The Other President George

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

In a previous post, I began to introduce you to my almost finished stone carving “The Offering.” I told you how the idea was born based on then-President George W. Bush’s response to the killings on September 11, 2001.

I cannot believe that I did not take a better image at the right stage of carving the stone for this next bit of information. But my husband John nicknamed this sculpture “George” after our first President, George Washington, because of the way I blocked out the skull and mostly the hair. I was still new at carving marble back in 2002 when this image was taken and being cautious is quite important since I do not get to put the stone back if I remove too much.


These next two images show my progress on “George” in February of 2003. Unfortunately, “George” did not get any more physical attention until after I began work on another figurative carving, “Stargazer.” “Stargazer” took me two years to complete. It may sound stupid but I tend to get intimidated by my vision of what I want and my lack of belief that I can create it. When this happens, I set aside the work I fear I will ruin and go work on another project that will improve the skill I feel I am lacking.

In any event, I could not forget George and drew on the stone and carved occasionally for a month or so in each year of 2005, 2006, and 2007. Next time, I will show you images from George’s progress in August of 2008.

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Walking on Sunshine Art

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

I had a busy day today, but in many ways wonderful. Two of my errands were to different shops to pick up the new frames for two of my paintings done in Italy. Wow, it really is amazing how a good frame completes a painting!


"Relinquish"
oil on canvas
50 x 70 cm

While my figurative oil painting “Relinquish” was being put inside its lovely new and elegant, coffee-colored Ansley frame from Larson-Juhl, I wandered through Jerry’s Artarama. Currently on exhibit along one wall in the art supply store is a collection of large artworks by young girls aged 6 to 13 who participated in a four-day workshop at The Girls’ School of Austin. Artist and teacher Nancy D. Hoover taught the workshop that focused on collage, gesso texture, and acrylic painting techniques.

I found the painting shown here – I believe a 30 x 30-inch canvas – by a ten-year-old named Dani to be quite enchanting. Her title is “Walking on Sunshine” and I suspect is inspired from a (fun dance) song lyric. Dani’s acrylic collage painting struck me as pure and joyful, a true celebration of life. She created an interesting composition and I just wanted to share her art with you. I do not know her, but I hope she will not mind my posting this.

Vulnerability Achilles Heel

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

There are two types of vulnerability: the kind you have control over and the kind that you do not. An Achilles’ Heel is a good example of vulnerability as a liability. The phrase comes from the legend of the Greek hero Achilles. The story is that his mother Thetis wanted to protect him by dipping him into the River Styx to make her son invulnerable. However, she held him by his heel with her thumb and forefinger (a strong mother!), thus blocking the magical waters from reaching all of him. Achilles is said to have died by an arrow shot into this same heel.

I suspect that it was this type of vulnerability, the fatal flaw, that then-President George W. Bush was thinking about after the horrible events on September 11, 2001. One of his initial reactions was to try to stop immigration into America.. After all, if we do not permit (more) foreigners to enter America, they cannot hurt us. America should not be so vulnerable. Right?

Well, . . . I was less than pleased. But I realized that I tend to see vulnerability as the greatest gift one could offer another. Thus the idea for my next sculpture “The Offering” was born. Sure, when we make ourselves vulnerable to another, we can be hurt. But I decided that if this vulnerability is our choice, then we come from a position of strength and goodness. Some things others cannot control.

In body language, one exhibits a lack of fear by exposing one’s torso. You will see this in many painted and sculptural depictions of political leaders. In essence, a brave and secure person is sending the message, “I can be vulnerable to you and invincible, too.”
The opposite position would be the curled up, closed fetal position that is designed to protect us. Our skeleton protects our vulnerable bellies.


Here are a few images that I took back in 2002 of the beginning of my marble carving, “The Offering.” Strangely enough, the middle images were taken on my late mentor Vasily Fedorouk’s birthday, August 16. I had met him only one summer before and it is evident by the sloppy crayon drawings that I made on my stone, that I have not yet begun to learn much from him . . .

Vulnerability: strength or weakness? As is so often, context is everything.

Artist Vasily Fedorouk

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

Today the body of the great artist Vasily Fedorouk was cremated. I wish that I could have attended the funeral service for my friend and mentor in Chicago yesterday. I asked his wife Dilbarra if there was anything I could do for her, knowing that nothing will bring him back. She said, “Continue to tell the world about Vasily’s art. He was always so happy each time you wrote something for him or about him.”

Ukrainian born sculptor Vasily Fedorouk died in a horrible freak accident after saving his beloved dog Era during a family outing last Sunday in the Chicago area. In minutes, everything changed.

I share with you here three of his sculptures, the first two in stone, the latter in terra-cotta. He was a prolific artist with a great sense of design and a full understanding of quality.



This next image was taken during my last visit with Vasily in his suburban-Chicago home in September 2008 before I left for Florence, Italy. We are shown here with his beloved dog Era at his dining room table. We often kept in touch via the Skype and e-mail and I had an enlightening and wonderful conversation, as all were, with him on his birthday on August 16th. He had just earned 59 years. He had joked with me that while the number was not too high, all of his body parts were still working just fine. We both laughed. He had more energy than most people.



At the time of his death, some of Vasily’s sculptures were part of a 2-person exhibit at the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art in Chicago. The exhibit has been extended to at least September 6, 2009, so if you have the opportunity, please, please go see his wonderful artworks in person.


I know that Vasily changed my life in a significant way. I have grown as an artist because of him. I only hope that some part of his spirit can live on through me. And I will miss him like no other. And we all will never know the compositions never realized from his fertile imagination.

Canadian Marble

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

I have been back in my Texas home studio since July. Although I love the mountains and found Austria to be a very beautiful country, I learned long ago that I get the “withdrawal shakes” if I am not creating art for more than a week. I was looking forward to getting a hammer and a chisel in my hands again and spent much of my holiday time figuring out which stone I wanted to work with first.

The winner was . . . a project I started in 2002. Inspired by President Bush’s reactions to the horrible events on September 11, 2001, I began a complicated composition in Canadian marble.

I will write more about my thoughts on this work in the coming posts, but here I wanted to include images of the stone as I received her from the quarry in western Canada. These images were taken 25 July 2002 from various angles in the stone. I will be carving a vertical composition.


My apologies for the “naked legs” shots. It is helpful at times to have relative size comparisons. And I like to climb things, so it was more fun to climb up on my wine barrel than to move the stone onto the ground to take a “bird’s eye view” image of the marble.

Stay tuned. Same bat channel . . .

Thinking of two new babies: my marble carving and . . . I would like to take this opportunity to welcome into the world today my newest nephew Evan!

Mirabell Gardens Salzburg

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

Wow. My 300th blog entry! When I started this blog in September 2007, I was not sure if I would have enough things that I wanted to write about or share with others. Hmmm. I guess I really did learn how to speak (thanks Toastmasters International, and Mom, who made me go . . . )

This is my last post this year about Salzburg, Austria. Pictured here are the Mirabell Gardens. They are a good example of symmetrical landscaping. I was fortunate enough to walk through these gardens on two different days.


The Lady of the Roses was the first sculpture I saw in Mirabell and perhaps the only bronze. I liked her gesture and the brilliant red roses surrounding her. Her style, especially in the face, as well as her long torso gave her a more modern look. Unfortunately, I did not get to spend enough time in the gardens to learn more about the art or the artists.


I probably should not say this, but hmmmm… I was never good at tap dancing and I am still trying to figure out how to discern quality in art. Ok, so here goes: most of the public statuary that I saw in Salzburg area was not exceptional. As a sculptor, I am fully aware of how complicated creating 3-dimensional art is, and almost hate to pick apart someone’s heartfelt efforts.

I do like these next two sculptures that I photographed – the male figure to the left of the vehicle and the woman surrounded by greenery who looks as though she was surprised in the woods. For me, however, the male figures behind the vehicle in the first image seem less than elegant in their gestures.




Critics love to point out how Michelangelo’s figures are out of proportion, yet somehow, his art works. My friend and mentor Vasily Fedorouk sometimes creates, absolutely on purpose, figures with unrealistically small and sometimes strangely shaped skulls. However, it works. But I saw a lot of sculptures in Austria whose proportions looked “wrong” not because of an artistic vision or choice, but as if from a lack of skill. Not all the time and not all sculptures, but I saw enough art to have thought that the sculpture, in general, was not from the best artists of the time.

However, to contradict myself a wee bit, regardless of the quality of each individual sculpture, the overall EFFECT was always lovely. And I must admit feeling sad that in America, we do not live with so much art in our public or perhaps even private lives.

In this aerial shot I took from a gallery window, you may see a sculptural composition of multiple figures shown in the middle of this next image. She was instantly recognizable to me, having lived in Florence, Italy, off and on over the last three years. Again, I do not have any information on the Salzburg stone sculpture, but I doubt that it is the predecessor to Giambologna’s “Il Ratto della Sabines” (The Abduction of the Sabine Women”) in Florence, Italy’s famous Loggia dei Lanzi.


I think if you click on the image of the two sculptures sidebyside, you may see a slightly larger image. Besides the small heads in Salzburg, Giambologna’s sculpture features the more elegant composition and line. For example, see how the top figure’s legs are positioned differently in Salzburg than the Italian version. Which do you think has more flow?

Ok, I am done now.




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Shapes of Salzburg

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

Enjoy these shapes and textures from Salzburg, Austria. The stone texture is a small section of road in front of one of the horse fountains in the town. I took these photos in July.