#397 At the foundry: Patina, the power of color, con't . . .

Please start this series about patina with post #391, Feb. 13

Unlike cupric nitrate and ferric nitrate, which requires the bronze to be heated before application . . .

liver of sulfur, which produces black and brown, is applied to the sculpture cold.  

Below, is the sculpture Ovis Aries.  The top image shows the cold application of liver of sulfur.  

The lower image shows the sculpture after it has been heated with a propane torch and cupric nitrate 

has been sizzled onto the bronze.  Note the blue color . . . if ferric nitrate had followed the cupric application, 

the color would have changed to a warmer, yellow green.  

Ovis Aries

16"H 13"W 5"D

Copyright Sandy Scott

#379 In the field: Autry Masters of Western Art, "Ovis Aries"

Invitational and juried museum shows such the Autry Museum's Masters of the American West 

have played an important role in the resurgent interest in representational art.  Quality, originality and 

healthy competition among the artists has been the result and astute collectors and museums recognize it.  

The prestigious show is a coveted invitation and I always introduce new work at the gala event.

The Masters of Western Art Show and Sale opens Feb. 2, 2013.

theautry.org/

Shown below, is one of the new works I will introduce . . . Ovis Aries

24"H 11"W 5"D

Copyright Sandy Scott 2013

1,800

#321 In the field: Jackson, Wyoming

Last week, Trish and I visited Jackson, Wyoming and had lunch with Jim McNutt, director of the National Museum of Wildlife Art and Adam Harris, the museum's curator.

We visited the new Sculpture Trail, see posts #260 - 263, June 17, 2012, and Wilcox Gallery, the fine gallery that has represented me for many years.


At right, the installation of Above Timberline at Wilcox Gallery.

Below, Presidential Eagle and installation of Moose Flats on the Sculpture Trail.

#272 Remarque: "Above Timberline", con't. . .

Designing and creating large scale outdoor monuments is "dream-work" for most sculptors, myself included.  The process is the culmination of bringing sculpture
and nature together in a site-specific setting.

Art is a bold attempt to put life in its proper place.

Art alone can protect us from the humiliating dangers of real life.

                                                                                - Oscar Wilde

Shown below is Above Timberline, ready for installation at Wilcox Gallery, Jackson, Wyoming

#271 Remarque: "Above Timberline", con't. . .

Shown below, is the Above Timberline monument in clay.  See yesterday's post, #270.

The sculpture is designed to be mounted on a metal frame and installed with natural terrain and dry-stacked rock.  

The work is site-specific;  landscaping an elevated berm enhances the visual impact.

Note the plaster maquette with the chipped leg.  I love working from a plaster model, as I was taught in art school . . . subtle planes and shadows are revealed with low lighting.

#270 Remarque: "Above Timberline"

Several years ago I was commissioned to create a Bighorn Sheep monument for Colorado State University, located in Fort Collins, Colorado.  I've lived in the Rockies over 30 years and have experienced the magnificent animal in the wild in the Poudre Canyon, west of Fort Collins, on many occasions.

Above Timberline is a design study (also called the maquette) that was used as a guide to construct the large armature and model the monument in clay.

Shown below, are two images of Above Timberline maquette 
14"H 14"W 7"D

3,900

#267 Throw on another log: Original prints and reproductions

Traditionally, fine art prints or original prints are etchings, drypoints, engravings, lithographs, block prints, and serigraphs - all meeting standards set by the Print Council of America. printcouncil.org/  Original prints are produced by hand presses, are created directly on the plate, block, stone, etc., using pigmented inks and are sometimes hand-tinted by the artist. Editions of these prints are usually limited to a few hundred or less, thus insuring rarity, collectibility, and value.

In the early 1970s, large national companies began to produce photomechanical offset reproductions of paintings issued in large editions.  Although they were hand-signed by the artist and advertised as "limited", some editions were so large as to be considered unlimited by standards of just a few years earlier.  Moreover, the offset dye inks were not permanent and if the "print" was exposed to light, it would soon fade.

Today, there are new printing techniques, using permanent inks, that make it possible to own a hangable reproduction of a painting by an artist whose work would otherwise be unavailable or unaffordable.  Many are produced in small editions.  The designation for such work is "photomechancial reproduction" and not the time-honored term, "print".

Sheep

Original Etching by Sandy Scott;  7 X 9 3/4