Archives for Bronze

One Step at a Time

One Step at a Time

August 10, 2023 | by

Paul Rhymer had just received one of the biggest honors of his artistic life, and he was making those noises humble people make—noises that sound an awful lot like, “Why did they pick me?” In this case, “they” would be the folks who organize and conduct the annual Birds in Art event in Wausau, Wisconsin, who selected Rhymer as Master Wildlife Artist of 2023. A longtime attraction of the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum in Wausau, Birds In Art has included works by thousands of avian artists from around the world. Most years—not all—they select a Master Wildlife Artist. And
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The Studio of Gerald Balciar

The Studio of Gerald Balciar

June 15, 2023 | by

When we last spoke with wildlife sculptor Gerald Balciar in 2017, he was excited about developing a new bronze patina to capture the distinctive hue of bluebirds. The birds nest in the many boxes that Balciar and his wife Bonnie have placed around their 10-acre ranch in Parker, Colorado. “Oh yes, I’ll be doing more and more bluebirds,” he said at the time. Six years later, Balciar has made good on that promise. When we caught up with him to learn about his studio—a 40′ x 60′ metal pole barn with seven rooms—the 80-year-old artist was in the process of
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Big Vision, Big Energy

Big Vision, Big Energy

June 15, 2023 | by

To truly appreciate a piece of Brenna Kimbro’s art, you first have to back up, way up, taking in the full scope of the thing. Then you have to get up really close, cheek to jowl, observing the fine details that comprise the entire creation. Zoom out, panning from nose to tail; zoom in, picking up the dancing of hooves, the flare of a nostril. These paintings and sculptures, many of them larger than life, are the work of an artist who clearly has no reservations about taking up space. “My tendency is to make things enormous,” Kimbro says. “I
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‘The Harder You Work, the Luckier You Get’

‘The Harder You Work, the Luckier You Get’

May 4, 2023 | by

“It’s another day in paradise,” says sculptor and gallery owner Ken Rowe, savoring his view of Sedona, Arizona’s, snowcapped mountains. “We’ve been here 28 years now, and I never tire of it.” A self-described Arizona boy through and through, Rowe was born in Phoenix to an electrical engineer and an amateur painter—a combination Rowe credits as foundational to his art. “Growing up, without even knowing it, I had this wonderful influence of the mechanical aspect of life through my dad’s career and the artistic pursuits from my mother’s side.” Although his mother never made a career of her painting, she
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Inspired by Nature

Inspired by Nature

January 5, 2023 | by

After more than 40 years as an artist, Margery Torrey has sculpted a myriad of subjects. She’s done pigs, puffins, and people. She’s created eagles and antelope. She’s designed a full-on steeplechase scene with multiple horses racing for the prize. Until last summer, however, she had never sculpted a sailboat. Even so, she didn’t hesitate to accept the commission when it came. It was a request from the children of a dear friend and was intended to be a gift for their father’s 85th birthday. “When she asked me about it, his daughter said, ‘We know it’s not what you
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Poignant Moments

Poignant Moments

November 3, 2022 | by

Colorado-based low relief sculptor J.D. (Jeremiah) Welsh spent much of the past year working in secret. The award-winning member of the National Sculpture Society (NSS) is no stranger to producing complex works on tight deadlines, but he poured many months and 23 years’ worth of skill into one special, small object: the Brookgreen Medal. “I honestly never thought I’d have the chance to do it,” Welsh says of the medal, which honors the prestigious Brookgreen Gardens sculpture garden in South Carolina and is presented to artists who ear the Anna Huntington Hyatt Award at the NSS’ annual awards exhibition. It
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Turning Chaos Into Order

Turning Chaos Into Order

September 1, 2022 | by

When Evelyn Tennyson, owner of Two Old Crows Gallery in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, asked Dave LaMure to create a monumental sculpture in honor of her late husband’s passion—trout fishing—he hesitated before giving her a de!nite answer. “I said, ‘Let me research it,'” he recalls. LaMure was so focused on the unique vessels he was making that he wasn’t sure he wanted to take time away from those creations to take on a trout commission. That changed as he began his research and became hooked on the story of the Native Cutthroat Trout, which was thought to be extinct for 70
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Boundless Talent, Boundless Energy

Boundless Talent, Boundless Energy

June 30, 2022 | by

Star Liana York’s energy knows no bounds. Neither does her talent. She’s not only been creating award-winning sculptures for more than four decades, she also owns and runs a ranch with her husband and operates an Airbnb. After competing in horse events and breeding and training horses for many years, she has set that aside. There are, after all, only so many hours in a day, most of which York fills with creating magnificent sculptures that have earned her countless awards and are treasured by collectors. York’s monumental sculptures are placed at sites throughout the country that include the Smithsonian
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Sudden Inspiration

Sudden Inspiration

May 1, 2022 | by

Tim Whitworth gets lost in creating. Ideas for a sculpture can overtake him at any minute, setting his mind in motion on every facet of its design. “I can be driving down the highway, and if I see something I’ll ask myself, ’Now, how do I put that into 3D?’” he says. “I’ll go through it in my mind.” That sudden inspiration also has its drawbacks. “Sometimes I get an idea about a piece,” Whitworth says. “I’ll get it designed, go through the process—design what it will look like, create the patina – then maybe won’t do it. I’ll do
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The Studio of Ed Mell

The Studio of Ed Mell

May 1, 2022 | by

For more than four decades, Arizona-based painter, Ed Mell, has charmed the public with his vibrant images of the Sonoran Desert and the Colorado Plateau. The beauty and veracity of his paintings give testimony to his love of his native surroundings. Born in Phoenix, Arizona, Mell grew up in what was then just a small desert oasis, leaving when he enrolled in the Art Center School of Design in Los Angeles, California. After completing his courses in 1967, he accepted a position with a large advertising firm in New York City. A year later, he and a friend started their
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