George Hicks, sculptor, painter
Hyfler/Rosner
November 4, 2003 Tuesday Home Edition
WOODSTOCK: George Hicks, sculptor, painter
BYLINE: KAY POWELL
George Hicks expressed his artistry in photo-realistic wildlife paintings,
sculpted figures of Victorian women and bronze dog statuettes.
The Vietnam War veteran worked a variety of jobs, and art was the constant
in his life. His dog statuettes, which he called "Tail Waggers," were sold
to raise money to support the Cherokee County Humane Society.
"He loved wildlife and the outdoors and liked photo-realistic art," said his
son, Doug Hicks of Canton, also an artist. "Painting is how he got started,
and he was more of a fine art painter using mixed media, acrylics mixed with
Prismacolor, colored pencil. He was from the old school of artists. He
didn't use computers; he altered images with air brush retouching."
The memorial service for Mr. Hicks, 62, of Woodstock, who died of leukemia
Friday at Northside Hospital, is 2 p.m. Wednesday at Hickory Flat United
Methodist Church. The body was cremated. Woodstock Funeral Home is in charge
of arrangements.
After his stint in the Air Force, the Orlando native operated a wholesale
nursery in Cumming, worked for oil companies, then managed the warehouse for
his father-in-law's commercial acoustical dry wall ceiling company, said his
son.
In the past four years, he moved into sculpting at his home studio and
workshop. He created a series of Victorian women because the details of the
dresses were fun for him, said his son.
"The dog thing got pretty big," said his son. "People saw his bronze statues
of dogs and asked him to do a statue of their dog. He did dog portraits,
too."
In 2000, Mr. Hicks donated $5 from every Tail Wagger, which sold from $15 to
$30, to the Cherokee County Humane Society. "I wanted to contribute to a
worthy cause with my art," he said in a 2000 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
article. When his children left home, Mr. Hicks bought a corgi, Lance, for
his wife, but the dog adopted him, said his son.
Survivors include his wife, Annette Hicks; a daughter, Stacie Smith of
Canton; five sisters, Martha Prescott, Peggy Warga, Dorothy Kelly and Ruth
Madden, all of Orlando, and Barbara Layton of Deltona, Fla.; and two
grandchildren.
GRAPHIC: Photo: Sculptor George Hicks works on a figurine in his Woodstock
studio in this March 2000 photograph. / FRANK NIEMEIR / Staff