Te Deum

36″ x 24″ x 60″

Steel

Twice yearly a dozen or so ceramicists from the Santa Fe and Taos areas place their wheel-thrown or slab-built pieces in a large pit lined with horse bedding. Dried coffee grounds, sea weed, horse hair, salt, copper wire, plant fertilizers — and whatever else artists want to add — are sprinkled judiciously in the pit. Hard wood is added and the heap set ablaze. It smolders for a day.

When uncovered there are oohs and aaahs, surprises and disappointments, at what had been created. Mine was a long aaah.

The gold accent lines were painted afterward

11″ x 10″ x 5″

Bulls try to unseat unwelcome riders at Rodeos.   Matadors taunt these giants to the point of rage and then orchestrate their killing under the guise of sport. I find it all disconcerting.

I sculpted this charging bull with s small red bird riding on its back.   I have had the opportunity to visit Tanzania a few times. There I witnessed birds hitching a taxi ride on the backs of lions, elephants, giraffes, hippos and all manner of four legged creatures.   Someone told me that the birds were looking for their next meal of insects.

To me the bull and its rider is an image of a this-worldly peaceable world … rather than of Wall Street or misplaced sport.

Unless you live in the Southwest, ravens are noisy maligned creatures.  Their squawk is strident. They are also a little menacing as they sit on high perches ready to swoop down whenever a meal is in sight. Few seem to admire them with the same interest we bestow on songbirds or those of color.

Evidently ravens are among the smartest of all birds. They play, solve problems, and communicate well. There is even the theory that they pass on some life-saving behaviors to their offspring genetically (rather than having to teach the young).  In other words, ravens are smart.

Little wonder that some Native American peoples depict ravens in human form. I follow that tradition. My raven is dressed as an aristocrat, even regal in bearing.. Her cope is gold, her tunic burgundy.   Her hand rests over her heart.

This raven is my reminder to look twice at everyone and everything.

ODE TO JOY

Steel 36″h x 15″w x 15″d

Wood base 34″h x 15″w x 15″d

This steel sculpture on a wooden base is one of a triptych: “Ode to Joy (Beethoven),  “The New World Symphony” (Dvork) and “Ending On A Positive Note.”

Many say that we live in a noisy world. It is also a musical one.

Lullabies hummed during night hours introduced us to music. If fortunate enough to have hospice care as we die, music may be the last sounds we hear.  And between those times we are immersed in song.

Filmmakers and marketers know its power.  So do churches.

Then there is another kind of music.  We find it when life becomes frenetic and we need to pull apart for a time.  Off goes the internet, out come the ear buds.  It is then we hear a child breathing, rustling of leaves, the sound of a plane overhead, the wail of a coyote, the ping of a wind chime, or the creak in floor boards. It is all music when we choose to listen.

Beethoven is to my liking.  He may not be yours.  No matter.   My hope is that the sculpture awakens lightsomeness and a sense of joy.