#719 "Messenger of the Northwest"

Raven - "Messenger of the Northwest"

24"H 19"W 10"D

Edition 25

6,600

The Raven is considered to be the messenger between the living and the spirit 

world by many Pacific Northwest Indian tribes.  The Haida believed that Raven, 

creator of the world, brought forth light, life and order and that nothing could 

exist without Raven.  The sacred bird is honored in art and on totem poles 

reflecting the tales and mysticism that have developed around it.  

Some tribes believe that Raven teaches you to understand 

the language of animals and if Raven comes into your life, 

expect magic.  With Raven, human and animal spirits 

intermingle and become as one.  

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

#712 "Raven Magic Mantlepiece"

"Raven Magic Mantlepiece"

19"H 18"W 11"D
Edition 50
1,800

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

#711 "Raven Magic"

"Raven Magic Wall Hanging"

13"H 22"W 5"D
Edition 50
2,100

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

#710 "Secret Omen"

"Secret Omen"

14 H 22"W 9"D
Edition 35
4,800

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

#708 "Keeper Of Secrets"

"Keeper of Secrets"

18”H 18”W 11”D
Edition 35
6,000

The beautiful, brassy Raven has long been a favorite subject, and this 

year’s new creation, “Keeper of Secrets” is an attempt to record the 

audacity of the bird and the irresistible pleasure I’ve had experiencing 

Raven in the field.

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

#604 Museum shows: The Autry Masters

The Masters of the American West at the Autry Museum in Los Angeles opens this Friday, Jan. 30.  

The prestigious show is one of America's most important exhibitions of representational art.  

Eighty of the nation's most prominent painters and sculptors participate in the annual juried invitational, 

which runs through March 8.

http://TheAutryMasters

Shown below, are the four sculptures and one painting that I am exhibiting in the show.

More information about the gala opening and event in next Sunday's blog.

Taurus Rex
19"H 16"W 8"D
6,300

 The Taker
19"H 18"W 11"D

Requiem for the Fallen

16"H 33"W 8"D

All Ears
11"H 22"W 8"D

Below,  since art school and my days in commercial art, I  have enjoyed oil painting.
 They are not to be found in galleries . . . but every year I create one painting
for the Autry Masters miniature wall.

Running Rooster

6" x 8"

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

#504 In the studio: Birds . . . classification

Start this series with post # 503, Feb. 5, 2014

Scientists have organized and classified birds into major groups called ORDERS.


Each order contains a number of entities called SPECIES.

Species refer to all the birds within an order that are like one another . . . robins, for instance, belong in one species, 
and are in the order passeriformes.

Since "arky", more than 1.5 million species of birds 
have existed on this planet . . . of these, approximately 
10,000 species have evolved and remain.

 BELOW, IS A LIST OF THE ORDERS OF BIRDS . . . (LIVING SPECIES)

             
                     1  Tinamiformes:  tinamous and rheas
                     2  Struthioniformes: ostriches
                     3  Casuariiformes:  cassowaries, emus, and kiwis
                     4  Galliformes:  gamebirds
                     5  Anseriformes:  waterfowl
                     6  Sphenisciformes: penguins 
                     7  Gaviiformes:  loons (divers)
                     8  Podicipediformes:  grebes
                     9  Procellariiformes:  albatrosses and petrels
                   10  Phoenicopteriformes:  flamingos
                   11  Ciconiiformes:  herons and allies
                   12  Pelecaniformes:  pelican and allies 
                   13  Falconiformes: birds of prey
                   14  Charadriiformes:  gulls, plovers and allies 
                   15  Gruiformes:  cranes and allies
                   16  Opisthocomiformes:  hoatzin
                   17  Charadriiformes: waders and shorebirds 
                   18  Pteroclidiformes:  sandgrouse
                   19  Columbiformes:  pigeons
                   20  Psittaciformes:  parrots and cockatoos
                   21  Musophagiformes:  Turacos
                   22  Cuculiformes:  cuckoos
                   23  Strigiformes: owls
                   24  Caprimulgiformes:  nightjars and allies 
                   25  Apodiformes:  hummingbirds and swifts
                   26  Caliiformes:  mousebirds
                   27  Trogoniformes:  trogons 
                   28  Coraciiformes:  kingfishers and allies
                   29  Bucerotiformes:  hornbills and hoopoes
                   30  Piciformes:  woodpeckers and allies

                   31  Passeriformes:  perching birds, song birds, ravens, and allies
        

          

Each bird on the planet falls into one of the ORDERS and is arranged in a sequence that indicates its closest relative.  Outward appearance does not always place birds in the same ORDER as ornithologists look beyond appearance and rely on factors such as anatomy, skeletal structure, DNA analysis, etc.  A complete list of all birds on the planet can be found online by going to Wikipedia: List of Birds. The different species in each ORDER can be found online and in various
field guides which will be discussed in the next post.  Scientists, however, continue to disagree as to the exact 
number of birds in existence as well as to what ORDER some should be placed. 

The highest ranked order, the passeriformes, or perching birds are the most adaptable and are 
considered the highest evolved . . .  the lowest ranked are the flightless ostriches and rheas.  

Over half of all birds on earth belong to the passeriformes order.  Some scientists believe that early in the 
evolutionary process, birds split into two diverse groups.  The first, and much smaller group comprised 
ratites, tinamous, waterfowl, and pheasants.  The second group included all the other avian orders.

Below, is a drawing of an ostrich and a image of a raven sculpture.  
Most scientists consider flightless bird the lowest ranked order 
on the evolutionary classification chart.  The passerines - which includes corvids like 
the raven - is considered the highest evolved and most adaptable.

Black Magic
23"H 17"W 17"D 

Following the Jurassic Period, dinosaurs became extinct at the end of the Cretaceous Period . . .  flowering plants flourished and, released from competition with dinosaurs, birds (and mammals)  occupied some of the niches of the bipedal dinosaur.  Under these conditions, birds thrived and diversified.  

The function of classification is to make sense of the diversity of species by grouping together related forms.  

This diversity is the result of rapid evolutionary change during the past 50 million years.

To avoid confusion across languages, Latin names are used in bird classification, as they are for all other organisms.  Closely related species are grouped in one genus, closely related genera are grouped in 

one family, closely related families are grouped in one order, and so on.          

Since the late 20th century,  fossil discoveries in China and DNA studies continue to present 

controversy among  scientists as to the distantly related ancestors of the modern bird.
Technically, birds are "avian dinosaurs" and the debate continues as to whether they evolved from a bird-like reptile.  

Below, discoveries, analysis, and debate will continue among scientists, but for now . . .
"arky" remains the universally recognized transitional fossil - or link - between dinosaurs and the modern bird.  


Below is a drawing of "arky" and a photo of the fossil found in 1861 . . . see the previous post for more information.

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

#469 A new book: "Art of the National Parks"

Earlier this year, a new book entitled, "Art of the National Parks", was introduced.

The book includes 70 artists who offer distinctive visions of 8 of the nation's beloved national parks.

With more than 450 artworks in 430 pages, this glorious, large format book is a must for
anyone who has hiked the trails, watched a sunset, marveled at buffalo herds,
or yearned to experience America's mythic and transformative vistas.  

Published by Fresco Fine Art Publications, co-authored by Susan Hallsten McGarry,
well-known author;  Jean Stern,  curator and art-historian;  and Terry Lawson Dunn,

biologist and educator, the book is an indispensable compendium of artists who are at the
forefront of 21st century American landscape and wildlife art.


Below, included in Yellowstone section of the book are friends and fellow artists . . .
Clyde Aspevig, Scott Christensen, Ralph Oberg,  Jim Wilcox, and more.
Jim's painting is featured on the cover of the magnificent book.

http://www.amazon.com/
http://www.unmpress.com/

My work was included in the Yellowstone National Park section.

Below, are images of works featured.

 Sleepy Fox
18"H 15"W 9"D

 Ancient Way
20"H 24"W 11"D

 Red-tailed Hawk at Sappa Creek
42"H 30"W 25"D

 Harbinger of Light
13H 20"W 16"D

Hay Bay
19"H 25"W 14"D


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

#427 In the studio: Bird anatomy, con't . . .

Please start this bird anatomy series with post #403, March 10.

Understanding the bird's anatomy takes the mystery out of drawing and modeling.  

The skeleton influences the surface appearance even though the bird is covered with feathers.
Identifying the bird's wrist establishes a point of reference . . . a landmark or waypoint . . . 

a unit of measure to determine wing shapes and proportions.  

All birds fall into a semblance of four basic wing shapes - see post 423, May 5, 2013.  

Identifying the wrist helps the artist establish proportion and pose.   

No waypoint is more important than the bird's wrist when modeling the folded or partially folded wing.  

By locating this boney waypoint, the sculptor can easily determine where the secondaries and primaries originate.  

Harbinger of Light

15"H 20"W 16"D

All sculpture and drawings - copyright Sandy Scott

#419 In the studio: Bird anatomy, con't .

Please start this bird anatomy series with post #403, March 10.

The bird's tail is actually a combination of left and right tail feathers.  One side cannot be spread without  the other spreading also but each side can move up and down independently.  Because of the two sides, there are always an even number of tail feathers.

The bird's tail is shaped differently depending on the species and how nature intended the bird to live and eat:  

The function of the tail is braking, steering, balance, aerodynamic lift, display, and signaling.

Below is an illustration showing several basic tail shapes for different bird species: 

                  1.  Square - starling or nuthatch             5.  Pintail - duck

                  2.  Cleft - Finch                                       6.  Wedge - raven

                  3.  Deep forked - tern or swallow            7.  Fantail - cuckoo

                  4.  Spiked feathers - woodpecker           8.  Elongated center feathers - bee-eater  

There are also variations, such as rounded (crow), pointed (mourning dove),
graduated (magpie), and several unique . . . such as roosters, peafowl, etc. 

    

Below is a recent sculpture of a Fantailed Pigeon . . . pigeons are in the dove family of birds.

Hearts Entwined 
12"H 22"L 11"D
Copyright - Sandy Scott


Below, detail . . . Hearts Entwined

All drawings and sculpture, copyright - Sandy Scott

#167 In the studio: Feathers con't. . .

A bird's wrist joint - where and how it articulates - presents a strong and meaningful sculptural statement.

The skeleton of the bird's wing is more easily understood when compared to the human arm: see Blog #143, Jan 2012  

Detail - Harbinger of Light
13"H 20"W 16"D

#159 In the field: Sedona birds and wildlife con't . . .

The Raven, renowned in Native American tribal lore as a trickster and bird with a mischievous nature, is  common along the Oak Creek trail (see yesterdays Blog) and is one of my favorite subjects. The imposing, oily-black bird is larger than the crow, has a thicker bill and has a distinctive crocking call.  The dramatic corvid can be identified in flight by its wedge-shaped tail.

When I'm on the trail, photographing, observing and gathering studio reference, I usually find a quiet place to sit and keep my eyes and ears open:  I'm guaranteed to see something new and exciting.

What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt and ominous bird of yore 

 Meant in croaking 'Nevermore'.

-Edgar Allan Poe;  The Raven   

Ravenrock
18"H 

#44 Remarque: "Harbinger of Light"

Harbinger of  Light
Detail

   
Raven, the trickster:

The Haida Indians believed raven - creator of the world - took light from a cedar box and lit up the world.  While flying with the light in his beak he was startled by an eagle close by and dropped the light which hit the earth and broke into three pieces.  Two pieces became the moon and stars.  He ascended to the heavens with the third piece creating the sun.

Harbinger of Light was influenced by many trips to Southeast Alaska and the Pacific Northwest.

Harbinger of Light
16"H 20"W 16"D

Tomorrow I will begin teaching a bird sculpture and anatomy workshop at beautiful 

Brookgreen Gardens, Murrells Inlet, South Carolina.

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

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