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Buntin commissioned to design sculpture for Ireland’s annual Leprechaun Hunt

Troy artist Kevin Buntin’s mind is constantly set to the “on” position—totally unbridled in a state of perpetual creation as he processes the world, finding art in the most unlikely of places. Using the ancient Greek practice of personifying inanimate objects by imagining them with souls, Buntin has created entire series and intricate storylines surrounding his figurative sculptures. The uniqueness and unforgettable nature of his pieces have earned Buntin international attention, drawing buyers from all over the world, often allowing him the chance to interact with his customers and learn just what it was that connected them with his art.

“I got a suit of armor from a princess,” Buntin declared incredulously while speaking about one of his first overseas buyers.

The princess, a daughter of a Kuwaiti sheikh, had suffered grotesque abuse while growing up, and despite the wealth and power of her family, she had no one to protect her. She found Buntin’s work on MySpace many years ago while she was in her mid-twenties, and began commissioning more and more of Buntin’s pieces until she began a regular customer. Much time passed before she confessed to Buntin that she was a Muslim princess and then confided in him and told him of her horrendous childhood. She told Buntin that she regarded the figures he sculpted for her as her protectors—whimsical beings that could somehow shield her from the gross abuses she had suffered as a child.

“She told me I was her knight by making all these creatures that protected her,” Buntin said, noting that it is still difficult to talk about without becoming choked up.

Buntin said he remained in regular correspondence with the Kuwaiti princess until she met her husband and became pregnant after many years of trying, due to the abuse she’d suffered when she was a child. Without his knowledge, the princess shipped a real suit of armor to Buntin’s house, likely to symbolize her regard for him as a protective knight, and not long after that, he stopped hearing from her.

Buntin said if his purpose was to provide the princess a sense of protection until she found her own real-life champion in her husband, that he was proud to have served her in her time of need, although he would still like to hear from her again someday.

This connection with his audience is something Buntin purposely strives for—intentionally creating pieces that are approachable, comprehendible, and not so abstract that they cannot be appreciated. With pieces inspired by folklore, fantasy, horror, and sci-fi genres, his figures are quite unlike the vast majority of art dolls on today’s market, however, the soulful nature of each character shines through in bold style, making Buntin’s pieces truly unforgettable.

His Gourd Lord series features whimsical creatures created from real gourds, with each character having its own tale that commingles with Buntin’s grand storyline for the Gourd Lord series. Each piece of Buntin’s artwork is supported or inspired by mythology or folklore. Buntin said he take bits and pieces of fairy tales, folk tales, and European mythology as the foundation for the stories he concocts and then brings to life through sculptures.

“I refer to myself as a three-dimensional storyteller,” Buntin said.

Because he cannot grow his own gourds at his suburban Troy home due to pesky squirrels, Buntin obtains the gourds for the Gourd Lord series at Fulton Farms, noting that some of the Fultons have married into his wife’s family, who now allow him to go out into the fields and select his own gourds. Also an active proponent of supporting local businesses, Buntin takes pride in knowing where his gourds were grown.

“It’s funny—everyone else is looking for the smoothest, cleanest ones, and I’m out there searching for the ones with the most warts,” he said, noting that he can identify the “souls” of the misfit gourds easier than those with smooth round features.

Buntin is now a featured artist at a Michigan art show that exclusively features Halloween-themed pieces. He said that the Ghoultide Gathering held in Chelsea, Michigan is the ultimate Halloween collector’s destination, noting what an honor it was to be selected as a featured artist among the caliber of other artists selected for the show—all of whom are hand-picked by the show’s creator.

Buntin said the Ghoultide Gathering provides him a “paid excuse” to continue creating the Gourd Lords, as buyers snatch them up quickly. The gathering is a Halloween collector’s equivalent of Comic Con, with avid collectors sleeping in their cars the previous night so they can be first in line and get to their desired artist before anyone else. Buntin said buyers can be somewhat vicious about the pieces that speak to them, often snatching sculptures out of someone else’s hand who cannot make a decision on their purchase. Many buyers are attracted to the Gourd Lord line, which is centered around a family farm that grows whimsical items such as Christmas trees that are born with light strands attached, and pumpkins that come out of the ground already carved and illuminated by candles. The Gourd Lords, human-like figures with real gourd heads, vary in appearance and temperament, Buntin said, depending upon which side of the fictional patch they came from. Buntin said that in this storyline, the whimsical crops grow at Holiday’s Farm, which is based very loosely on a family farm just like Fulton’s.

The gourd figures are created through a complicated process that mimics the structure of the human body, complete with an internal foundation, or skeleton, crafted with specific materials chosen for their ability to imitate joint movement, as many of Buntin’s pieces are able to be posed.

Beginning with a non-ferrous metal skeleton, he then adds a layer of plumber’s putty to replicate the motion of human joints and to act as bone support, making sure that each figure is able to stand and support its own weight, even if it is designed to be sitting. He then adds the outer layer, made of epoxy clay, which cures as he works with it, meaning that it will set without having to be fired in a kiln.

Once the creature has come to life, Buntin’s work is not complete, as he also designs and creates their clothes.

“I’m definitely in the minority of art doll designers,” Buntin said. “There are very few guys who do this—most of them are women.”

He stressed that he is almost completely self-taught in each of his many mediums, explaining that he’s had to rely on his own ingenuity (and sometimes Google) for instruction on more difficult tasks.

He has worked professionally in art for about 15 years now, and has been working at it full-time for the past ten years. Two years ago, he was tapped by marketers in Ireland who implored him to create a sculpture for the city’s famous leprechaun hunt. Carlingford, Ireland has been recognized as the home of Europe’s last-remaining leprechaun, and each year the city hosts a leprechaun hunt as a large-scale method of promoting tourism to the region.

The marketers tapped Buntin after finding one of his leprechauns on a Google search, and asked him to create one for them that would serve as Carlingford’s official leprechaun to be stalked during the hunt. Buntin said the marketers have been persistent in their demand for commissioning the piece, and after confirming that it was not a scam, Buntin agreed, and will begin working on the Carlingford leprechaun.

Buntin has also been receiving his share of press for his works, doing several magazine interviews from home and abroad, saying he’s still adjusting to the newfound attention and admitting how amused he was by the reporter’s accent from an English magazine who called for an interview.

With pieces displayed in a Canton gallery and attracting global attention through his social media pages, his vivid artistic vision would have likely remained dormant if it were not for the urgings of his wife Tina, who Buntin considers to be his muse.

He’d always been fascinated by folk tales and fanciful stories as a child, often creating his own characters out of clay to accompany his action figures, but after graduating high school, Buntin said he gave up on his artistic pursuits as he believed they would get him nowhere in life. He worked several factory jobs and other entry-level positions for years before Tina recognized his despondence at not being able to satisfy his creative needs and asked him what he wanted to do with his life in order to be happy.

“I had given up so much at that time that I didn’t even know what I wanted to do anymore,” Buntin said. “Then I remembered that at one time, I wanted to be a writer and a sculptor.”

At Tina’s insistence, Buntin took a few art classes at Edison College before the cost of tuition became too much, although he said he was able to learn several technical concepts that he still employs today.

One of Buntin’s largest and most well-known pieces, a giant titled “Elias the Valley Strider,” is based on European mythology, and also serves as a metaphor for Buntin’s artistic reawakening. Rolling hills line many European landscapes, with folk tales describing the origin of the great hills as ancient giants who laid down to sleep and never woke back up.

“I considered what would happen if those giants did wake back up,” Buntin said, likening Elias’ awakening to the artistic giant that had lied dormant within his own soul.

Buntin prides himself not only on creating comprehendible pieces of art, but for connecting with his audience as well. He encouraged anyone with interest in his art to reach out to him on his Facebook page, The World of Kevin Buntin, asking that people send him a message with any questions about his art, stressing that he responds personally, without relying on any agents or handlers.

“I never thought I would connect with people the way I have,” Buntin said when asked to name the most rewarding aspect of his work. “Being able to say I’m making money at it now is great, I won’t lie about that, but the connection people seem to have with it—it’s incredibly rewarding.”