The Images are endearingly familiar: a boy running through a plaza filled with birds. A young girl prancing in a party dress and new shoes. A child choosing a pet dog for his own. Moments of everyday pleasures that form the fabric of life have become the raison d’être for sculptor Howard Jason who has devoted the devoted the last few years translating the innocent joy of children into bronze.

As a boy living in Southern California, Jason developed a fascination with marine life, which would eventually form a major portion of his life’s work. Following his graduation from Otis-Parsons Art Institute and post-graduate study at the Pasadena Art Center, Jason began working alongside his father, famed sculptor Mario Jason in the foundry. Concentrating on marine life, Jason’s reputation for creating works of unerring detail quickly began to build. “Daydream in Blue”, a massive sculpture of five dolphins leaping from the water was immediately acquired by a private collector in 1994, leading the way to public commissions for universities and museums. Before he turned 30, Howard Jason was invited to show three sculptures at the Mystic Maritime Museum in Mystic, Connecticut.

In 1997, Jason’s focus began to reflect a new interest in children. Recently married and then a new father, Jason began sculpting life-size figures depicting young girls and boys caught up in moments of play. Keenly aware of this own happy childhood, Jason’s work brilliantly captures the subtle playfulness and curiosity of children. These sculptures, like those he has done of marine life, share an extraordinary vivacity as well as a respectful attention to the mystery of the subject’s interior lives.

Since 1997, Howard Jason has received numerous commissions from both private and public collectors. In addition to “Puppy Love” which stands at the entrance to Michael Jackson’s “Neverland Ranch”, Jason recently completed three monumental commissions: A fourteen foot sculpture of five dolphins for a private collector in Houston, Texas: a life-sized figurative sculpture for Bakersfield College, Bakersfield, California and a sculpture of three children for a family in Las Vegas, Nevada. Howard and his father Mario Jason are also completing a commission for the Nevada Dance Theater, which will fuse their signature styles: Three young children trying to mimic the actions of two principal dancers in flight.