About

Thank you for visiting my site.  My name is Lawrence Juniper,

I am an American artist residing in the Mission District of San Francisco, California. Born in Jacksonville, Florida and raised near the Everglades and in Puerto Rico, I moved to California on my 18th birthday. My ancestors were Cherokee, Scotch, Irish and English and I come from a long line of saddle makers and leather workers. I surfed, raced wild horses as a boy, traversing the woods and hills, and took up the traditional ways of taking care of life – hunting, gathering, farming, homesteading, making and tending nature’s bountiful resources. I appreciate the indigenous way of seeing, feeling and living on Mother Earth, and these influences can be seen in my work. I find that people are hungry for a connection to the source of life and are drawn to my art as much for a touch of this powerfully creative life force as for the beauty of each piece.

The inspiration for my art comes from nature and the Great Mystery. Once I get the vision for a new form I am not at peace until I am working on it. I get completely caught up in each new piece, as it becomes a fount of wisdom and for prayer, speaking to me and inhabiting my dream time. I am usually working on several pieces at one time. I may have a large piece of marble going at the studio and then be working on a more mobile piece in town, plus be making molds and doing some smaller jewelry pieces or leather work at home. Carving is not only a passion for me, it’s like breathing; I have to do it.

I maintain my garden and studio in Bolinas, California (on the Marin Coast) but these days I am often found carving and teaching carving street side in my Mission neighborhood. The contact with neighbors, city life and art lovers, after 30 years of carving in solitude, is nourishing in a whole new way. I am mostly self-taught, and especially love to carve marble, but also enjoy granite, wood, jade, silver and leather. I make many of my own tools, household furnishings and clothing.