GLEN HUBBARD'S STORY

Glen's journey begins in South Africa in a seaside city called East London. As a child he had many creative interests always drawing, painting, gardening and making things, from fishponds to treehouses and keeping tropical fish where he found the more  joy in creating an underwater garden with driftwood and a forest of natural looking plants than the keeping of the actual fish. He also has had a passion for nature from an early age.

He attended Selborne College and although did metal work as a subject in his initial years, he chose to specialise in the sciences because of a then desire to persue a career in nature conservation. He began a BSc to persue this interest, but the course wasn't for him as it turned out to be extremely academic with no obvious connection to the wild attaction and beauty of nature.

As a young man he found huge enjoyment in dancing at night clubs and the great freedom of self expression there. He liked to wear fasionable and unusual clothing and often imagined  things he wanted to wear, but couldn't find them in the shops so sat down at his Mom's sewing machine one afternoon and self taught himself to sew and made a waistcoat to wear out that night. He made many clothing items for himself at that time later seeing the designs he had thought of become fasionable long after he had seen them in his minds eye. He found employment trainee knitwear designe at Beatrice von Tresckow knitwear where the most beautifull, colourful jersies were being created.  His initial job was glueing abstrract designs from bits of leather and yarn etc that he glued onto jersies which were then sewn on by others. His designs were very swirly and similar ro his ribbon dancer sculptures he currently does. His employer sent him to a local College to do a course in Clothing design and pattern construction. Beartrice later got married and moved overseas, offering Glen a job there which he chose not to persue. Soon afterwards the factory closed down.

Being very handy, he began designing and making jungle gyms and then renovations and building home additions and once competent, he self taught to design homes doing the architectural drawings on his PC. He designer built a number of homes and gardens. All the while continuing many creative ideas and started 'seeing' in his minds eye various organic shepes in metal and on a trip through South Africa he stumbled on a place in a town called Parys (Paris) called The Blakermaker who shaped metal into sculptures similar to what he had seen in his imagination. The Metal Artist kindly took Glen to his nearby farm where he made these beautiful metal sculptures to show him how he did them. Glen soon bought an old Tig welder and began making sculptures he 'saw' in his imagination. Some of them prophetic pieces.

Glen later moved with his family to the beautiful Bay of Plenty in Tauranga New Zealand. Soon after arriving in NZ Glen did a short course in Metal sculpting where he discovered a love for doing dancing human forms in ribbon like metal.

He continued his love for nature and gardening and did a dipoma in Lanscape design, where he speacializes in designing Wild Natural gardens. He also learnt how to use Blender to make Digital Augmented Reality Sculptures which can also be made into metal and are ideal in helping people to visualise his sculptures before they are made in metal.

He loves surfing and often wondered what the plentiful driftwood on the beaches in NZ looked like if sanded and sealed and is enjoying making these into sculptures as well.

The journey continues...