#13 Highland Park, IL show-"Rachel", "Nude Study I"

For the last few days I've been juggling 5 different projects at my studio and all of them with approaching deadlines. The most recent one is getting two of my 12x12 reliefs ready for shipping to a juried show in Illinois. This will be the first time I've exhibited my reliefs to the public so I'm excited to see if anything happens. "Rachel" and "Nude Study I" are plaster originals 12"x12" that I will have for sale at the Illinois show November 4-December 22.

#12 relief sculptures

In the last few weeks I have felt the urge to expand my portfolio to include reliefs. This came about after talking with someone in the cemetery business who was saying that the popular way to memorialize someone is laser etching, not the traditional sculpted relief which has been around since forever. Laser etching is a process that takes an existing photograph and etches in exact detail onto a black granite headstone. In my opinion, it is cheap and unattractive and very representative of technology that cannot replicate what the human hand achieves-beauty. As much sophistication as our technology is, it still fails to prove to me and many others that it is has the ability to match the human touch. Of course, it is incredibly popular and it seems that every headstone that has some design on it has a laser etched image of the deceased. The problem that I see is that every single headstone is starting to look the same. Black granite with a highly rendered image. The other stones are not being used because black granite allows for the necessary contrast between the polished black surface and the etched part which is much lighter. The other stones would produce little or no contrast so they are not being used. So in a sense all of these headstones are looking the same. What I am hoping for in the future is for people to start to recognize that traditionally carved monuments or bronze plaques that are hand sculpted become more appreciated as they provide more options than what our technology can currently produce. Lets say that someone wants a portrait, but not flat, but slightly raised. Perhaps they want it raised another one inch. Perhaps they want a high relief. These are options a highly trained artisan can create, not a machine. It means that someone can have black granite or white marble. It will mean more cemeteries will have unique headstones and statues made of bronze and stone and will be beautiful as they once were before technology made them all ugly and monotonous.

So for the last few weeks I have been spending some time doing reliefs. I have done, to date, 6 of them and I have been very excited at each of them. I've casted a few in plaster and polished. Here is the last one I did, it is 12"x12" and shown in clay. It is actually not round, but square and I used photoshop to make it round so I'm not all against technology.

#11 Broomfield, CO Art for Awhile program and Green Thumb

In a couple of weeks I'll be placing my 4 1/2 foot tall garden gnome called "Green Thumb" with the city of Broomfield's art for awhile program. It is a one year art on loan program that was started in 2009. Nine sculptors were selected to display their works for one year and this will be the first art on loan program I have been involved in. I'm very excited about the opportunity and feel fortunate to have been selected. The sculpture will go just outside of the newly completed library near an open field. I will put pics up as soon as it is installed.

#10 letting creativity flow

You never know what people will like. When I was a few years younger and making art I had the idea that I had to do just one thing and be known for one style. So I consciously focused on one thing and when my mom would ask if I could do a portrait I would say no, it's not my thing mom. Usually it ended with a -sheesh at the end. Mom taught me many many things which shaped my artistic goals and vision. To this day, I ask her about ideas and business and listen, sometimes wishing I hadn't even asked. But her words have always rung true. 

It was earlier this year that I started seeing that I wanted to start working on larger projects. I wasn't landing commissions so I figured I'll just start making large sculptures that I feel like making, kind of a 'what the f..k' attitude. I decided to do whatever I felt like doing and this was sort of new to me. I was doing what I wanted in the past, but I think I was still limiting myself artistically. What naturally came out of my sometimes twisted and backwards mind was garden gnomes. I have not seen much of this done and I had been observing the artwork of one of my favorite illustrators of faeries and gnomes, Arthur Rackham. The gnomes, in particular, have fascinated me because of their mischievous personalities and the potential for storytelling. I own several of Rackham's books that he illustrated and after studying his paintings I got the inspiration to sculpt some of these little creatures that he was painting. I didn't blatantly copy his works directly, but took the essence of his gnomes and put it in clay. Rackham is a huge influence on the garden gnome series I started. The result was my first in the gnome series called "Green Thumb". This little guy is a gardener. He is the gardener of little milk thistle weeds that make him smile and throw his arms into the air as if to say 'success!' To me he is saying more than that. I think of him as saying 'success' that I have branched out to try something entirely new. He is saying to my mom 'see! See what just happened!'

Having recently embraced this attitude of expanding myself and in a sense planting seeds in many areas of the arts I have learned to let go and not care what others think. Art is about growing, not proving myself to others. 

Another example of this is in the movie "Yes Man" with Jim Carrey. Possibly one of his best movies. It is the story of a lonely man who lives a boring life until he experiences the life changing conference he attends that asks him to experience life saying yes to everything. He embraces life and life begins to change very rapidly for him and all for the better. He pretty much goes along with whatever is thown his way. This is the philosophy that I am trying to express. Going along with whatever it is that I feel like doing. 

A friend, fellow artist and inspiration to me is a wonderfully talented sculptor named Bets. Bets has also planted a few seeds in me about ideas that I am thrilled to even think about. For a long time I have wanted to do some kind of an art instructional book for artists. I have been kind of stuck with the idea and haven't thought much about it until Bets told me I need to do a simple 20 page booklet on basic sculpting, one that I can simply print out on my own computer. She said if I were to teach a 1 week course what would I teach. This got my mind going like a semi truck racing down a steep hill out of control- holy c..p!!!! I also had the encouragement and support of another talented sculptor Pam. Pam said she would purchase it as soon as I finished it. And the both of them fed me ideas that have simply made my mind swell with inspiration. Now, I can't say when I will get to this instructional booklet, but it is brewing in me and the inside of it is making more and more sense in my mind. 

I believe doing this book will also lead to another of my passions that I have really wanted to do for about 5 years, making an ecorche. It is a sculpture with the skin removed showing the superficial anatomy of the human form. I have worked from ecorches over the last 13 years, some good and some bad and would like to do one that I think artists need. I believe the ecorche and the instructional booklet will actually happen since embracing what mom had been trying to tell me for so many years 'let go of yourself and do what feels right'. Thanks mom! 

#9 art on loan

Earlier this year I was pondering if I should involve myself with art on loan programs that are popping up in many cities in Colorado like grandma's bermuda grass sprouts up in her garden. I decided I might as well be on board. I was initially against the idea thinking that it would lessen the likelihood of a public art commission becoming available because a city would instead be investing in these art on loan programs which means they get a lot of art on city property for approximately one year at a time and therefore will spend less on commissioning an artist for a single work of art (phewwwwwww). It is really too good of an idea and I was vehemently against it (vehemently-geeeez, I'm never using big words). Well, I'm my wisdom I've learned it is wise to not be against anything, but rather for something. I thought what was I for. I was for getting public art commissions. Why? To make a living. Why? So I can do what I love to do. Why? So I can, wait a minute! Well, my conclusion was I wasn't landing s..t as far as public art commissions so why not be gung ho for the other team. Besides it may be beneficial to have artwork with a city art on loan that way they can see if they like my work first rather than blindingly selecting an artist for a project. It got me thinking. Maybe this is why there is so much unappealing public artworks because it is hard to visualize how someone's proposal will look. Committee's are only seeing 8 1/2x11 proposals on a 2-d surface or 3-d maquettes at 1/12 the scale of the proposed piece. The art on loans offer something else. They introduce an existing artwork to the public for scrutinizing. If it doesn't pass it is ignored and the city hands the sculpture back and says 'see ya, wouldn't wanna be ya'. If it is a hit, the artist finds himself with some new friends and possibly a sale and some good publicity. While it is a financial investment to make a large sculpture it seems to be worthwhile in an ever increasing field of self titled 'experts' in the field in order to stand out above the rest. I feel that I am doing larger pieces because I want people and art committees to see that there is still something new that can be done with the human figure using traditional skills. There is some kind of movement going on and eventually they will listen. To me, it seems that everyone and their brother are applying for public art commissions and many of these commissions seem to be geared for the abstract I-beam artists. I'm not bitter, but I've realized that I'm becoming less and less against something and more and more for something and the art on loan can be the vehicle to express what I'm for. The something I am for is the new return to realism, to traditional skills. It is becoming more and more widespread as people are tired of explaining the concept behind the round rustic steel ball on the stainless steel teeter totter. We get it, art can be anything, a toilet bowl with R. Mutt or a decaying human hand in a glass box. But where is the beauty in that? Where is the beauty? Art, traditionally is about beauty. Modern art seems to be challenging that while all the traditional artworks have silently said 'ok, go ahead, we don't mind it being art'. But now, traditional art is breathing again. It is like it is saying 'f..k this!' I am following some of the realist artists in New York and Los Angeles and greatly admire their works and notice that some of them are creating movements of their own in response to the last 100 years of art history. It is with the greatest joy that I see a Jeremy Lipking painting or a Bruno Lucchesi sculpture. These artists are keeping alive the vision artists from the pre-Rodin's era had. Actually they aren't keeping alive, they are revitalizing art and inspiring young generations to create and challenge themselves in so many ways. As I've aged I've realized that today is a unique era in art history with a pluralism of styles. There are so many things going on it is mind blowing, but underneath it I am feeling and sensing a return to the beautiful. And oddly enough I am connecting the art on loan programs to this. For me it is a way to showcase my talent, but also to educate America that there is good artwork here. It is not just in Europe. It is starting to pop up here and there like, hmmmm, like my grandma's bermuda grass I suppose some might say. Recently I had the opportunity to introduce the art on loan program to a city in California who had never heard of such a thing. I was asked to write a one page description and so I did and this is how it reads:

Art is an important part of our lives. Sculpture, in particular, plays a large role in our upbringing as we grow from child to adult. Many of us can remember seeing the Statue of Liberty, the David, Mount Rushmore and on and on. These colossal monuments shape peoples lives. So do the smaller and lesser known works that one sees while visiting a neighboring art community. A child and an adult will certainly remember seeing an egghead on campus or a large blue bear peeking in a building. These sculptures bring out the child in us all and inspire us to look deeper into our own self for what is possible. They make us laugh, cry, think and admire all the while absorbing the vision that the artist had. 

Recently there is a new trend in displaying public art sculptures which benefit both the sculptor and the entity funding the display. It is the art on loan (although there are many other names it goes by "Sculpture Walk", "Art on the Corner", etc etc). In Colorado there are quite a few cities which have developed their own art on loan program based on some of the successful ones that have been around for 20 or more years. It has also sprouted up in Wyoming, Utah and South Dakota. Essentially what this art on loan is is an outdoor gallery of sculpture temporary displayed on city property for the duration of one year. 

How it works: To get started the city designates several locations for the placement of the sculpture (dependent on their budget) and issues a call to artists. For a successful art on loan program the city needs to supply the location for the sculptures and permanently mount a steel base to the concrete (the city supplies this). Sculptures are mounted to a steel base (the artist supplies this) and these two steel bases are welded together to prevent theft. When a sculpture is ready to be removed the city grinds the welds to release the sculpture. Once the dates are decided on a call to artists is issued and the city selects the winning sculptures. The initial setup (payable to the sculptor) can cost anywhere between $500-1500 per sculpture, and these sculptures are made available for purchase. When a sale is made, a portion of the sale goes to the city that sponsored the program (similar setup to a fine art gallery), generally around 10-20%. The sculpture is then either A) moved to it's new home and replaced with another of the sculptors inventory or B) remains at the location until the duration of the year. 

A successful art on loan program benefits a city without the cost of purchasing or commissioning an artist for a permanent outdoor display.  It is an inexpensive way for a city to improve upon the look of the community and provides great exposure for an artist to show his/her work to the public. It is a win-win for both parties involved! 

#8 She Loves Me will have a new home

I'm thrilled to have sold my sculpture She Loves Me to a woman I met at the 2011 Loveland Sculpture show. The sculpture will be placed in an Inn west of Denver and I am quite excited and can't wait to see it installed. The buyer will be pouring a concrete pad in the next few weeks and it'll be placed in a small garden with flowers, a perfect setting! The inn also has a few other artwork that is faery related so this garden gnome will make plenty of friends out there. I am curious who he will be falling in love with so I will have to check back periodically to get updates. Actually me and Jessica stayed at their 'tree house' and it was a very pleasant stay. The tree house is the inn's prized possession and it is three stories of magically designed architecture and interior decorating. We both hope to go back often to stay their. I'll post pix of the sculpture after installation which should take place in the next month or two.

#7 Memorial for a young woman

Jessica reminded me that I haven't done a blog in quite a while and when I asked for her advice on subject matter she said don't you have a project you want to say something about. And that I do. Soon after shipping 12 sculptures for the 2011 Hostfest I started on my next project. I was contacted through someone I know a couple of months ago and asked if I'd be interested in doing a memorial for a young woman who passed on 2 years ago. After meeting with the client and going over some numbers we began. The project is for a fairly large and old cemetery, dating back to around 1880. It'll be located at the corner near one of the main entrances. The woman who is commissioning me wants to have snowboarding gear in bronze decorating the recently completed garden. It, being an old and traditional cemetery, will make for a unique memorial. In fact there is only one other memorial that stands out in the 300 acres of traditional headstones and occasional bronze statue and it incorporates water and plants with a bronze cross. This memorial will be just as beautiful without the water and cross. The client and I are both very excited at how things are shaping up. The snowboarding gear is now being molded so I hope to have it installed by Christmas of this year. It will be situated in the center of the rocks as if the young woman was putting her gear there while taking a break. While this is a project which doesn't require a figure it is actually quite enjoyable and I've gotten to listen to many wonderful stories of her life. How quickly life is for some, vanished into the night but not forgotten.