Fable , 2025

14 x 10 x 8 in

porcelain, wood and oil

Robert Adams’s fanciful creatures look as if they have just climbed out of the books they’re often perched upon, as if they’ve emerged magically from the pages of a fable or a fairy tale.

The artist draws his inspiration for his delightful creations from the wildlife he encounters on the twice daily walks he takes from his home -- the last house on a dead-end road in rustic Marin County, California.

“We have quail, doves, skunks, foxes, raccoons and deer,” he says. “I’m constantly amazed at amount of beautiful wildlife and plants around me.”

His carved sculptures – like the two in this show, the antlered figure in “Fable” and the feathered bird in “Kingdom of the Night” – are made of wood, porcelain and oil paint. He’ll often incorporate cloth, paper, and found objects.

Adams attended the Art Institute of Boston and spent two years studying drawing, ceramics and painting at the San Francisco Art Institute. But it was his time as a framer of other artists’ work that he began using his talent with tools and woodworking to create art of his own, the imaginative sculptures that have defined his career.

An avid reader, the idea of incorporating books into his creations came to him as a matter of course. “Books always spoke to me,” he says, “so it just seemed natural to make them.”

His work consistently reflects his reverence for early folk, Native American and other indigenous traditions. He has been shown at the Sun Valley Writers conference in the past as well as in many American Craft Council exhibitions and in galleries across the country.

SOLD