#670 Africa Portfolio 1 . . . "Recumbent Giraffe"

In October, 2013, Trish and I traveled to Africa with a group of 9 internationally known artists to sketch, photograph, paint, observe, and experience the amazing wildlife in Tanzania.  The purpose of the trip was and is to raise awareness and funds to combat the African poaching crisis where thousands of elephants are slaughtered annually for their ivory tusks.  

To learn more about the trip, please go to blog #477, posted Nov. 10, 2013 through #497, posted Jan. 19, 2014.
https://www. Post #477

Last weekend Columbine Gallery in Loveland, Colorado hosted the first show for the group of 9 artists -
Artist Ambassadors Against Poaching  [AAAP] - and a generous portion of the sales went to our anti-poaching efforts . . . "Ivory Orphans" which cares for the young elephants after the adults are killed for their ivory.  More shows are planned.

To learn more about the art show at Columbine Gallery to raise funds for "Ivory Orphans", see the previous 3 posts.

http://www.columbinegallery.com/african-wildlife-trust.html

The focus of this blog is the Giraffe;  a favorite subject depicted in one of the new works in Africa Portfolio 1. 

The new bronze sculpture was introduced at the Columbine art show in Loveland, Colorado last weekend.

Below, are photos of the sculpture, "Recumbent Giraffe"

Below, are photos of Giraffe taken in the field in Tanzania.

Next Sunday's blog spotlights the creation of "Recumbent Giraffe".



For anatomy reference, see page #616 and #655

Go to the BLOG INDEX  and Reference Page for more information.  

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

#603 Paris: comparative anatomy museum at the Jardin des Plantes

Please see the previous blog for more information about this post.

The comparative anatomy museum in Paris - Galerie de Paleontologie
et d'Anatomie Comparee - consists of two floors in an enormous building in the Jardin de Plantes, and is unlike any natural history museum

 I've ever visited . . . I could spend weeks there and I will return.

I've never been so overwhelmed entering a room . . . there were hundreds of skeletons identified by hand-written cards from the 1800s.  There were skeletons everywhere in the huge atrium . . .  a dizzying array of skeletons of every shape and size.   The academic ambiance was perfect for a figurative sculptor and collector of bones
and skeletons such as myself.  Osteology has long been
an interest and passion . . . I was in heaven!

Every imaginable species could be seen . . . including dinosaurs.  Glass cases and cabinets
filled with an astonishing array of bird skeletons and more.  I took hundreds of pictures and made
many sketches with notes.  Only a few students were there on the day we attended and as the image
shows below, I was able to sit on the floor and get great photographic angles of the specimens.

The collections derive from the great expeditions of naturalists of the 18th and 19th centuries as well as specimens

 from the zoo (menagerie) on the grounds of the Jardin des Plantes which we had visited the day before. 

 Barye, Bugatti, and Fremiet had worked in not only the zoo, but in the vast room we were standing in.

 I'm concluding every blog about our trip to Paris last month with a glimpse of life in the beautiful city.

The first photo depicts Sacre Coure on the bluff of Montmarte, looking north from the Musee d'Orsay on a rainy day.
We stayed in Montmarte . . . our hotel room overlooked Sacre Coure and the next photo, shows the view from our room.
 Our mornings started with coffee, croissant, and fruit in the room . . . the day's adventure before us.

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

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

#602 Paris: The menagerie at the Jardin des Plantes

Please see the previous blog for more information about this post.

The Jardin de Plantes in Paris which includes the menagerie (zoo) expanded dramatically
 in the early years of the 19th century and the definitive sculptor of animals,
 Antoine-Louis Barye was a frequent visitor.  Throughout his life it was a source of
 reference and inspiration and provided the basis for his scientific approach to sculpture.

At various times, the menagerie had exotic animals such as Asian elephants and lions.  When the animals died, he would attend their dissections, make a multitude of drawings
and spend hours taking measurements and recording detailed proportions.

He put his years of self-study at the zoo and his knowledge of anatomy to good use . . . emphasizing the musculature of animals in a bold and energetic manner.
 His idealized, stylized, and dramatized sculptures of animals are without equal.

Below, is an image of Barye's sculpture taken in the menagerie
at the Jardin des Plantes in Paris last month.

While exploring the menagerie and experiencing the animals, I was consumed
with the realization that Barye, his good friend, Delacroix, and many other great artists
such as Bugatti and Fremiet, walked the same paths and trails in years past.

 Below, are images.

Below, I'm concluding every blog about our trip to Paris last month with a glimpse of life in the beautiful city.

Christmas time in Paris is magic!  One sunny morning, Trish and I walked from the Place Concord
along the Champs Elysees to the Petit Palace Museum.  After our museum visit,
 we continued to the Arc Triomphe then back to the Tuileries.

The Champs Elysees is lined on both sides with kiosks and outdoor kitchens serving every food and drink imaginable.
We enjoyed a hot wine and a raclette, which is a sandwich served by warming the top of a large cheese wheel
with a heating device then scraping the melted cheese onto a baguette with ham and optional potatoes.
The long walk back to the metro was welcome after a late lunch!

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

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

#584 In the studio: "Raven VI Fragment"

 For several years I've explored the possibilities of challenging traditional concepts of figurative sculpture by deliberately deconstructing previous works.  My goal is to present the fragment or partial figure as the essence of a new idea.
By freeing the figure from limitations of subject matter, content, and narrative, the fragment becomes a unique form.
The focus of this blog is fragments.  

Fragments contemplate the line between realism and abstraction and while the concept draws from the antique,
the impression  remains contemporary.  I continue to search for expressive power that can be contained within
broken form and present, as finished work, a new idea gleaned from previously created designs.

Below, are two images of a new sculpture entitled, "Raven VI Fragment".
Positive and negative shapes have been arranged to form the design.
I've attempted to suggest fragmented and truncated relics from antiquity . . .  what appears
to be random is a deliberate, isolated form, created to stand alone as a unique sculptural statement.
When viewed from different angles, new designs are discovered.

 The sculpture, "Raven Fragment VI" was created by breaking off parts of the sculpture shown below,
entitled "Harbinger of Light" . . .  two views are shown.

Below, is a drawing of a Raven from my sketchbook . . . drawing is the genesis of all of my sculpture.

More about fragments in next Sunday's blog.

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

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

#583 In the Field: Birds of the North Country, con't . . .

This blog is part of a series of posts about

our island studio and cabin located on

Lake of the Woods in Ontario, Canada. 

The series starts with #568, posted

September 24 of this year.  There are

many earlier posts about the cabin that

can be seen by going to the blog index.

Much of my in the field experience and reference is gathered at the 

island studio located on Lake of the Woods.  Starting with blog #578, 

the birds of the North Country including those who remain during Ontario's frigid winter weather have been explored.  The focus 

of this blog is the different species of owls who stay

during the winter in the vicinity of my island studio.

Although we've never wintered at the cabin when the lake is frozen over,  my thoughts often go to the animals who are able to withstand the bitter cold winter months.  Owls are among the creatures who are
able to adapt to a world of wind, ice, and snow.

Among the different species of owls who remain in the frozen North Country in the Lake of the Woods region
are the Great Gray Owl, the Snowy Owl, the Northern Hawk Owl, the Northern Saw-whet Owl,
the Boreal Owl, the Barred Owl, and the Great Horned Owl.


At left above and below are photos of the Great Horned Owl.

Owls are members of the order Strigiformes, are mainly nocturnal predators, have
 distinctive forward-facing eyes which gives depth perception much like your own eyes,
 and a facial disk which helps the bird hear . . . much like a satellite dish.

Owls have the best night vision of any creature on earth allowing them to hunt in the dark.
 Interestingly, one of an owl's ear holes is higher than the other which helps the bird find prey. . .
owls have superb hearing and vision.  The tufts of feathers on some owls are not ears . . .
the ears are behind their moveable facial discs allowing hearing from different directions.
Also, an owl's wing feathers have soft, frayed edges which permits silent flight while hunting.

Below is a photo of a Barred Owl. . . a species without ear tufts.

Below, is a drawing of a Great Gray Owl . . . an enormous, secretive Northwoods owl who more than any other,
defines the Lake of the Woods coniferous forest.  I've experienced the Great Gray only a few times
while in residence at the island studio.  Once, at dusk I heard its distinctive deep hooting and was
finally able to locate it in a pine tree.  On another occasion, I saw the beautiful bird
cruising through the woods on the wing while grouse hunting.

Below, is a head study of a Great Horned Owl.  The drawing was created at the Brookgreen Gardens Aviary
and was the precursor to a sculpture demonstration for students in the workshop.

Below, is the clay model of the workshop demonstration depicting a head study of a Great Horned Owl created at the
 Brookgreen Gardens Aviary.  Also shown, is the bronze casting of the demo entitled, "Wind in the Woods".

Below, is a little acrylic painting of a Snowy Owl created in Alaska during a canoe trip on
the Noatak River recently. The Snowy does not nest in the Lake of the Woods region where my island
studio is located but moves in from its nesting area in the arctic tundra during the winter to feed.

Oil on panel

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

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