Local artist realizes his childhood dreams via art

A dancing cow, two 12-foot lions and a 200-pound bobcat are among the imaginative, three-dimensional works of art by Jeff Brundege Studio in Rogersville.

A native Springfieldian, artist Jeff Brundege's childhood dream was to work as an artist for Disney. Last summer Brundege completed a commission for a series of resin castings to adorn the new Disney hotel in Anaheim, Calif.

His latest commission is an interactive time capsule for the Wonders of Wildlife Museum. This large bronze sculpture de-picts a bobcat sleeping on a bed of leaves, surrounded by a turtle, chipmunk, snail and other denizens of the forest floor. Children will place objects for preservation in the time capsule by opening a hidden panel. When they open the door to place the items, the bobcat will "wake up" and its eyes will open.

"Some people call what I do, fine art,'" Brundege said. "I always wanted to be an artist." Brundege added that when he was a student at Glendale High School, his parents sometimes worried that he "painted too much." He won a blue ribbon for one of his paintings at the Ozark Empire Fair, majored in art at Southwest Missouri State University, and went to Kansas City to work as an illustrator for underground newspapers and magazines, such as the Kansas City Screw.

It was in Kansas City that he met an unknown artist named Frank Joy.

"Joy led a tragic life, but his work was academically perfect. He lacked basic life skills, but he showed me my direction," Brundege said.

Brundege left Kansas City and moved to New York City with the intention of illustrating children's books.

Out of economical necessity, Brun-dege said, he converted a warehouse loft on Wall Street to serve as a combination studio and living quarters.

"I was a hillbilly living in a society of renters. When something went wrong they called a super.' I fixed it myselfanything. This practicality as a survival skill put me in demand to do loft conversions for others. Soon, renovations took precedence over the books," he said

Eventually, he moved back to Spring-field, but his experience in renovations and using wood in New York shaped a new direction for his art. He began adding carved designs to one-of-a-kind furniture pieces and custom cabinetry.

His childhood dreams were born of a desire to "make magic things," and he incorporated that desire into functioning works of art. From beds to display cases, most of his creations include elements of whimsy and magic.

Brundege works in bronze, wood, plaster, resin and ivory. Some of his more visible works include the 12-foot lions which guard the entrance of John Q. Hammons' Grand Palace Hotel in Myrtle Beach, N.C., Maggie Moo, the dancing cow at the Crown Center in Kansas City, 25 fireplace surrounds depicting Ozark scenery and wildlife at Big Cedar Lodge south of Branson, and the voluptuous mermaids adorning the food bar at Hem-ingway's Restaurant in Bass Pro Shops.

"Who would have believed an art movement sprung from a bait shop? (Bass Pro) is the Medici's of Spring-field," Brundege said, adding, "Art needs to pull you in, entertain you. The success of places like Disney and Bass Pro is that they know their audience who they're entertaining."

Other clients have included actor Alec Guinness, retired futures broker Horace Greeley IV, and Joshua Leindorff, son of the late Eric Leindorff, who was a conductor for the Boston Philharmonics.

"Life as an artist the fun of it is waking up on a friend's couch, having breakfast at a greasy spoon, and that night you're the honored guest at someone's mansion," Brundege said.

Brundege said word-of-mouth references and his contacts keep him busy with his art.

Basically a one-man studio, Brundege has what he calls an art emergency crew various artists he calls in to help meet deadlines.

This informal group of trained and untrained individuals help with backup support, from building shipping crates to executing the details of Brundege's designs.

"For many people, the American dream is to work for yourself," said Brundege. "What only a few people realize is that this idyllic lifestyle' is ... a lot of work."

Home in a castle

Brundege's childhood dreams also included the certain knowledge that he would someday live in a castle. In 1971, Brundege bought a two-bedroom farm house in Rogersville. That original homestead is now part of a complex of stucco structures that, according to Brundege, qualifies as an American castle and serves as home and studios for himself and his wife, Alicia, a Spring-field art teacher.

"Three-dimensional art is engineering," Brundege said. Brundege has re-made an ordinary home into a magic kingdom with crenellated battlements, winding staircases, gargoyles and private spaces. Move the arm on a sarcophagus and the bathroom door opens; step through a small archway and enter a medieval sanctuary; round a corner and view the painted face of the Madonna covering an entire wall.

A student of history through art, Brun-dege said that the old castles in Europe often became monasteries after the lords moved out. When those same structures fell into ruins they became known as spiritual sites, or "follies." He has tried to recreate that archetype "one man's endeavor to create a magnificent structure," on his own land. Brundege and his wife hope that someone will preserve their place as an artistic site after they are gone.

What concerns Brundege is the movement in Springfield education to reduce the amount of time children spend in art and music at school in order for "at-risk" students to spend more time on reading. "Reading, writing and 'rithmetic are not the whole equation," said Brundege. "Arts help at-risk' students. The arts are not recreational. Utensils, clothes, cars, houses are products of artists. The most famous and successful people to come from this area are artists and performers. Why cut our greatest asset?" he said.