Carmel Magazine
Holiday 2006
My Place: "Big Fish"
Artist and Avid Fly Fisherman Lance Boen Builds a Sacred Space
to House Himself and His Leather Sculptures
by Lisa Crawford Watson - Photography by Kelli Uldall
pp 193-195
The property sloped across an acre of prairie land, its textured expanse undisturbed except by the susurration of wheat grass rippling in the afternoon breeze. That and the subtle intrusion of a post adobe rising on the knoll.
Guarded by the verdant palisades of the great Carmel Valley, the land, warmed and bleached by the morning sun, deepened to amber as the sun burned into the foothills, singeing the tree line into silhouette and, ultimately, cooling the valley air.
Standing in the center of the field, he couldn’t see it, but he knew it was there. He could sense it, could smell it, could feel the Carmel River wandering along the base of the foothills. And he knew this was the direction he would orient his art studio.
But first he would head down the hill for a little fly fishing.
International angler by passion and artist by profession, Lance Marshall Boen is widely recognized for his creation of the finest leather fish sculptures in the world. He won’t tell you that, but his patrons will just by the more-than-one-year waiting list for commissions.
“I often seek inspiration for my sculpture while I am walking the local rivers with my fly rod in hand,” said Boen. “I am always struck by the beauty of a coastal steelhead river. If the Lord places an eager fish in front of my fly, I quickly photograph and release the subject, then use the images for color, shape, size and marking reference.
“On the days when fish are more elusive and evade my hook, I study the riverbed. Later I incorporate those images of rocks, leaves and logs as well as the illusion of current and water into installations that I recreate in leather.”
Boen came to the Carmel Valley Village just over four years ago, his process of moving here having begun years before, when his father, an automobile aficionado, brought him from their Southern California home to the historic automobile races and luxury car shows. He always thought it would be nice to move to Carmel and, once his father retired to the Peninsula, he did.
“I like the slower pace of the Peninsula,” said Boen. “There is more nature and beauty, and I love the weather and the fact that there is a little space between us and the next house. The beach is just 12 miles away, and the river is down the road. Besides, people from all over the world come to this place, making it an ideal hub for my art.”
Once he had embraced the environment, Boen needed a studio, a place to work that would anchor him to the land, expose him to inspirational views and bring in plenty of light. He wanted a space as simple and uncluttered as the landscape, a place far enough to concentrate and near enough to that post adobe that he would feel close to wife Jennifer and small children, Marshall and Nekoda. He envisioned a structure that would contain heroic sculpture, house his pontoon boat and accommodate his 6-foot, seven-inch frame.
Boen designed a 1200-square foot studio in stucco with stained cement flooring and an open-beamed pitched ceiling that reaches 10 feet at plate height and 16 feet at the apex. The doors are 8-feet high, and the banks of windows reach just as high. One set of doors, a 10-foot span of 3-inch redwood, was custom designed to enhance the architectural aesthetic of the studio and to accommodate heroic sculpture, his pontoon boat and the scenery. Nothing obstructs the view.
“I admit this studio got grander than I had expected,” said Boen. “I thought it was going to be a garage-like structure. But I had worked in so many different studio spaces, from lofts to industrial spaces; this was the first time I got to lay out what I wanted and needed in an art studio. I hauled these huge, 27-foot beams from Southern California, and they kind of dictated the style of the structure. That and my height. I can stand tall and move around, and I can see the mountains from anywhere in the room. I also know where the kids are and what they’re doing.”
Inside the vacuous studio, wherever window gives way to wall, hang Boen’s signature fish sculptures, each a three-dimensional painting in leather. The complexity of the work a complement of surfaces both subtle and dramatic, its unique textures and lines are created by hand forming, tooling or painting with deep, rich oil dyes that bring up the color from within the leather. Often the sculpture will carry an allegory tooled into the surface, such as the cycle of a fish, rattlesnake bands, a grove of cocoanut palms or the textured expanse of fish scales. One bears the weight and wit of a full western saddle.
Other than exhibited art work, the space is clean, almost sparse, except for that pontoon boat, a series of work counters custom built for a tall artist, and the shelving filled with a half-inch-thick saddle leather and other supplies. The northeast corner houses a tidy office enclosed in glass. The studio is surprisingly silent.
Which means the artist is out fishing.
During production, scraps of leather, stuffing and string litter the floor. Handmade tools and oil dyes rest on the counter near often more than one sculpture in process. The Juki industrial sewing machine drones like the insistent bass line in a rock opera. But there is no music.
“It is so peaceful here,” Boen said. “I used to listen to music, but now I prefer the silence. The wind comes through, and the animals—the wild turkey, the foxes and an occasional coyote slip by. It gives me a chance for the inner dialogue that helps me think about what I’m going to do next.”
One of these days, he’s going to remodel the post adobe and attach it to the studio. One of these days he’s going to render his fish sculptures in bronze. One of these days, soon, he’s going fishing.
Captions
p. 193 - Boen flings wide a 10-foot expanse of solid redwood doors to usher in the light, the air and the ambience of the natural Carmel Valley setting of his sculpting studio.
p. 194 - One of Boen's detailed fish sculptures set in context by incorporating images of rocks, plant life and the illusion of current and water into leather installations.
p. 195 – The Boen Family, from left: son Marshall, wife Jennifer, Boen and daughter Nekoda in the doorway of their post adobe home that will someday connect to the studio.