The first series of sculpture created turned into bronze limited edition sculptures.
They were imagined all in one day when my husband and I lived on less than an acre of land in town and had no land to have horses of our own. In the midst of a thought that since we couldn’t have our own horses I would make them myself, I “saw” these sculpture as they were to be in various places around our home.
“Look!” I saw first on the fireplace mantle, while “Watch!” was standing in front of the window by the front door, wanting to see who might come up the sidewalk or pull into the driveway. “Relax!” who is a music lover, was imagined on the piano…and “Leap!” was jumping between the tops of the matching bookcases in the family room, his message I think was “Time to make the leap into the professional art world!” “Itchy!” who loves flowers but is somewhat allergic, was standing next to the window that had a table of African violets sitting by it…and “Step High!” who is always in motion and full of great advice, was in full trot running around the corner of the dining room into the living room; “Be proud of your artistic gifts!” she seemed to be saying.
Today, this series of equine sculpture is collected by art connoisseurs who can’t always buy just one. They have been with me at shows and when viewed bring smiles to so many. I hope they inspire as many positive messages to others as they have brought my way since that first day I imagined them.
So many times I have been asked if I ever sculpt any other types of animals. I will most often answer, I do – once in a blue moon!
Another question I am asked a lot is “how long does it take me to sculpt one sculpture?” I had no immediate answer for that since I typically work on several sculptures at one time!
One day, last November (2013) I sat down to answer both questions in the form of the sculpture “Owl Ate the Blue Moon”.
Owl Ate, (I call him by his first and last name for short), is a half life-size sculpture of a Spotted Owl. I love these little bird’s faces and they are an endangered species of bird too – since they prefer to live in old growth forests and those are not as prevalent as they once were either. Little Owl Ate has tasted something that he holds in one feathery foot.
It took 10 days working longer than 8 hours each day to sculpt him, the branch he sits on and the object he holds.
I have many ideas and sketches in the planning stages for the Blue Moon Series. All of the animals depicted in this series will be endangered or threatened wildlife animal species since these days they are seen only vary rarely. There is personal significance with Mark and I and blue moons too…if you see us at a show – or drop me a note – I will tell you the story of why that is.
Yata, the North Wind is the first of the series, he is beautiful horse-wind god leaning into the wind. Also, he is a bit melancholy as the spirit of summer has fallen in love with his brother, Okaga, the South Wind, instead of him. I wonder sometimes if that is why his wind is so strong and so cold! There are other spellings of the names of these two wind gods: Waziyata instead of Yata and Itokagata instead of Okaga. Okaga will be finished in bronze soon and Eya, the West Wind and Yanpa, the East Wind are still in progress in my studio.
I love the legends of the indigenous tribes of the world. They are full of magical explanations for things we have less magical scientific explanations for these days. It is important to create ways to keep the magical stories of our ancestors alive, I believe.
As far as I know, I have no Lakota Sioux ancestors, but Mark and I live out on the prairie where Sioux tribes lived once upon a time. Wind is a frequent companion here and I have a hard time finding peace inside when the wind is howling outside and so I put that restless howling energy into a series of horse sculptures and named each one after the Lakota Sioux’s legend of the founding of the four (wind) directions.
I started this series because I want my art to be available to anyone…and that means going small sometimes. Not everyone has the living (or budget) space for larger sculptures and the Mini-Mustangs fit the “fit anywhere any budget” bill! I am happy to say there will be a whole herd of them (10 in all) and the first three will be in bronze in May! Check out the video of them. I am so excited to see them in bronze!
Today I am working on the first sculpture in this series, “Rocky Mountain Majesty” of a 10 point Elk. This will be the biggest sculpture I have created so far and he is big – about 4′ high! He will be a very limited edition and will be gorgeous! He already is, but I have some weeks to go yet before the original will be finished.
I have such a lot of love for the animals of the Rocky Mountains. I have been visiting them ever since I was born and have been to Estes Park almost every summer of my life.
One day in the fall a few years ago I was in Estes Park with my uncle. There was the typical more-Elk-than-you-can-imagine running around everywhere and we pulled off the road inside Rocky Mountain National Park at an Elk watching spot. While we were there an Elk cow crossed a little ravine we were standing by – and an Elk bull wasn’t far behind her (behind) 🙂 . They paid us no attention but they both wandered around us in a circle so close …too close! It scared me and I HID behind my poor uncle…chicken that I can sometimes be!
Since the House Horses first inspired me I can’t stop imagining everything I want to sculpt. I hope I can see them all in bronze one day! There are to be many sculptures in the Rocky Mountain Series so stay tuned!
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