Spring Sale at Callanwolde!

Tomorrow is our annual spring sale in the greenhouse at Callanwolde! We'll be there hanging out from 7 til 10 for the reception with cheap wine and art snacks. Then the show will be up all weekend until about 5 on Sunday, so come check out my newest works and all the various forms in clay that the assistants and instructors have made.

Here's his droopey underbelly and his sinewy neck where he turns away from the house being pulled off. I love his belly and it's a bummer you can't see it unless you're really looking. But as a treat for you internet viewers I'll point you right to it!

This is another dog in progress. This one sits stoically, but wincing in pain as his house is pulled from him by silly little pups (not yet pictured). I like to use dogs as characters who represent loyalty and power, much like the fierce and skinny dog who protects his house. But this dog recognizes it is time to surrender, although it is painful for him. He's still a muscular and formidable figure, but the things we create must pass on to a new generation. I want him to show he has faith in a principal, and that is his loyalty.

The Price of Safety

And the professional shot, so you can see a different angle. This was the first sculpture I made standing up on thin little legs, and I had to fire it with a large clay support on his stomach to hold him up while he dried. Getting this into the kiln was really dicey, but successful in the end!

Here's the finished version on display at the Callanwolde Holiday Sale '08! Red and Orange and dirty and angry! The sinews in his neck are my favorite part.

Here's a shot of an emaciated dog, scared and angry, protecting the house on his back. I wanted his body to look taxed from holding this house up, and the house to look like a tiny mansion, something many of us would strive for and maybe lose sight of the cost of getting there or holding on to it.