Sculpture of "Mom", center piece for solo show

After three days nonstop sculpting I finished sculpture "Mom". It will be the center piece for the show ad is 3/4 lifesize. Mom was a big part in the reason I became an Artist and the main reason I wanted to do a show on Alzheimer's, to bring awareness and honor mom. I have never done a sculpture for mom, so wanted too. It was only fitting they she is the center piece to the show. She was the one person who I could always count on in life, and still is for that matter. This show means a lot to me because it is in my home town. Those that use to see that young girl in high school carrying all those paintings, to those who lend me a hand. It will show a lot of the different art forms I do. And also to prove it to the ones I helped along the way, with all that money and my time, that even though they made sure I didn't get support. I have showed that I could do it anyway... Now I have about 15 hrs to hollow the whole thing. Wish me luck.....

"Silence" sculpture for "Within the Mind" solos show

Spent that last two days doing sculpture " Silence". People with Alzheimer's disease suffer in silence, just looking at some you would never know what is going on until it develops into the late stages. They start to lose not only memories, but language skills, how to communicate etc... They are lost in silence within their own mind in a way. I wanted to do a piece which shows this, and one that represented an overall of the many people who have it. A more generalized piece. Because there are so many people who have or know of someone with dementia and Alzheimer's and that number is going to increase. I wanted the scale to be a big part of the piece. For those not in the art field, when an artist has a show in a gallery, the area is usually a large open room. If the artist does small to top table pieces they are lost. Think of it this way an object looks large in a small space, but take that same object and place it on a pedestal in a large open empty room and now that object appears very small. An artist has to remember that the gallery space is a part of the show. I have to take into account the wall color, so that the sculptures and paintings are enhanced by the color. I have to take into account how all the pieces for the show work together. Because it is a whole, and they have to work together as a whole as you move around the room, plus as individual pieces alone. I wanted you to be able to see and feel this piece from a distance. This piece is more about a mood, an emotion I am setting. This piece was a bit complicated because of the size, and the tilt of the head. I put my head in the photo to show you the scale of the piece. It has to look right, balanced and in proportion. Hollowing a piece this size takes a long time, which is what I am doing most of today. I hope to start the next one tonight late.......

Art Should engage the community

Art should come from the heart of the artist, it should engage your audience, it should connect with your community, it should start a dialog, a debate, it should get people to look at things in a way they have not thought of, or to see what they have looked at but really not seen. Art above all has to connect, to get people feeling and talking. Art has to come deeply from the artist, there has to be that raw emotion and honesty in the work if it is to connect to other people. An Artist paints and sculpts what they know. These are all the reasons I wanted to do a show about Alzheimer's disease. To start a dialog, to connect, to get people to understand what it is like to have the disease, what it is like to care for one with the disease, it is a part of my life, so it is what I know, what I am around, and a part of my life. I can take those thoughts and feelings and transform them into visuals to engage my audience. I speak through pictures or clay..... Art is a look inside the artist, what I am feeling is transferred into the clay while I sculpt. Those feelings have to go someplace. I want to tell you the story, I want you to feel how it is, the frustrations, the humor, the compassion, the heartache...... William Faulkner said it best ~ The aim of every artist is to arrest motion, which is life, by artificial means and hold it fixed so that a hundred years later, when a stranger looks at it, it moves again since it is life.

Reason for doing a solo show about Alzheimer's disease

I have been asked to start a blog about my Artwork and the journey of being a Professional Studio Artist.  I will let you share in this journey, let you see behind the scenes, let you see the processes which go into a sculpture or painting, the preparation for my solo show which goes up in Sept.  And so we begin:
    Art should come from the heart of the artist, it should engage your audience, it should connect with your community, it should start a dialog, a debate, it should get people to look at things in a way they have not thought of, or to see what they have looked at but really not seen. Art above all has to connect, to get people feeling and talking. Art has to come deeply from the artist, there has to be that raw emotion and honesty in the work if it is to connect to other people. An Artist paints and sculpts what they know. These are all the reasons I wanted to do a show about Alzheimer's disease. To start a dialog, to connect, to get people to understand what it is like to have the disease, what it is like to care for one with the disease, it is a part of my life, so it is what I know, what I am around, and a part of my life. I can take those thoughts and feelings and transform them into visuals to engage my audience. I speak through pictures or clay..... Art is a look inside the artist, what I am feeling is transferred into the clay while I sculpt. Those feelings have to go someplace. I want to tell you the story, I want you to feel how it is, the frustrations, the humor, the compassion, the heartache...... William Faulkner said it best ~ The aim of every artist is to arrest motion, which is life, by artificial means and hold it fixed so that a hundred years later, when a stranger looks at it, it moves again since it is life.  This is my Mother who has Alzheimer's disease and I am an Artist because of her years of support while I was young.  So this show is mainly for her and my gift to her to thank her for that support.