A Missoula sculptor’s diary: Tiles, waterfowl and fragile things

The word “journal” conjures up a specific image. Maybe a hardbound diary, or the Notes app on a phone. What would a sculptor’s journal look like?

Joe Godfrey, an artist who recently graduated from the University of Montana, has one example. Think of tiles of wood-fired clay, preserved in corroded scrap metal frames like relics or an abstract painting. The pieces in his exhibition, “The Way Out is Through,” were part of a daily exercise to make art — tiles, cups or casts of birds — while his time in school was coming to a close and he’d lose access to all its equipment and the people.

“It honestly started as not knowing what to make and feeling that pressure of a limited amount of time,” he said.

Joe Godfrey, a sculptor and recent University of Montana grad, stands next to “Precarious,” a wood-fired porcelain and steel flamingo, at his show “The Way Out is Through” at Lovechild Gallery in Missoula on Friday, Sept. 8.

ANTONIO IBARRA OLIVARES, Missoulian

A wall sculpture, “Holding Pattern,” includes casts of duck decoys, flamingos and cups,

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