#148 In the field: galleries and shows . . . placing art

I rely on my galleries and shows to sell and place my art.  Please refer to blog #139, January 20, 2012 and
Blog #126, January 5, 2012 for more information.

The ad below was placed on the back cover of the current Jan/Feb issue of Art of the West magazine by the galleries that represent my work.  The sculpture shown is one of five new works and one painting that will be introduced at the Autry Museum's Masters of the American West Art Show and Sale this weekend, February 3-4.

theAutry.org/

Art of the West Magazine -  www.aotw.com

#147 In the studio: Shapes Con't

There is no technique or trick that can be taught to explain how to create a good, strong shape.

The theory must be felt or sensed to be understood by both the viewer and the sculptor.

One looks with greater understanding at uncomplicated sculptural statements.

Power is gained through simplicity and simple shapes tell greater truths.

Life-sized bald eagle blocked in and in progress

#146 In the studio: Shape . . .

Sculpture combines composition, proportion and the arrangement of shapes to lead the viewer to an artistic conclusion.
The greatest expression is communicated through the largest shapes. The sculptor must say as much as possible with the large forms before being concerned with detail.

Life-sized pheasant rooster and hen blocked in and in progress

#145 In the Field: Bird anatomy and sculpture workshop con't

Sandy with a group of workshop participants. Armatures built and birds in flight completed during first four days

I believe sculpture, like any other skill, can be learned.  You don't have to be born an artist.  But like any other skill,
it requires study and practice.  Workshops provide continuing education for adults and an opportunity to learn from a working, professional artist/instructor.  I enjoy working with students of all levels of proficiency; particularly beginners and painters.  My teaching method is structured and methodical . . . a step by step "follow me" approach.

Windmaster
13"H 23"W 14"D

#144 In the Field: Bird anatomy and sculpture workshop con't . . .

Wing flight-feathers are divided into three groups: 

Primaries, secondaries and tertials.  These groups are attached to what corresponds to the arm and hand of a human.

All birds have a basic and predictable structure.  The bird sculptor must know the basics of the skeleton and the sets of feathers inherent to all birds.  Each bird's behavior must be researched to perceive relative proportions and shapes unique to the individual species.  

Begin by thinking of the sets of feathers as individual shapes.  

For it is shapes and the arrangement of shapes that make sculpture.  Sculpture is the arrangement of shapes.  

Wing drawing by Sandy Scott showing 3 main flight feather groups and additional feather groupings

#143 In the Field: Bird anatomy and sculpture workshop con't . . .

Human arm top, bird wing bottom

The skeleton of the bird's wing is more easily understood when compared to the human arm:

Humerus - Innermost bone, between body and elbow.

Ulna/Radius - middle or forearm bones, between elbow and wrist.  The secondary feathers are attached to the ulna.

Hand - Outermost bone, some metacarpals are missing, some are fused together.  One of the digits is the thumb or alula, a small group of three or four feathers are attached to the bone. The ten primary flight feathers (nine in some perching birds) are attached to the hand.  

Drawing of wing skeleton showing primaries, secondaries and tertials
by Sandy Scott

#142 In the Field: Bird anatomy and sculpture workshop con't . . .

First day session at the Scottsdale Artists' School workshop
Sandy explaining bird anatomy using a roasting hen from the local grocery  

There is nothing random in nature; everything is structured. Although animal sculptors do not need to be scientists they must know and understand the important bones, joints and muscles, not only where they attach but how they articulate. In addition to this knowledge the bird sculptor must know the major feather groups, and the mechanics
of flight.  Birds in flight don't pose, therefore this understanding is a must.

Every bird has the same basic anatomy and feather groupings . . . from the tiny sparrow to the domestic chicken to the gigantic albatross.  Each individual bird species, however, has unique characteristics.

Crowing Rooster II (bas relief) Wall Hanging
16"H 15"W 3"D

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Blog, text, photos, drawings, and sculpture . . . © Sandy Scott and Trish

#141 In the Field: Bird anatomy and sculpture workshop con't . . .

Sandy critiquing student work
http://www.scottsdaleartschool.org/

Tomorrow morning my 2012 Scottsdale Artists' School
bird anatomy and sculpture workshop begins.  As I mentioned
in yesterday's blog, this is an important "in the field"
experience as I stay in touch with the basics.

I will begin the workshop with a discussion about bird anatomy, aerodynamics and achieving the illusion of movement 
of  birds in flight. I will discuss the difference between a technically adequate piece of work and one with spirit and life.  I will emphasize the value of lost and found edges and how good composition and an expressive surface convey a feeling of movement, rhythm, light and emotion. 

Students will learn the importance of assembling strong, meaningful shapes and how eliminating unimportant details can create the essence of the bird. Above all, movement, gesture, and anatomy are the focus. Instruction includes building bird armatures. Students will work from field guides, photography, drawings, and taxidermy mounts.  
Artists in other mediums are welcome in this workshop as well as beginners. 

Hay Bay
19"H 25"W 14"D

Hay Bay
19"H 25"W 14"D

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Blog, text, photos, drawings, and sculpture . . . © Sandy Scott and Trish

#140 In the Field: Bird anatomy and sculpture workshop

Next week will be my 25th year as an instructor at The Scottsdale Artists' School. Teaching bird anatomy and sculpture is a personal discipline and has been rewarding over the years in that I continue to explore, learn and stay in touch with the basics.

Hallway to painting and sculpture classroom studios

Entrance

The Scottsdale Artists’ School offers weekly classes and workshops for everyone from the aspiring novice to the professional artist.  Our courses are taught by working, professional artists who are also experienced instructors.
           
               -Bernadette Mills
                Executive Director

http://www.scottsdaleartschool.org/

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Blog, text, photos, drawings, and sculpture . . . © Sandy Scott and Trish

#139 In the Studio: Collectors

Tom Dailey, Sandy and artist Curt Walters
It's an extraordinary compliment when an artist
whose work you admire collects your work

The annual juried museum art shows such as the Autry Museum's Masters of the American West, National Cowboy Western Heritage Museum's Prix de West and National Museum of Wildlife Art's Western Visions in Jackson, WY allow the artist to meet their collectors.  These prestigious shows are coveted invitations to the artist and I look forward to introducing new works at these gala annual events.  They are attended by not only collectors but gallery owners, art lovers and students; a wide range of people in the art business who are interested in the arts.  The rest of the year I'm represented by my galleries and rarely have a chance to meet my collectors.


The most profound realization of my life is that there are people I have never met who live with my art, and therefore I share with them a personal, if not intimate relationship.

The sculpture below will introduced this year at The Wild West in American Art, 
May 5 thru July 22, 2012 Brookgreen Gardens, Murrells Inlet, SC.

Bison Fragment II

26"H 37"W 8"D

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Blog, text, photos, drawings, and sculpture . . . © Sandy Scott and Trish

#138 In the foundry: Quail . . .

During patina, the bronze is heated and chemicals are applied

Most of last week was spent in patina at the foundry finishing the California Quail presentation piece for the Autry Museum Show next month:  The sculpture will be presented to the trustees and other prominent individuals .

I was honored to be the sculptor selected to do the work by
John Geraghty, Trustee and Special Advisor to the Autry National Center's Masters of the American West Fine Art Exhibition and Sale, held February 3 & 4, 2012.

True patrons of the arts exist 

 and I know two of the finest:  

Saralynn and John Geraghty.

Additional chemicals are applied with heat which enriches the patina.

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Blog, text, photos, drawings, and sculpture . . . © Sandy Scott and Trish

#137 In the studio: painting . . .

The painting studio is separate from the sculpture studios, 

is situated along the Popo Agie River and has beautiful north light.  It is a delightful room and although I don't have time to paint as much as I'd like to, painting was part of my training at the Kansas City Art Institute when I was young. 

Painting is a great diversion from sculpture which at times can be physically demanding - especially monuments.

Over the past fifty years I have returned to it from time to time and last year as well as this year I've put a small painting in the miniature section at the Autry Masters Show in Los Angeles. This year's entry can be seen in #110, posted Dec. 17, 2011. It's a painting of my rooster, "Old Red" who is no longer with us - a fox got him - but not before I painted his portrait. I'll post it again after it's framed and before Autry.

Shown below is a recent 9" x 6" still life owned by Trish Smith

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Blog, text, photos, drawings, and sculpture . . . © Sandy Scott and Trish

#136 In the studio: Pheasants still life con't . . .

Clay County Birds by Ken Carlson
30 x 20

Yesterday the image of this beautiful still life was emailed to the studio by fellow artist and friend, Ken Carlson.  I couldn't help notice the masterful use of lost and found edges in the work.

Lost and found edges are necessary in three-dimensional art as well as painting. While modeling the new pheasant still life sculpture (see yesterday's blog) it was important to soften and lose edges.  I refrained from using too much detail and pattern and let the larger forms dominate.  Transitions define form and as always, negative space - which has its own identity - was a major design element.

Oh Art of Painting, 

You may well consider 

Yourself most fortunate in having one of 

Your artisans elevate You, 

by his talent and manners, above the heavens!

                             Giorgio Vasari (on Raphael)

Pheasant still life 3-part mold in progress.  Notice foot and foot and wing parts on right.

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Blog, text, photos, drawings, and sculpture . . . © Sandy Scott and Trish

#135 In the studio: Pheasant still life con't . . .

Pheasant rooster looking east toward the pond

I have pheasants on my property in Lander, Wyoming
and I routinely observe, photograph and draw them from my studio window.

I obtained additional study material from a pheasant hunt last fall.  I always save the wings and tails to use as studio reference. The new pheasant sculpture has been on my mind for years and living with this old rooster every day was all I needed to finally actualize the piece.

Whether the artist works from nature, from memory or from fantasy, nature is always the source of creative impulses.

                                                      - Hans Hoffmann

Wings from fall pheasant hunt

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Blog, text, photos, drawings, and sculpture . . . © Sandy Scott and Trish

#134 In the studio: Pheasant still life . . .

Hanging Grouse Alexander Pope
Photo courtesy National Museum of Wildlife Art

The "gamepiece" - the still life with game - was beautifully painted by 17th century Dutch painters such as Jan Weenix and Melchior d'Hondecoeter.  In the 18th century Jean Baptiste Oudry continued the genre.  Today, Ken Carlson and Thomas Aquinas Daly carry on the tradition.

As an art student at the Kansas City Art Institute I was fascinated and influenced by 19th century American painters William Harnett and Alexander Pope who painted incredible tromp i'oeil sportsmen's still life masterpieces. While other students were studying  Abstract Expressionism, I was immersed in representational subject matter that I grew up with in rural Oklahoma.

Executed in high relief, my new pheasant still life sculpture is meant to be a decorative wall hanging.  My goal was to present the pheasant rooster with clarity of contour and expressive form . . . not as a dead bird.  
The upright vertical axis of the new sculpture creates logical balance of mass and quiet simplicity of form.

                                                                                                                                 www.wildlifeart.org/

Life-sized pheasant gamepiece in progress

  

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Blog, text, photos, drawings, and sculpture . . . © Sandy Scott and Trish

#133 Remarque: "Eat More Beef"

Humans and pigs have a strong affinity.  People smile when they see a pig and often they are considered cute.  Yes, an animal can seem cute and certainly, the goal of the artist is to evoke an emotional response.

However, my goal while designing Eat More Beef was to avoid "cuteness" and the exploitation of emotion by humanizing the creature's expression.  I wanted to emphasize mass while portraying a typical pose and presenting a strong yet delightful presence.


Eat More Beef  has credentials and is in the permeant collection of two major American museums.  Shown is Trish with the monument in the Children's Sculpture Garden at Brookgreen Gardens, Murrell's Inlet, South Carolina.  It is also in the R.W. Norton Museum, Shreveport, Louisiana.

Eat More Beef Monument

56" H

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Blog, text, photos, drawings, and sculpture . . . © Sandy Scott and Trish

#132 In the studio: "Eat More Beef"

This clay model entitled Eat More Beef  is ready to mold.
The image and design has been popular and has been sculpted and presented in several sizes including a 7 foot high Colossus.

The 18" high sculpture is a commission and is a mirror image of a previously cast same-size version.

I like pigs.

Dogs look up to us.

Cats look down on us.

Pigs treat us as equals.

                                      -Winston Churchill

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Blog, text, photos, drawings, and sculpture . . . © Sandy Scott and Trish

#131 Remarque: "Equus Found Fragments I & II"

The partial figure:  What can the sculpture do without?  Find power in the part by stripping the figure of the unessential.

Equus Found Fragments I & II were recently juried into the National Sculpture Society's 78th Annual Awards Exhibition.

I am proud to be an elected member of this time-honored and prestigious organization.

The dramatic sculpture also won the Award for Excellence from the Society of Animal Artists in 2010.
I have been an elected member of the Society of Animal Artists for over 30 years.

Equus Found Fragments I & II
23"H 41"L 8"D

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Blog, text, photos, drawings, and sculpture . . . © Sandy Scott and Trish

#130 In the Studio: Packing for Arizona and Wolf Moon

As the cold wind howls outside the studio window, I'm starting to pack for the Arizona studio.  I will headquarter in the little studio south of Sedona until spring while a small staff remains here to take care of responsibilities.  Every year I leave the harsh Wyoming winter in January and escape to the beautiful Arizona sun.
I have work to finish before I go and will begin my Arizona experience as I have for the past 25 years: teach a sculpture workshop at Scottsdale Artist School.

Full moon last night:

January moon is called 

the Wolf Moon.

Amid the cold and deep snows of midwinter, the wolf packs howled hungrily outside Indian villages. Thus, the name for January’s full moon.  It was also referred to as the Old Moon, or the Moon After Yule.  These names date back to Native Americans of what is now northern United States and southern Canada.

Eyes of the Wild

9"H 8"W 7"D

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Blog, text, photos, drawings, and sculpture . . . © Sandy Scott and Trish

#129 Throw on another log: Modern Art . . .

Artists and collectors today are enjoying a resurgent interest in and a cultural return to representational art and realism.

During the modernist movement art that appealed to collective sensibilities was labeled as "kitsch" and therefore banished as garish and sentimental. Art was intellectualized and the only thing that linked traditional (classical) art and modern art was the fact that artists used the same material.


As modern art moved from one "ism" to another the average layman and viewer was isolated and cut off from time-honored, traditional and universal art.  The public became a dumping ground for an individual artist's point of view and public outrage seemed to be the goal.
Google "piss Christ" for more information.


I keep in mind that throughout history the world's greatest art was typically produced on demand by a church, state, etc.
I continue to look at and experience modernism in museums and know there can be excitement, simplicity and good design in some abstract and non-reprentstational art.  However, as an artist and a student of art history I don't subscribe to intellectualized art and elitism. There are no longer arbiters of taste.

Modern non-representational sculpture and painting was not an evolutionary extension of classical art.  The character and purpose of modern art is complex - involving political and physiological upheavals of the 20th century.

Art cannot be modern, art is timeless.

                                   - Egon Schiele

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Blog, text, photos, drawings, and sculpture . . . © Sandy Scott and Trish

#128 Remarque: "Setter On Point"

I love dogs and routinely use them as models.  Unlike a grizzly, I can get up close and personal with my subject.  I own a hunting dog as well as a Scottish Terrier and have great
in-the-field and in-house reference material.
       
I've sculpted many of breeds and because I love to bird hunt, depicting the English Setter on point brought back memories of a favorite and understood pose.

I've included an except from the best dog book I've ever read and I encourage you to read it - you will thank me for recommending Jenny Willow and you will thank the author, 

Mike Gaddis, for writing this literary masterpiece.

The honor and loyalty of a dog had no equivalent 

with humankind.  It was the difference between

diamonds and cut glass.  Hard and long ago he 

had learned that, and its value.  There could be 

only one acceptable exchange.  When you accepted 

the trust in canine eyes, it must be for their lifetime.

Anything less was a betrayal.  A betrayal he could 

not abide.  Particularly with a dog bred for the gun.

                               
                                                               Mike Gaddis

                                                               Jenny Willow

Setter On Point
11"H 14"L 6"D

Setter On Point
11"H 14"L 6"D

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Blog, text, photos, drawings, and sculpture . . . © Sandy Scott and Trish

#127 Remarque: "Solitude"

I have used the gentle bird of peace as an allegory symbolizing "Solitude".  It is a recent piece, a personal favorite and I have it displayed on the coffee table in the studio.


It depicts a quiet, tranquil pose with an uncomplicated visual statement.  Because there are no violent, turbulent contortions in the design, the sculpture is easy to live with.

Solitude
10"H 10"W 8"D

The sculptor must, by means of a resume'

of the impressions received, communicate

whatever has struck his sensibility, so that

a person beholding his work may experi-

ence in its entirety the emotions felt by the

 artist while he observed nature. 

                                         Medardo Rosso  

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Blog, text, photos, drawings, and sculpture . . . © Sandy Scott and Trish

#126 In the studio: Galleries - "In the trenches". . .

I completed my first portfolio of etchings in the mid 70's and was fortunate to be directed to top galleries in the west to introduce my art.  During those years and until the present I have been represented by fine galleries who have given me the opportunity to be in the studio and in the field while they are "in the trenches". . .displaying, championing and placing my work in collector's homes and beyond - day in and day out.

Go to the BLOG INDEX on the right for more information.

Blog, text, photos, drawings, and sculpture . . . © Sandy Scott and Trish