This blog is the fourth in a series of posts beginning with #568,posted September 24, 2014, spotlighting excerpts from the book
"Spirit of the Wild Things - The Art of Sandy Scott". Published
in 1998 by Stony Press,
the book chronicles early work and is also a learning tool for anyone interested in sculpture studio techniques and insights into an artist's working methods.
The story reprinted below is one of 46 stories and musings taken from early
journals and organized into the book written by Susan Hallsten McGarry on
the occasion of the 1998 Gilcrease Museum Retrospective of my work.
Many of the stories, such as the one below, are about time spent at the
Canadian cabin studio located on an island on Lake of the Woods.
journals and organized into the book written by Susan Hallsten McGarry on
the occasion of the 1998 Gilcrease Museum Retrospective of my work.
Many of the stories, such as the one below, are about time spent at the
Canadian cabin studio located on an island on Lake of the Woods.
It's a Beautiful Day . . . from the book entitled "Spirit of the Wild Things - The Art of Sandy Scott".
As autumn nears, like many people, I instinctively feel an urge to gather and harvest. In the spring, I'm compelled to plant.
Akin to the animals, humans have instincts, and mine are manifested in the land, to which I feel a closeness.
My father and my grandparents on both my father's and mother's sides of the family and their fathers before them made their living by farming. In my own little way I carry on the agrarian tradition. I have chickens for eggs, a small orchard and a garden.
I have found that I am content in a rural or a wilderness habitat.
I have found that I am content in a rural or a wilderness habitat.
My live-off-the-land compulsion extends to draining and closing time as winter nears at my cabin.
At the end of the season, using Evelyn Cottam's special techniques, I can and put up lake
trout and pike in quart jars. For the traditional Canadian Thanksgiving in October,
we eat Ruffed Grouse harvested from the island.
But it is the North Country that I identify with and where I feel at home.
There I feel a part of an existence where life is simple. The open horizons and the
freedom of the wilderness - since my youth - have given my life meaning and purpose.
There I feel a part of an existence where life is simple. The open horizons and the
freedom of the wilderness - since my youth - have given my life meaning and purpose.
Below, are pictures of crappie and walleye caught for the evening supper . . . . both are excellent tablefare.
While at the cabin, we eat fish at almost every meal and in the fall,
grouse - or partridge as the Canadians call them - are a favorite delicacy.
Below, are walleye filets cooked in the old Presto fryer that's been in use at the cabin for almost 40 years.
Below, is a drawing of a walleye from my sketchbook and an original etching of a crappie.
Below, is a picture of our bird dog in a boat who would rather be grouse hunting.
Below, grouse hunting last week on a remote logging road not far from the cabin.
Below, grouse wings and tail will be put to use as reference for a
new sculpture in progress depicting a pair of Ruffed Grouse in flight.
Below, is an original etching entitled, "The Red Canoe" which was used to illustrate a story in the book,
"Spirit of the Wild Things - The Art of Sandy Scott".
Go to the BLOG INDEX on the right for more information.
Blog, text, photos, drawings, and sculpture . . . © Sandy Scott and Trish
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