Postlude: Sculpture Unveiling

The unveiling of sculpture, C.W. Lonsdale, at the Real Carriage Door wood shop

Gallery photos from the party on January 17th & 19th, 2013

Thank you to all who came! It seemed everyone had a wonderful time at the Real Carriage Door wood shop which was transformed into a sparkling winter party. Beer was served by local 7 Seas Brewing; jazz music was played by Zizzy Zi Zixxy, with the unveiling of the sculpture as the focus of the evening. Locals browsed the gallery of sculptures by Mardie Rees, while drinking beer and chatting with friends. Children joined the fun by dancing to the jazz music in front of the band. Many doors were displayed for enjoyment to add to the creative mood. At 6 pm, Beth Rees introduced a new video about Real Carriage Door Company (viewable on a large screen held aloft by a forklift). Thursday night, the current Headmaster from Shawnigan Lake School, David Robertson, shared some background about the school and expressed their excitement in receiving the sculpture of their founder and headmaster, C.W. Lonsdale, and his faithful German Shepherd. Sculptor Mardie Rees was later introduced, and she elaborated on the process of creating the monumental sculpture over the last three years. After much anticipation, Mardie spoke the key words, "Let's take a look," and upon the count of three, the canvas was dropped to a round of applause.

The sculpture will be at the foundry (Two Raven Studio in Tacoma) through the end of the summer, and the official unveiling of the sculpture cast in bronze to be scheduled for October 2013.

Home Stretch

The Fall brought beautiful weather with sun and warm temperatures. The last three months has been the homestretch for a project I have been working on since the beginning of 2012. Because we had an indian summer, I was able to work with the large roll up door open and the sun streaming in my studio (at Real Carriage, Gig Harbor - WA). My German Shepherd Dogs (I have two of them) spent many hours in my studio modeling as I worked out the kinks and sculpted the portrait. It was a lot of fun working with a live dog in my studio! 

Then as life would have it - the rains came in late October (just as I begin to return to the portrait) and it got cold, so I had to figure out how to once again work with artificial lighting. 

My dog after many adjustments

In late September my husband, Jeremy, help me install the platform under their feet. 

foil on the feet to protect finished shoes from getting damaged from dropped tools and clay when I'm working up high. 

Getting the lighting right so I could properly work on the portrait has been a challenge. Tools, scaffolding, lighting, and over tiredness are all things that you have to work to overcome so that the Work doesn't suffer.

My German Shepherd is back!

And yes, the German Shepherd dog, Odin is back! Odin arrived at my studio in mid September, with a lot of barking and with certainly no desire to sit still as he heard all the tools in the background (I'm working at Real Carriage) . ​

at work on the portarit​

at work on the portarit​

​By the second day of modeling he was very much into the cheese and carrot treats he gets for posing. The sculpture of the dog (life +1/2) is now moving along and is going to add some much personality to the finished piece.