On the easel

Experimenting in the studio and here on the blog (as I rarely show unfinished paintings). But here is one that hasn’t quite found it’s final finesse…

BIG "Little" Soren at the Eaglemount Playground

Years ago I created a very special palm-size bronze eaglet sculpture for Eaglemount - a near-and-dear-to-my-heart non-profit. The little sculpture was named after an inspiring youngster who lost his life to cancer. The “little eaglet who could” sculpture continues to help raise funds for Eaglemount. A few years later I was commissioned to create a large version of the little bugger for Eaglemount’s new playground. We visited recently for a community event when Raymond snapped this candid photo.

Sacred Roots

“Secret Miracles at Work” was the very first reliquary tree sculpture. Daisy let me work in Freeman’s studio back then. I’d had this vision of opening trees…the niche and the hinges were essential clear-to-me basics of the vision.

Three eggs; nested - were an image that appeared three totally different occasions in various ways that couldn’t be ignored and offered a starting point. Four more reliquary trees completed the first series. This first sculpture in the first series was the beginning yet it was also a punctuation point for me as the idea of adding my grandmother’s lingerie persisted ‘til I listened; finally adding the lacy embellishment as the final touch to this piece upon completing the series.

“Sacred Roots” is the compelling title of the current exhibition at the Bozeman Art Museum in which I’m honored to have been asked to show along with the compelling artworks of many artists whom I admire in a theme near and dear to my heart.

“Secret Miracles at Work” - the very first tree reliquary

Color upon color...

Know that you can go within and listen…

Reliquary Trees

Intermingled stories (each tree and my own)

Listening. Looking. Connecting. Revealing. Journey. Prayer.

“Reliquary Tree Sculptures”

Rabbits keep multiplying...

The fire in the studio stove crackles with all the enthusiasm of a jazzed up southern Baptist church choir on this Sunday morning. Three feet of fresh fluffy snow drapes our mountaintop in reverent silence. I flow my devotion with color upon color…

Happy New Year!!

Much to reflect, celebrate, envision, step out of, step into…

Wishing each of you courage, love, faith, good health, adventure, compassion and community in the NEW year.

Year of the Rabbit

Tiny painting

Fundraiser projects have dominated my studio time the past few weeks. The Bozeman Art Museum asked me to create and donate a business card size piece of art for their fundraiser. Little paintings can actually take as long as big paintings but I embraced the tiny format (if you happen to be looking at this image on your cell phone then it is likely close to the real life size). My desire was to create an itty bitty painting with a big presence - intriguing and mystical…

"Windhorse"

Created especially for the annual fundraiser gala, the painting “Windhorse” raised $5500 for Heros and Horses. The painting was inspired by my reliquary tree sculpture, “Freedom Found.”

The Secret Keepers (new series in the works)

A whispered invitation to witness a life lived…

Shared stories - looking within

The tree and me.

We have stories.

Intermingled. Layered like wood grain. Cracked and a scarred yet adorned with crystal.

Tears. Hope. Joy. Pain.

Just like you…

“Secret Miracles at Work”

Texture

Feel it beckon?

You may touch.Here. With your eyes.

There. With your heart

The desire to touch is in our nature.

Mother Nature touches back.

Always and in all ways…

I had just started ice climbing during the period the first series of reliquary tree sculptures were created. I lived in the same cabin I do now, at the end of the road near the top of a mountain. The cabin was bare bones. I slept on a (constantly deflating) inflated mattress on the floor of my cabin which hadn’t the luxury of plumbing for seven years. Luckily fellow climbers gifted me their old gear and allowed me to rope in with them to explore frozen waterfalls. The iridescent shard of glass seemed an extravagant purchase but it reminded me of the magic and allure of ice. Life is full of unexpected bits of light in the darkest places; often experienced most fully when we open ourselves to the unknown.

“I Have Heard the Dead Singing” (detail photo)

Happy Easter!

Bunny tracks in the snow - Easter blessings abound…

Little Brushes, Tiny touches

Raymond took these photos during the patina process at the Adonis Foundry in Salt Lake City. Two of the three local bronze foundries I’ve worked with for more than twenty years did not survive the multiple challenges brought on by COVID, thus I’ve been prompted to look beyond the local foundry scene. Bronze casting has been around since the third millennium B.C. The industry (along with so many industries) has been hit hard with major increases in the cost of materials, shipping and hard-to-find skilled labor. Bronze art can be passed through generations and enjoyed for thousands of years - a enduring medium in a world of increasingly disposable things.

Reliquary Tree Sculptures

When you speak from your heart, the Tree Beings will hear you. Their spirit speaks even when no longer rooted to earth; after the forest fire - after they’ve been split open and stand in my studio - scars and stories revealed. Whispers. Shouts. Sadness and gladness - the dance begins between my tools and their texture. We listen to each other.

Newest Palm-size Bronze...delayed debut.

Patience and persistence have never been strangers to me but they certainly unpacked their suitcases and plopped themselves into many of our lives. Ten months have passed since this little bugger went to the foundry. The pandemic pounded bronze foundries across the country. Two out of the three local foundries I’ve worked with for decades had to close. Finally I can offer this little bugger to the public for adoption as I’ve a few fresh from the foundry. Just a few. For now…

Bronze edition closing...

ONE left. The very last “Little Bird” in the edition of 100 sculptures. Who will the lucky adoptee be?

Full Blue Moon today.

Did you know there are two different kinds of Blue Moon? Somehow I felt a “Blue Moon-ness” yesterday as Raymond and I drove down the mountain to join friends in a sweatlodge ceremony. I looked it up and discovered the Seasonal Blue moon exists.

Ceremony helps us “remember to remember” as Robin Wall Kimmerer points out in her lovely book “Braiding Sweetgrass.”

Remember to Remember

(I’ve wrapped myself up in those words this weekend)

-image from my newest series-