Featured Artist: Eric Sealine

What intrigues me most about artists is not necessarily what they are working on but where they came from and where they have been. Just by learning about someone’s past you gain a greater appreciation for what they create now and who they are. Their background influences every piece of art they make, paint, or build, whether they know it or not.

When I spoke with Eric Sealine, this same fact proved to be true as well. Sealine’s current and future work is based on his past experiences. Sealine has a show scheduled for 2012 at the Boston Sculptors Gallery. The theme for his show, unless things change, will be based on the creek that he played in when he was a kid in Delaware.

Through perspective, Sealine wants to show the natural history of the creek he so often visited as a child. He is very interested in the idea of perception and how it works. People are easily fooled, why is that? People also love to be fooled. However, he does not want the show to be a story of loss but instead that of a gift he experienced as a child. He is also trying to incorporate how our memories get smoothed and changed by taking them out and toying with them as we get older. The concept is one that anyone can relate to.

Sealine’s past has influenced his work in numerous ways. For example, he has built boats by hand and still has the first boat he ever built, which he sails to this day. He was also an architectural model maker. His carpentry skills translate directly to his current works in progress, as well as his studio, which he built.

A lot of Sealine’s work has a three dimensional illusion to it. The picture above is a good example of a three dimensional illusion. It has no official title yet but is just being called, A Work in Progress. Sealine’s work is fun and carefree and when I see this picture, well, I enjoy being fooled. Submitted by Jen Costa, Boston Sculptors Gallery intern.

Featured Artist: Rosalyn Driscoll

Which material should you choose to work with for your next sculpture? Wood, Metal, plaster? How about rawhide? I bet you haven’t worked with this particular material yet! Rawhide is Rosalyn Driscoll’s medium of choice in her most recent show at the Boston Sculptors Gallery, Natural Light.

Driscoll first came across rawhide while she was in New Mexico for an artists’ residency. She was in a drum store and saw a painting on rawhide. After some conversing with people at the store and figuring out that it could be shipped to her, it was an obvious choice for Driscoll that she wanted to work with this material. Driscoll’s father used to own ranch land so her current pieces connect her to her past. Driscoll also is drawn to the rawhides ability to hold form, translucence, and irregularities.

So what draws Driscoll to create art with this material is the fact that the rawhide allows her to make forms that are organic. Driscoll was looking for a way to enliven and mobilize rectilinear forms that she was working with, so what better material to use than a form of skin. Her work is also about containment as well as being rectilinear and how skin is the ultimate container. Driscoll also added some neon lights in her rawhide pieces to amplify the feel of energy in certain pieces. She also used the lights because she was attracted to the transparency of rawhide.

In her piece shown here, Revelation, Driscoll was trying to show that things encounter our quiet, orderly world unexpectedly, for example when someone dies suddenly, or a job changes. The rawhide resembles a hand is passing through this square box that is lined with copper leaf.

As for Driscoll’s future direction, she says she will continue to explore working with rawhide to take it to its next phase. In the spring she will be working in London with some other artists who will be putting together a show on touch and other sensory forms of art. Lastly, she is also collaborating with a neuroscientist. Submitted by Jen Costa, Boston Sculptors Gallery intern

Featured Artist: Andy Zimmermann

When I think of sculpture, I think of a stationary object that was produced by human hands that I can sit and look at while it is on display. However, the other day, I was introduced to a piece of art done by Andy Zimmerman which was a mixture of sound, video, and sculpture all in one.

Zimmerman finished graduate school at Mass School of Art in 2003. After school he then started using video and sound in his artistic process. Prior to graduate school, Zimmerman’s art work was mostly sculpture with some painting early on in his life. Now Zimmerman is interested in how to integrate video and sound into his new works.

Zimmerman has designed computer programs that sound like instrumental music but are actually computer generated sound. These programs when finished look like a spider web of some type of complex math problem. They appear very intimidating and daunting; however, Zimmerman enjoys making them for his works. He then turns that unique sound back into sculpture. Zimmerman has also used video projection in his installations. In some ways, he feels like he is incorporating painting with the video projection because it is able to manipulate objects. For one installation, Zimmerman used old car parts as his projection surface. The parts were all painted white and then very specific masks were generated on the computer to project exactly what Zimmerman wanted to show.

Zimmerman also likes to use frosted Plexiglas in his work. He enjoys the visual effect that the Plexiglas gives off. For example, in Either Nor, Zimmerman constructed the frame and glass in an abstract geometric way. He then included the image that would serve as a human body in the piece. The theme of the piece was about being haunted and how things of this nature are not very clear but instead give off a foggy presence.

I was able to get a sneak peek at Zimmerman’s most recent work in progress which will be at the BSG in the spring, but I am sworn to secrecy and can’t give you any hints, so you will have to wait and see! Andy Zimmermann’s work will be on view at Boston Sculptors Gallery April 20 - May 22, 2011. Submitted by Jen Costa, Boston Sculptors Gallery intern.

Featured Artist: Joseph Wheelwright

I happened to luck out today. I was able to interview Joe Wheelwright, and during our interview, Wheelwright told me of his Tree Figures show at the Fruitlands Museum in Harvard, MA, and mentioned that sadly, it would be coming down in two days. I thought to myself, “well maybe I’ll see it before he takes it down.” However, I had a very busy weekend and didn't think I would make it. But due to pure luck, I did get the chance to see Tree Figures. I ended up bringing my husband with me to see Wheelwright’s show the day before it was coming down.

I have never been to the Fruitlands Museum grounds, so it was quite a sight. The museum is set on higher ground so you are able to look out and see a scenic vista. It was beautiful, especially with the fall foliage, even though it’s fairly late in the season. I must say that I have never seen quite a show like this one.

We were given a map when we bought our tickets and had to walk through fields and forest to see the Tree Figures. As we began our walk, it was clear that Wheelwright’s Tree Figures, eight trees and one stone carving, were very thoughtfully placed throughout walking trails. Each tree seemed to fit naturally into it’s surrounding area. It was almost as if they were meant to be there all along. As we walked through the exhibit, we came upon tree after tree. We even became a little lost at one point turning this “show” into a small adventure. Walking along the path, we came into a clearing and that is when we saw it, The Oracle, one of Wheelwright’s main trees. It was standing tall and omniscient at the end of the clearing. This tree gave off a feeling of power as we stood there gazing at it. It was beautiful but at the same time, intimidating because it seemed like it was naturally grown there. We both joked and said that if we didn’t know that this was an art show that we would both have probably run in the opposite direction of The Oracle!

I only wished that I knew of this show earlier. However, the trees are now on the move. Wheelwright will be showing some old and some new works in New York next year. So if you want to experience an artistic adventure go see the trees, I promise you will not be disappointed! Joe will also be exhibiting his works at the Boston Sculptors Gallery at 486 Harrison Avenue from January 5 - February 6, 2011. Meet the artist at one of the First Friday receptions Jan. 7 and Feb. 4 from 5 - 8 pm, or at the artist reception Sat. Jan. 8 from 3 - 6 pm. Submitted by Jen Costa, Boston Sculptors Gallery intern.

Featured Artist: Sally Fine

Sally Fine’s latest show at the Boston Sculptors Gallery will instantly give you the intense desire to travel. Her brightly colored ceramic figures are reminiscent of folk art from island communities. If you have ever been to an island outside of the United States, either on a cruise or vacation, then you know what I mean. As Fine walked me through her show, I couldn’t help but desire to go on vacation to see more of this art. While in the Dominican Republic, Fine explained that everyday at 4:00 pm, these girls from a nearby school would come outside and they would be wearing these rich colors, and had such rich skin. Fine was entranced by these colors and decided to use them in her work.

Fine also incorporated boats and fish hooks into some of her work. Boats are seen in the Dominican Republic as an escape while we in the United States see them as a means of travel, or vacation.

Fine has traveled, in the past three years, to places such as La Romana, in the Dominican Republic, Spanish Wells in the Bahamas, and Vallauris, France. These experiences outside the country have greatly influenced her current work. Fine has even incorporated hair from one of her students in La Romana into one of her ceramic pieces. However, all of this traveling necessitated that Fine adapt to her environment. For example, in La Romana, Fine had to work with minimal studio equipment which caused her work to become smaller in scale where her prior works were much larger in scale. In Vallauris, Fine spoke enough French to get by but could not communicate with others, so she found a book shop that sold English language books, which were hard to find, and went there frequently. This bookstore and books greatly influenced Fine’s piece, Coordinates: SE, E, and SW.

As for Fine’s future work, she says she will continue to use fishing wire and most likely will get larger in scale, but she will be done with ceramics for the time being. We’ll have to wait and see what art comes from her future travel plans. Fine’s work is on view at Boston Sculptors Gallery through December 12. Submitted by Jen Costa, Boston Sculptors Gallery intern.

Eric Sealine at Brattleboro Museum thru 2/6/11

Sleight of Hand on view through Feb. 6, 2011

Combine a professional background in architectural model building with a creative impulse to paint and draw, then add an interest in perception and magic....and stir. This is the mixture behind Eric Sealines' amusing and perplexing works of art. Each of the relief and 3D words in this exhibition will cause viewers to stop, question, surmise, and look again. How does he do it?

www.brattleboromuseum.org/

Jen Costa interviews Murray Dewart

Murray Dewart - If the road forks, take it.

It was down pouring when I arrived at Murray Dewarts’ studio. Set nicely behind Dewarts’ home, his studio is one that any person, with any artistic hobby, would be ecstatic to have. It is filled with his past and present works, some small, some larger, some wood, some stone, some metal. Looking at some of his work, initially you feel that there is some type of Asian based influence. However, Dewart says that it is just how he is responding to the forms that seemed to work. These works, in a roundabout way, stemmed from a Call for sculpture that Mayor Flynn had sent out in 1989. Dewart came up with his idea for the sculpture one day when he walked into a chinese food restaurant and realized that 1990 was the Year of the Horse in the Chinese Zodiac. So he decided to create his Pegasus Arch which was chosen as the winner.

The story just begins here. After the competition, Dewart was storing the very large and very heavy Pegasus Arch on a friends piece of land. Dewart then had a big show that was coming up in which he had a big space to fill. So he started cutting up the Pegasus Arch in order to fit the steel and wood into his truck. Out of these pieces came his new pieces of sculpture, the ones that some refer to as having an Asian feel. It all took off from there and Dewart says that he is still following that moment.

Dewart attended Harvard College as an English Major and never took a sculpture class until his last year in college. Through this class he was able to get back in touch with what he loved to do. The road forked for him, so he took it. Some forty years later, he is still doing what he loves and never looked back. Dewart says that in art, you have to reinvent yourself everyday. He also said that you have to honor you initial decision, which he has been doing for the past forty years.

- submitted by Jen Costa, Boston Sculptors Gallery intern

Caroline Bagenal: House of Words

As I walked through the gallery and entered the rear, I immediately stopped and was taken aback by what I saw. Caroline Bagenal’s large scale House of Words stopped me in my tracks. I went in expecting to see some sculptures placed on the wall or on pedestals that I could walk by and look at. However, this is not what I got. Bagenal’s latest sculpture is almost as tall as the gallery ceiling, and actually incorporates one of the columns of the gallery into her project. The sculpture is made of columns of all different sizes covered in newspaper. The newspaper that covers these columns includes art reviews, politics, and crossword puzzles that were actually completed by people, incorporate an authentic hand made(interactive) feeling of the project.

When I saw Bagenal’s installation, it was at its' beginning stages. Bagenal was inspired by meeting houses that she had been to in Mali, Africa called togu na, which translates to House of Words. At the meeting houses people come to rest, converse, teach, and work. These houses are made of wood, earth, have deep thatched roofs, and a few columns. This installation seems only fitting since Bagenal also teaches African Art History locally and occasionally takes students on filed trips to Mali as part of the class.

As work progressed on the project, it was clear that balance is a strong theme of the piece. After all, some of the columns are only held together by newspaper so it is both delicate and sturdy.

Although the onsite build had been stressful, Bagenal seemed very pleased with how the installation was coming together. She initially had a numbering system to help her put the piece together when she got it to the gallery but it was evident that was not going to help much. There were just too many pieces to put together. So instead.....As the work was being constructed, it cast a very interesting shadow on the gallery wall.

Ideally Bagenal wants the viewer to sit on bean bags inside of the piece and be able to look up into the piece. I am definitely going to have to make my way back there to view the finished House of Words. House of Words was on view at Boston Sculptors Gallery through Nov. 7, 2010.
- by Jen Costa, Boston Sculptors Gallery intern

Julia Shepley: OUT / IN

On my last trip to the gallery, I had the privilege of catching Julia Shepley in the middle of installing her latest show, “OUT/IN.” When I first walked in, I was immediately drawn to the transformation of the gallery environment. The walls, which I last saw painted solid white, had been painted gray in spots to split the front gallery into sections. The gray and white boundaries served as natural frames for the installation, and felt as if they had always meant to be there. Shepley also planned on painting parts of the floor white in order to cast the necessary shadows for the suspended Sky Habitation. It was intriguing to see the use of manipulating an environment to further the artistic experience.

While speaking with Shepley, I was able to delve deeper into the details of her current project. As an artist, Shepley is interested in things that she finds delicate and elusive. She wants things to be viewed as transitory. Take the carved chairs of Sky Habitation, for example, which were meant to be viewed as if they are changing. They are not there as a mere representation of solid objects. They are meant to be pondered as they turn with their shadows ever so slightly with the gently flowing air. With this, Shepley captures a moment of rest, like when a person zones out momentarily, and then snaps back to reality, and in a fleeting second, that feeling is gone. This is some of what she is attempting to recreate. In each of her carved chairs there is also a reference to the person, as well as an association with trees, sky, and architecture.

There are also multiple drawings around the front gallery, some of which she is using cloud, and storm imagery, while some of the others are a beginning of a collaboration she is doing with a Swedish scientist who is studying antibodies.
Shepley sometimes changes the materials she uses in her work, such as wood, resin and glass. However, the one consistency the stays the same is what she is trying to get across.

OUT / IN is on view through Nov. 7. Posted by Boston Sculptors intern Jen Costa.

Two Sculpture Dedications This Month!

Please join Mayor Thomas M. Menino and MBTA General Manager Richard Davey for the dedication of Sleeping Moon, a monumental sculpture by Joseph Wheelwright.
Date/Time: Tuesday, October 26, 4:00 PM (Rain Date October 28, 4:00 PM)
Ashmont Station Plaza, corner of Dorchester Ave and Ashmont Street on the MBTA Red Line in Dorchester, MA. Performance by Boston City Singers. Facilitated by the Urban Arts Institute at Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Sleeping Moon was co-sponsored by the Dorchester Arts Collaborative, St. Mark’s Area Main Street, the Edward I. Browne Fund of the City of Boston, New England Foundation for the Arts, Trinity Financial and the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.



Artist Laura Baring-Gould and the Friends of Edward Everett Square with the Dorchester Historical Society, Saturday, October 16, 2010, 1pm, Edward Everett Square, Dorchester, MA
Rain Date: Sunday October 24, 2010, 1pm
Ten new bronze artworks – complementing the nearby Clapp’s Favorite Pear – symbolize the rich legacy of aspiration, activism and hope in the experience, voice and history of Dorchester’s people from the first inhabitants to the present.
This project was realized with the support of the following: Grassroots Open Space Program, City of Boston Department of Neighborhood Development, The Edward Ingersoll Browne Fund of the City of Boston and the Waste Management Corporation. In cooperation with Mayor’s Office of Arts, Tourism & Special Events, Christopher Cook, Acting Director. For more information: www.Edwardeverettsquare.org and www.publicartboston.com

Rosalyn Driscoll on Synesthesia

Synesthesia, or sensory crossover, has long been the domain of artists who combine visual effects with other sensory modes, such as hearing or taste, and the occasional odd person who perceives numbers or music as colors.

Although my sculptures explore the territory shared by sight and touch, I never considered myself synesthetic until my work was included in an exhibition called Sensory Crossovers: Synesthesia in American Art, curated by Sharyn Udall at the Albuquerque Museum in New Mexico. My sculpture-video installation, Second Skin, adds a contemporary note (and an example of using sight and touch) to mid 20th century artists who fused sensory modes: O'Keefe, Dove, Burchfield, Gottlieb, and others. Video of installation at http://RosalynDriscoll.com.

I learned that synesthesia is a special neurological condition, but scientists taking it seriously are discovering that it is more common, and that the senses are considerably more connected, than previously thought. Although my own crossovers between sight and touch are not involuntary or invariant, as they are in "true" synesthesia, I do perceive, think, make decisions (and art) in terms of inner feelings - not emotions but sensations. I wonder how many other artists, especially sculptors, perceive in such idiosyncratic ways.

Link to exhibition:
http://www.cabq.gov/museum/featured.html

Hannah Verlin on creating Bloom

Bloom: the process behind the installation


Completed installation

From August 21-22 the installation Bloom transformed the grounds surrounding Union Square’s Prospect Hill Monument in Somerville, MA. The piece featured 4,500 paper flowers with “he loves me, he loves me not” and “she loves, loves me not” written on the petals, a field of hope and possibilities. Just as the flowers suddenly appeared on Saturday morning, it disappeared on Sunday evening.

But before the installation…

I approached the Somerville Arts Council in April 2010 about Bloom, since then I have been busily making each of the paper flowers that went into the installation. The repetition of this process reflects the approach that I take to many of my projects.

I begin by breaking the process down into distinct steps. Rather than trying to tackle the full 4,500 at once, I work in manageable units (100 in this case).

Part 1:
Step 1: Preparing the material-- Starting out with 48” wide roll of tracing paper, I would cut off 4” wide strips. These strips I layered together in sets of four that I cut into 4” squares.

Step 2: Folding-- Now that I had 100 4” square pieces of paper in nice sets of 4, I folded each triangularly 3 times, and cut a petal shape into the little folded triangle, much like you would make a paper snow flake. Viola--Four paper flowers made!


Part 2:
Step 1: Writing-- After I had made about 2,000 flower I moved on to the second stage (to take a break from all the folding and cutting). This part of the process, however, was by far the most tedious and labor intensive. Working with sets of 100, I alternately wrote on the petals: “he loves me he loves me not, he loves me, he loves me not” and then “she loves me, she loves me, she loves me, she loves me not”.

When doing something repetitive for long periods of time, one discovers all sorts of unexpected aches and pain. These I had a plenty—cramps in the hand, aches in the neck, and a shooting pain in a rarely used muscle of my right arm---but I never thought of the emotional impact that this particular process would have on me. As I wrote, I found myself repeating over and over in my head these messages of love and loss. The message would sink in and I would find myself emotionally strained as well as physically.

Step 2: Stalking-- Stalking the flowers was my favorite part, roll a little glue onto the dull end of the skewer then pierce the sharp end through the paper with a satisfying pop.

Step 3: Bundling-- With the flowers all stalked and drying, I would inscribe another set of petals. Before I stalking that set I bundled the dried flowers into sets of ten tying them up in cotton string left over from a previous project. In the end the 4,500 flowers fit into only two boxes—not too shabby!

Installation is a whole other story…

Public Art Exhibition in Medfield, MA Sept. 1 - Oct. 29, 2010

Portals: a temporary public art exhibition

Vine Lake Cemetery, 625 Main Street in Medfield, Ma

Exhibition: Sept. 1 - Oct. 29, 2010

Artist Reception: Sunday Sept. 12 from 3 - 5 pm with a guided tour at 3:30. Raindate Sept. 26

Portals features large scale work by five artists: Jim Coates, Danielle Krcmar, Andrea Thompson, Bevan Weissman, and Leslie Wilcox. Portals conveys tangile or symbolic entrance to new life and each artist is creating imaginative new work, specific to the site and theme out of sticks, stones, clay, steel screen, and wood.

For hundreds of years, sculplture has been an essential feature in cemeteries where artisans were commissioned to create individual and family memorials. Portals is planned to revive the century-old practice of engaging artists to design work for this picturesque setting.

The exhibition is free and open to the public daily from dawn to dusk. The art work is located near the lake, visible from the entrance on Main Street (Rte. 109). For more information visit http://www.vinelakepreservationtrust.org/. Portals is conceived and organized by Boston Sculptors Gallery Coordinator Jean Mineo, and juried by Cecily Miller, Director of the Forest Hillls Educational Trust in Jamaica Plain.

To receive email announcements about weather releated cancellations, sign up for the Trust's newsletter on the website above.

Reshaping Reality at Brattleboro

Reshaping Reality at the Brattleboro Museum and Art Center, curated by Carol Seitchik,Boston Sculptors Gallery, on view from July 24 - October 24 2010. Artists featured in Reshaping Reality are features the work of 11 artists associated with the Laura Baring-Gould, Benjamin S. Cariens, Rosalyn Driscoll, Laura Evans, Christopher Frost, Peter DeCamp Haines, Michelle Lougee, Nancy Selvage, Jessica Straus, Leslie Wilcox, and Andy Zimmermann. The opening reception, with artists in attendance, will be August 6, 5:30 - 8:30.

The Little Gallery under the Stairs Proudly Presents:
Work by Men, juried by Haig Demarjian featuring new BSG member Andy Moerlein. The opening reception is Saturday, July 31, from 3-6pm at 25 Exchange St., Lynn, Ma.

Moose Myth by Donna Dodson & Andy Moerlein will be featured in a walking tour on July 29th at 5pm, Market Square, Portsmouth NH. The artists will be present.

Ellen Wetmore will be showing new video work at the University Film and Video Conference at Champlain College in Vermont, August 9-14.

Gillian Christy on Daniel Buren and the Rodin Museum, France

I recently returned from a 12 day trip to Paris, France. I have been fortunate enough to have travelled to Paris before, however, both trips were during the cold month of January. With this trip, it was really nice to enjoy the city and parks during the full bloom of spring. A more detailed account of my trip can be found at http://gillianchristy.tumblr.com/

My favorite public artwork was discovered in the courtyard fo the Palais Royal. The installation was completed in 1986 by Daniel Buren, entitled Les Deux Plateau" or as it is often referred to "Buren's Columns".

Kids were playing, running and jumping from column to column. People were seated in groups around shorter columns or simply walking through the active space. The columns at varying heights, decorated with the stripe, simply encourage play and sort of appear to be playing themselves like a game of "now you see it, now you don't"....It is obvious that the materials were chosen with care, they looked clean, new and well cared for. It is also evident that the whole space was meticulously designed and masterfully crafted.

The trip also marked ny first time to the Rodin Museum. It was a beautiful day to enjoy the collection and relax in the garden. The "Rodin and the Decorative Arts Exhibition" on view through August 22, 2010 piqued my interest to learn more about Rodin and the chronology of his life. Rodin certainly makes a strong case for working with the human form as subject matter as well as being open to working with new materials. Seeing his body of work made me interested in redicovering plaster, stone and terracotta.

Find out more on Gillian Christy at http://www.gillianchristy.com/

Where else can you see the Boston Sculptors?

• Sculpture by Gillian Christy is featured in Caturano and Company presents "Home and Harbor" with paintings by John Vinton, until October 1st, 2010. Please join them for the reception on Wednesday July 21st, 2010 at 80 City Square, Charlestown, MA, 5:30 - 7:30 pm. RSVP by July 16th at events@caturano.com.

• Charles Jones is featured in Voice Over at the David Winton Bell Gallery in Providence, R.I., June 12 - July 11, 2010, which has been reviewed in the summer edition of Artscope.

• Check out the Peter Lipsitt and Murray Dewart write-up in the Boston Globe of their recent show.

• Nancy Selvage will show recent work in the Science of Art at the Women's Studies Research Center of Brandeis University from April 28 - June 30, 2010.

• There is a great write-up of Sarah Hutt's current show at Boston Sculptors on the Boston Arts Examiner. Read it here!

• Did you see? There is a great review of Charles Jones by Christine Temin in Sculpture Magazine, Vol. 29 No. 2, Mar 2010.

• Kim Bernard has a profile written about her by Ruth K. Meyer in the January edition of www.artistsmagazine.com.

• Laura Evans has a piece in the exhibit Construction at the Suffolk University Art Gallery at New England School of Art and Design. Read the Globe review here.

• Jessica Straus and Andy Zimmermann's April exhibit at Boston Sculptors got a great review in Sculpture Magazine. The review was written by Jane Ingram Allen.

• Botanica, a kinetic sculpture by artist George Sherwood, was installed on The Rose F. Kennedy Greenway, Atlantic Avenue across from Rowes Wharf, in July 2009.

• Look for exhibits by Michelle Lougee at the Boston Children's Hospital in 2010.

• Spire Magazine describes The Boston Sculptors Gallery as one "Eight Great Museum Gems in Boston."

• Joseph Wheelwright's solo exhibition will be at Fruitlands has been extended until November 2010 - don't miss it. Check out this Chris Bergeron's article in the Daily News Tribune. He was also profiled in Art New England Magazine's January 2010 issue.

• Nancy Selvage has recently completed Water Wall, a permanent public artwork for a new park at Trolley Square in North Cambridge, commissioned by the Cambridge Arts Council. For more info visit the Cambridge Arts Council website.

• Donna Dodson and Andy Moerlin are exhibiting the Moose Myths in Nashua and Portsmith, NH, through October 2010. For more information, visit the website: www.donnadodsonartist.blogspot.com

• Harvard University purchased a large bronze by Murray Dewart called "Sun Gate" and it is now installed in the McKinlock Courtyard of Leverett House. There is also work by Dewart in the permanent collections of the Harvard University Art Museums and the Harvard Theater Collections.

Donna Dodson on Snow Sculptures

Celestial Elephant, 8' tall, snow sculpture, 2010 by Donna Dodson & Andy Moerlein, Black Mtn Ski Resort, Jackson, NH. [Invitational-Snow-Sculpting-Event]

This was my first event making a snow sculpture. I worked with my friend and fellow sculptor, Andy Moerlein on this piece. We heard about the event from Anne Alexander, a Maine sculptor and we consulted with her partner from last year, Sandy Moore who has inspired many people to try their hand at making snow sculptures. The event takes place from noon on Friday-noon on Sunday. Each team starts out with an 8ft cylinder of snow that was packed into a round form on site that measured 4 ft diameter. No colorants, power tools or armatures are allowed in the sculpture but the finished piece can be of any height and can spread out to 12 ft diameter. There were 12 teams- some novices like us and some experienced snow, ice and sand sculptors as well.

The snow this year was made on site at Black Mtn ski resort since there was not enough natural snow to hold the event on the common in the town of Jackson. The snow was soft to carve. We used hatchets, snow saws, and finished our piece with rough grit sandpaper belts. We worked on ladders as well as on our hands and knees. Keeping warm in the 0 degree weather was one of the biggest challenges but we had perfect sunny weather all weekend long. We experimented with water, slush and ice details as well. Snow does not hold fine details well but the surface is very dynamic and working at a monumental scale was very exciting. There are snow sculpture contests all over New England, North America and the world. We might try another snow sculpting event or an ice or sand sculpture event in the future.

We decided to create a white elephant out of the snow, so we did some research...

A white elephant is an idiom for a valuable possession of which its owner cannot dispose and whose cost is out of proportion to its usefulness or worth.

To possess a white elephant was regarded as a sign of justice and power, peace and prosperity. The tradition derives from tales which associate a white elephant with the birth of Buddha, as his mother was reputed to have dreamed of a white elephant presenting her with a lotus flower, a symbol of wisdom and purity, on the eve of giving birth.

Because the animals were considered sacred and laws protected them from labor, receiving a gift of a white elephant was both a blessing and a curse: a blessing because the animal was sacred, and a curse because the animal had to be retained and could not be put to much practical use.

In the Pali scriptures it is duly set forth that the form under which Buddha will descend to the earth for the last time will be that of a beautiful young white elephant, open-jawed, with a head the color of cochineal, with tusks shining like silver, sparkling with gems, covered with a splendid netting of gold, perfect in organs and limbs, and majestic in appearance.