Sculpture and Lighting

You can hold a revolution in your hands.

 Showing your work on location means thinking creatively about practical matters.
How do you light your artwork without electricity, or extra long, cumbersome, extension cords that are ugly and a trip hazard?

The St Francis relief lit by LED lights nested in potted plant. Photo by David Bales.

I bought and brought small LED XB (extra bright) lights to illuminate my sculpture after dark.
Less than $10 each. To warm that cold blue white light, I taped orange theater gels onto the lights.

They worked like a charm.

I brought a potted plant to disguise the base of the sculpture, and just nestled the LED light into the plant. No plants were harmed in this exhibition because the lights weigh so little and emit no heat.

LED puck light with two layers of orange gels taped on to warm the color of the light.

How are you using new lighting technology to show your art?

Sculpture and A Pop-Up Studio at Rare Plant Research.

It's a lot of work to move a sculpture studio to Villa Catalana for one evening...

Villa Catalana at Rare Plant Research

A Pop-up studio means moving heavy things. I hate flimsy tables, so it means bringing my smaller work bench. The one with the steel tubing legs and solid 2 inch thick x 5 feet long maple top. The one with a heavy steel vice permanently attached to it.....

The good news is that once I'm set up, I'm at home. Anywhere.

I began a new carving,

and showed finished sculpture.

My six guests and I had a table at the end of the grape arbor that looks out over a large pond. The busy swallows were replaced by even busier bats. No mosquitoes.

We talked and ate and laughed as the sun slowly set. Time seemed to expand because everyone knew how precious it is to have a reprieve from cares, to be with friends for a meal on a warm evening.

It is a lot of work to move a sculpture studio. The secret is to move it to a perfect place and time.

Sculpture and A Pop-Up Studio at Rare Plant Research.

 I'll be taking the Gracewood Studio Pop-Up  (my workbench, tools and art) to Rare Plant Research this Saturday as part of their Garden Party.

I began several pieces last year to have something to show while demonstrating carving. It's very satisfying to return this year and show finished sculpture.

Rare Plant Research is hosting the 2011 Garden Party at Villa Catalana, the Romanesque inspired home of Burl and Cindy Mostul. Good food, music and art all in a beautiful country setting. For an evening you can be in Italy..........

The new St Francis carving, the little Lion, and my other work will look right at home at Rare Plant Research.

St Francis relief sculpture by Patrick Gracewood ©2011 31 inches x 20 x 4 inches

To see more of Villa Catalana's buildings and gardens, click here.

Sculpture and Macedonia

Another cultural war is brewing.
This one is over a 1000 year old Big Name brand.

Who owns the rights to Alexander the Great?

The giant statue ready to be assembled. Photo from the Econimist.

A new equestrian sculpture was placed in the main square of Skopje, the capital of Macedonia. It's old school impressive at 92 foot tall, weighing 30 tons, and costing thirteen million (US) dollar (9 million euros).

The bronze sculpture was cast in Florence by the foundry Ferdinando Marinelli.  Placed on a 10m concrete pedestal it will be surrounded by a fountain. It's BIG.

The artist is Valentina Stefanovska,who worked on the sculpture for three years. Officially it's bland name is, "Warrior on a horseback" but all involved know it depicts the hero of Greece, Alexander the Great.

And that's where the trouble starts.

Macedonia and Greece are in dispute over who lay claim to the heritage of Alexander.

Macedonians claim they have the same right as Greeks to call themselves descendants of Alexander, arguing that Macedonia in ancient times was one geographical territory, and its heroes now belong to everyone living in its separate states of Macedonia, Greece and Bulgaria. Greece, however says its neighbor is falsely laying claim to its history and ancient heritage.

Ancient history and art serve contemporary political agendas? Read more here.

Sculpture and A Pop-Up Studio

The (temporary) view from my work bench.

Landscape architect Richard Schultz knows how to throw a party.

His rules for a great party are simple:

Find a fabulous river front property.

Build your dream home.

Invite friends and family.

This lovely site was the first for my summer's pop-up sculpture studio.

Have work bench, will travel. Look at the AAC carving in the center and compare it to the last photo. It's becoming it's own group work of art!

For the Schultz's 3rd of July party, along with my carvings, I brought tools and some AAC for people to carve.  Here's some photos of guests who tried carving for the first time. (Sorry for the glare off the water, it's part of the burden of working on location. :-) )

Aside from people's excitement at carving, what was interesting was how the trial block of AAC began looking like an art work as each person took what was there and changed it to suit their own ideas.

Sculpture and Jason deCaires Taylor

 Jason deCaires Taylor has a new sculpture, called Anthropocene.  It's located at the Manchones Reef, in Cancun/ Isla Mujeres, Mexico at a depth of 8 meters.

Anthropocene by deCaires Taylor. all photos from the artist.

A life size 8 ton cement replica of the classic Volkswagon beetle. The sculpture is designed specifically to house marine life whilst exploring the significant impact humans have had on our planets ecosystems and the subsequent affects to future generations. The VW beetle or "votcho" as it is known in Mexico is an iconic symbol and the classic shape was still in production until March 2003. Its rounded aerodynamic shape makes it perfectly suited to maintain stability underwater from strong currents and tropical storms.

More of his work.here

Sculpture and Jason deCaires Taylor

The sculpture of Jason deCaires Taylor only gets better with time.

In fact, time changes it completely. That's the point of his work. His art is a collaboration with nature.



I've written about his work here and here.