Reproductions in Crystal

Commissions

All of a sudden, at the beginning of 2008, commissions started pouring in! It began when the Azle Public Library in Texas, in the middle of building their new library, lost their beloved library cat, Molli. Through David Wiegand of Sculptureworks Inc., they commissioned me to do a sculpture of a cat on an open book so that Molli will live on in the library’s new location. I call this 10½” x 21” x 13” piece “Library Cat”.

The next excitement came when I enlarged my “Running Cheetah” to 9½ feet long! The first order to come through was from a company, NuVasive, whose mascot is the Cheetah and with whom I have done business in the past. This large version will grace the entrance of their new headquarters building.

But it doesn’t end there. The Dalton family of Dowagiac, MI, wants to donate a large sculpture to the city in memory of their recently deceased grandmother, Helen Tremble. (They were familiar with my work because Dowagiac has my “Stone Lion” in a park in town already.) Helen evidently loved cats, large and small, and had traveled to Africa where she saw Cheetahs in person. So now this large “Running Cheetah” sculpture will be one of three different running cheetahs to sprint along a narrow grassy area in Dowagiac. I am in the process of sculpting two more poses

Chapman University in Orange, CA then added more interest to my life when President Doti decided he wanted another Rosetta Panther to join the two already living on campus. The University has added a beautiful new Piazza with an amphitheater and fountain by the new entrance to the library, and this life-sized “Panther Alert” will perch on the hillside, as if he has just noticed some activity around “his” fountain and stopped to check it out. It will stand six feet tall on its sedimentary concrete base, which is indicated by the sculpted rocks of this 16” high maquette.

Another Commission on the Way:

The Nebraska Arts Council, for the state’s One Percent For Art Program, is selecting sculpture for Peru State College, representing their mascot, the Bobcat. I have been selected as one of two artists commissioned to create sculptures for their “Bobcat Series Project”. I will be creating a 1½-life-sized bronze Bobcat for outdoor placement. I’m really looking forward to this new sculpture of one of my favorite animals!

Other News

The Red Fox that was on display for a year-long show at The Promenade Shops at Briargate shopping center in Colorado Springs has been purchased by the center, so it will remain in its lovely spot in a planter in front of the management’s offices there.

Felidae Conservation Fund, with whom I have an ongoing relationship to provide them with commissions from sales of my sculptures, has just opened a beautiful new office/gallery in downtown Tiburon, CA at 116 Main Street and they will have a nice collection of my work for sale there to benefit wild cat research and education around the world.

Wild About Wildebeests!

My Wildebeest Mask has been getting some wonderful attention lately!  We attended the opening for the SOCIETY OF ANIMAL ARTISTS annual exhibition at the WILDLIFE EXPERIENCE in Parker, CO, and I was delighted to be surprised with the SAA’s AWARD OF EXCELLENCE for the Wildebeest Mask!  It was displayed beautifully with the Cape Buffalo Mask, one on each side of a huge John Banovich painting of elephants and a giant baobab tree - a fitting setting and much-appreciated honor.

Dr. Estes with Wildebeest Mask

New Sculpture

Two new pieces made their debut at the annual SPRING UNVEILING ART FESTIVAL in early May.  Every year, most of the galleries in Cannon Beach, OR, participate in this event in which a previously unseen work of art is unveiled at a different gallery every half hour.  I was the featured sculptor at Bronze Coast Gallery this year where we unveiled “Lookout Tree” and “Heron Rising” for the first time.  Both sculptures were received with enthusiasm and we had a great time visiting with collectors, relatives who had come for the event and the wonderful gallery personnel at Bronze Coast Gallery.

“Heron Rising”, 12”x 16”x 16”, Edition of 24 Also available without glass bowl, 11.5”x15”x14”		“Lookout Tree”, 17.5”x13”x10”, Edition of 24

A commission that took up a good bit of last summer is an enlargement of “On The Alert”, about half way between the original table-top version and the over-life-sized one which was commissioned by Alden Vineyards in CA.  A more comfortable size for the intimacy of a residential setting, this one now lives in front of a beautiful home in the hills of Belvedere, CA, overlooking San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge. The commission is a result of my partnership with the conservation organization, Feildae (see below), and was installed earlier this year.

Now completed in bronze are Eagle, Grizzly, Bighorn, Moose and Bobcat Mask Maquettes and the large version of Grizzly Mask.

I've also introduced four miniatures of existing pieces: "On The Alert Mini" (5"x 3.5"x 3" in an edition of 50), "Running Cheetah Mini" (3"x 9.5"x 2" in an unlimited edition), "Vantage Point Mini" (4.5" x 4.5" x 4" in an edition of 50) and "Mountain Fishing Maquette" (4.5"x 8"x 5" in an edition of 50).

"Peaks & Plains" is the in-flight magazine for Great Lakes Airlines and there's a nice three-page feature on my work in the "Arts" (Spring) issue.  The title of the article is "Capturing Beauty & Power in Bronze".

"Wildscape", published in the UK and subtitled "The Journal of Wildlife Art & Conservation", features artist-written articles on all aspects of wildlife art and the business of art.  The June issue includes one they invited me to submit, titled "Rosetta's Interpretive Realism".

June’s edition of “American Art Collector” included an article titled “Animal Magnetism, Sculptors connect man to fellow creatures” by John O’Hern, Executive Director and Curator of the Arnot Art Museum in Elmira, NY.  Seven sculptors were selected for inclusion and a full-page image of my “The Leap Maquette” (version II) fills the second page of the article.