Ted Bayer grew up in the Midwest. After graduating from the University of Illinois, he received his M.D. degree from Loyola University of Chicago. Ted has lived in the bay area since 1977, raising his family of three children, practicing emergency medicine, and devoting much of his other time to artistic pursuits. He began seriously studying sculpture in 1994, concentrating first on ceramic sculpture, then moving primarily to the creation of stone works of art in 1996. Initially Ted sculpted white Carrara marble using hand tools only, but now he most often uses power tools to carve larger and more complex pieces of marble, alabaster, calcite, and other colorful stones.

Ted first visited Italy in 1997 and now travels there every few years to work in the marble carving studios of Pietrasanta, where he initially learned measuring techniques using both point machines and calipers to adapt clay or plaster models (maquettes) to aid in perfecting the stone sculpture itself. At the end of these journeys he ships home both partially finished sculptures and unfinished stones to complete in his home studio in El Cerrito, California.

The day I made my first sculpture, I suspected I was going to be hooked for life. That was 11 years ago, and today I am even more convinced that I am very fortunate to be doing something that I so enjoy. I love creating art, and to be able to begin with a simple stone and shape it in a way that transforms it to a beautiful finished work of art from the basic material is intensely exciting. Every time I start a new work a whole new adventure awaits me.