Two NEW sculptures need titles!

Currently, both sculptures are in clay, but are about to be cast in bronze.

The first sculpture is of a female dancer in mid-flight, exhibiting a sense of freedom and exhilaration.   What would you name her?  

Suggest a title.  If I like your suggestion and decide to use the name, you will be offered a 25% discount from the retail price of the finished bronze sculpture!*

*Offer is good until I have provided you with the opportunity to view the sculpture in bronze.

My second new work is pictured below and also needs a title.

It’s an image  of a male dancer who is lunging forward, demonstrating both power and restraint.

What would you name him?

If you are in town, join us for the Edmonds Arts Studio Tour on Saturday and Sunday, September 16 and 17 from 10 am-5 pm.  The free self-guided tour is a once a year opportunity to visit 18 private studios and 5 galleries displaying the work of 31 local artists in the scenic Edmonds area. You can purchase finished work, see new art being created, or just visit and ask questions.   Download the map and take the tour!

Stop by my studio #11 and view two of my newly completed bronze sculptures, which here are seen in clay.

La Donna e’ Mobile

Infinite Moment

  Joie de Vivre in Auburn, WA

Visitors and residents of Auburn who visited the Outdoor Sculpture Gallery in Auburn, WA voted Joie de Vivre People’s Choice.  The sculpture has been on loan for one year as part of Auburn’s Outdoor Sculpture Gallery.  After it was selected as the people’s favorite, the City of Auburn committed to purchasing the sculpture and make it part of their permanent collection.

YES! wins 2nd Place

YES! receives award. I was pleased to discover that my sculpture entitled YES! received 2nd Place in the Juried Art Gallery for Three Dimensional Works at the Edmonds Arts Festival. If you are in town this weekend, enjoy a three-day festival in Edmonds celebrating the arts where attendees can view and purchase original art, enjoy free entertainment, celebrate our talented youth, and sample great food. During the festival, you can view award-winning art inside the Anderson Center where three galleries showcase juried fine art from more than 200 area artists. Shown are paintings, prints, drawings, photography, sculpture, and three dimensional artworks. Awards are given to the highest ranked art pieces in each media category and the prize winning pieces are acknowledged in each gallery. All art inside the galleries is offered for sale. Visit the Juried Art Galleries and see my sculpture in the three dimensional works gallery. June 16-18. Friday and Saturday 10 am – 8 pm, Sunday 10 am – 6 pm. 700 Main St., Edmonds, WA. http://www.edmondsartsfestival.com/juried-gallery/

Yesterday, I visited the Terracotta Warriors Exhibit in Seattle.  The show is the first such exhibit ever outside China and is on display for only 5 months before traveling to Philadelphia.  It is an awesome show, particularly because of the way the life size clay sculptures are displayed and the dramatic lighting that highlights each sculpture.   If you live in or near Seattle or will be visiting the area before Labor Day, catch the World Premiere at Seattle’s Pacific Science Center, April 8-September 4, 2017.

The Terracotta Warriors are a collection of terracotta sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China. They are a form of funeral art that was buried with people of influence in ancient China. The first Emperor of China (210–209 BC) was buried with the Terracotta Warriors to protect him in the afterlife.  

BACKGROUND: There were about 8,000 life size statues of soldiers buried along with the emperor.  Most of the statues measure 5 feet 11 inches tall but some soldiers are as tall as 6 foot 7 inches. The Statues were made to represent all battalions in ancient Chinese Army. Some are dressed like the cavalry while others are dressed like archers and still others like foot soldiers.  The Statues were made by over 700,000 thousand workers who were involved in molding legs, arms, torsos, and heads etc. which were then assembled together.  Apart from the soldiers, the emperor was also buried with 150 life-size cavalry horses and 130 chariots with 520 horses buried with the army.  Amazingly, the horses in the archaeological site are saddled. This indicates that the saddle was invented long before the Qin Dynasty. The actual tomb of the emperor has yet to be found.

I recently spent two weeks in Florence learning sculpting techniques of the Florence Academy of Art from two graduates Thor Larsen and Charlotte Brunhes.  During my private sculpting sessions, I found myself stretching to incorporate their sculpting approach into my artistic style.  However, the sculpture that I created from a live model will serve as a good starting point for a possible sculpture that I complete once a mold of it is shipped back to the United States.

I will have three sculptures on display at the Italian Le Arti exhibit at Seattle’s Northwest Folk Life Festival.

Embrace

The Northwest Folklife Festival is the place to learn, to dance, to play, to try something new, and to discover arts and cultures that inspire celebration of one another and our big neighborhood. From yodeling to beatboxing, square dancing to Bollywood, – the Northwest Folklife Festival celebrates the global traditions of local, independent artists.

Presenting more than 5,000 performers, the Festival draws from the 100+ cultural communities that Northwest Folklife collaborates with year-round.   The festival is more than a celebration of the diversity of the Pacific Northwest, it’s a chance to engage directly with the many communities that make up the region. The Northwest Folklife Festival is the key annual event bringing up to 250,000 people over four days to the Seattle Center.  To remove any economic barriers and ensure that everyone can experience and share in cultural traditions, the 46th annual Northwest Folklife is presented without admission charge, creating the most inclusive, wide reaching arts experience.

May 26 – 29, 2017, Seattle Center,  from 11am-10pm from Friday until Sunday.  11am-9pm on Monday.

Invictus

IL VECCHIO

Joie de Vivre

When I installed edition 3 of Joie de Vivre in Edmonds back in early November, I chose the location because the sculpture would have greenery as a backdrop.  What I didn’t realize was that one of the shrubs was a rhododendron.  Now that it is springtime, Joie de Vivre’s smile is framed by a vibrant purple rhodi in bloom!

My newly installed sculpture in Edmonds has a message.  Joie de Vivre depicts a young girl standing with her arms outstretched, her smiling face gazing up into the sunshine.  A breeze blows her clothing and hair, creating a dynamic image and capturing a joyful moment in time.  It reflects the moments of our lives when all is well, our senses are heightened and we feel the grace of being alive.

Joie de Vivre installed on Main St.

Just before Election Day, I installed edition 3 of Joie de Vivre in my hometown of Edmonds, Washington.  To those who liked the outcome of the election, the image seemed to mirror their celebratory mood.  However, for those of you for whom the election results left you reeling with a sense of dismay and foreboding, the image of the sculpture must feel incongruous.

At times, we adults believe joy is not available to us.

Her image challenges us all to find joy wherever we can–and to savor it! 

It is a vision of letting go of concerns to embrace life.

Just what we need in these uncertain times.

Sited in front of Stewart Family Chiropractic at 547 Main Street, the sculpture greets you as you walk west from 6th Street.  Bryan and Cheryl Stewart graciously agreed to have the sculpture placed there on loan.   For information regarding how to acquire a limited edition of Joie de Vivre, contact Cole Gallery.

Edmonds Art Studio Tour

On Saturday & Sunday, September 17-18, 10 am – 5 pm, if you’re in town, consider doing the Edmonds Art Studio Tour.  It’s a free self-guided tour and is a once a year opportunity to visit 19 private studios and 2 galleries displaying the work of 37 local artists in the scenic Edmonds area.  You can purchase finished work, see new art being created, or just visit and ask questions..

In this 1.5  minute video, you learn a bit about the studio tour and why you will enjoy viewing art at local artist’s studios while discovering Edmonds neighborhoods you’ve never visited!

Download the tour map.  Be sure to visit Studio #12!

In my studio, you will see a selection of my art, works in progress as well as my newly completed bronze sculpture, titled Yes!, which is just back from the foundry!