Red, White, & Blue

McBride Gallery is having their summer theme show this next week, with red, white and blue being the theme to commemorate the July 4th holiday. Since I am not inclined to wave flags, I went with the more literal interpretation of the title. So I have 'Red White & Blue (9x12, oil, of an egret) and 'Redwing' (8x8, oil) for the show, along with my recent koi painting 'Flotilla', shown further below. The reception for the show is Friday July 6 evening but the show will hang for several weeks.

Aussie Clay (10"long x 9" tall x 4" wide)

Now I have all of my sculpture clays up on the blog. This is the Aussie I started at the USASA Specialty in MO in April; still working on surface treatment and head, but hopefully have now gotten the balance right. I did the first hours of this sculpture sitting ringside during Bitch classes (not for me, silly, I already know how to do that!) at the Nationals, so I got a lot of lovely Aussies to look at while working, and input from many master breeders. Pulled this back out to work on this week and then I was able to identify a couple of areas needing revision (I love a long neck but it was really too much!) like reducing the ruff, shaping the head to a more feminine profile since I am trying to portray a bitch, and of course portraying coat texture.

Sheltie Clay (12" long x 9" tall x 5" wide)

This is actually the first sculpture I created but it has sat on the shelf for a while as I ponder surface treatment (depicting plush thick Sheltie hair without getting too detaily) and getting the head/expression just right without again getting too detailed. Body mostly modeled on the Sunebank/Caerleon body type because I like their balance and amount of coat carried (not too much).

Might be close but not sure this one will be cast anytime soon. On this and any of my clays, please contact me if you are interested in the precast price.

Great Blue Heron clay

Maybe finished, almost ready for the foundry. The same heron as shown in earlier post but with some anatomical refinements.

Flotilla (oil on canvas, 24x48)

Finally a new painting, Koi I saw at the National Arboretum last fall.