years to learn, I learned in three months.”

Griggs said since that night, things just connected. He spent years perfecting his craft and growing his skill to where he is today. Flow just started to come naturally.

“I could just see it,” Griggs said. “And somehow I could just do it…There was this overwhelming sense of confidence that could do it. At that moment, when I put my hands on clay, something about it was supernatural, and I knew I could sculpt anything.”

Hundreds of pieces later, Griggs sculpts for a living. Many of his pieces have sold for thousands of dollars.

He also has a power washing business, and a disinfectant business that he manages on the side. But his primary income comes through clay and bronze.

Each piece is special to Griggs. It starts from nothing, and then he molds clay into something that lasts.

The difficult part is recreating a figure in a way that captures who the subject is and what they meant in an instant and also in a three-dimensional format.

That has come easier with time and Grigg’s newly found knack that came to him suddenly years ago.

While Griggs has set preaching aside, he said there’s ministry in his work. His pieces bring comfort and meaning.

The realization of a piece becoming a permanent fixture in someone’s home or life is not lost on him. And to make sure he gets it right, he gets to know his subjects, even if they aren’t physically here. He immerses himself in photos and memories.

PORTRAIT OF A GREAT MAN – Janetta Wood poses next to a work-in-progress sculpture of James Wood at Jake Griggs’ studio in Bridgeport. James Wood, a Decatur business and civic leader, died in 2020. Submitted photo

Griggs sculptures start as clay, and many are cast in bronze. Once they’re cast, the changes are permanent and set in metal that’s built to last hundreds of years.

No pressure.

Although he has confidence to sculpt anything, Griggs admitted he was nervous as a member of the Wood family came to look at the progress of the James Wood sculpture, a piece that is so personal it comes with expectations. Just the slightest missing detail could be the difference between the fond reminder of a patriarch or an impostor.

Soon nerves turned to affirmation. The detail and flow was right.

“When his daughter came in the studio and looked at it, you know I was really sweating bullets,” Griggs said. “But she walked in and said, ‘There’s my daddy.’ When she said that, I was like, ‘Thank you Lord.’ I’ve done portraits for loved ones, and it’s a wonderful feeling that you’re going to bring them comfort.”

His sculptures capture life in an instant, and also, immortalize figures in bronze.

Knowing his work will be around for a long time, and hopefully cherished, is motivation to create something that deserves to last.

“It will last hundreds and hundreds of years,” Griggs said. “Generations. Being part of that process is phenomenal, like you’re part of history somehow.”

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