I recently gifted the Edmonds Waterfront Center with an edition of my sculpture, Joie de Vivre. The sculpture was previously sited on Main Street in Edmonds, but it’s location was not ideal. With the donation of the sculpture, the Edmonds Waterfront Center chose to have me install Joie de Vivre on a rock plinth with the figure facing the water. It’s a perfect location for an image of a little perched on a rock with her arms outstretched and the breeze blowing through her hair and skirt.
The sculpture was dedicated on Aptil 25 with about fifty people in attendance. At the dedication, my granddaughter, Abby, who was the inspiration for the sculpture, was present. She was 4 years old when I sculpted her and she is now 13. During my comments, I related how, at the time that I was sculpting the piece, Abby was living up on Lopez Island and would come down periodically with her family for visits. On those occasions, I would have her come into my studio and pose for me. As a 4 year old though, she could only briefly stand still for the pose–even with bribes of ice cream. Soon, she would have to leave for their return to the island. As the clay sculpture neared completion, I asked Abby what she thought of it. She replied, “It doesn’t look like me, Papa.” I shrugged and had to agree that there were some changes that I should make. Having made the changes, I would then ask her what she thought of it. Again, she replied, “it doesn’t look like me”. On several more return visits, her verdict was the same. I finally said, “Abby, I think it looks like you and I am going to take it to the foundry to have it cast in bronze. Her reply was, “Well, it still doesn’t look like me!” After the sculpture was cast in bronze, I brought it home. On Abby’s next visit, she took a look at the sculpture and exclaimed, “Papa, it looks like me!” I was puzzled and said to her, “Abby, this bronze is identical to the clay original. Why does it suddenly look like you?” She replied, “because it’s shiny!”
Abby still possesses that sunny disposition. Her spirited nature is infectious and that is what I endeavored to depict in the sculpture. The result is an image of a child filled with joy that invites us to experience that joy ourselves.
