New Website for a New Year!

14 inches of beautiful heavy white snow right before the holidays gave the perfect oppertunity to slow down and regroup.

A new webite is in order for the new year!

Check out http://www.vglyle.com/ and let me know what you think of the layout, the tabs, the images and writings.

I've referred to 2009 as "The Year I Missed!" because I was so incredibly busy I did not take time to smell the flowers. It felt like I needed to focus on laying groundwork, and in 2010 I'm hoping to build build build! And hopefully have a few moments of quality time.

"May all the best be yet to come!"

CASA Light of Hope Sculpture Unveiling

Three years work culminates this coming Friday with the unveiling of Light of Hope in Downtown Knoxville, Tennessee. The sculpture in bronze of two life-sized children was commissioned by CASA of East Tennessee. CASA stands for Court Appointed Special Advocates for abused and neglected children in juvenile court. These volunteers represent the best interests of the victimized child with the goal of securing a safe, permanent home. Both Federal and State laws allow judges to appoint CASA volunteers to "speak up" for the child's best interests. Light of Hope is both a memorial to loves lost due to child abuse and a celebration of lives saved by caring.

Friday, November 6th 2009 at 2pm at the Carey E. Garrett Juvenile Court Building in Knoxville, TN.

The concepts for the sculpture were explored and refined in numerous meetings between myself and the CASA volunteers, board members and director, Carolyn Doty. Initally we did not know if it would be marble or bronze, abstract or representational. At one point I asked "What emotion(s) do you want the sculpture to evoke? What do you want people to feel when they see this piece?" The answer was "Rage. And Hope." Rage that this problem exists in our community, Hope that we can make a positive change. From that consensus, I presented a dozen designs that were discussed and refind into the powerful piece you see today. I chose the shape of a compressed triangle to deliberately call attention that this was not a standard "stable" square or rectangle, that something was askew. Diagonals in artworks are "action" loaded, and as you follow the sidewalk around the sculpture, the diagonals created by the stone call for action. I chose the black granite stone and the traditional cemetary base stone as a not-so-subtle reminder that this is a true monument. The distressed child on the right sits atop the inscription "In Memory of Lives Lost to Child Abuse" and the compforting child on the left, who has an arm around the shoulders of the first child, sits atop the inscription "In Celebration of Lives Saved Through Caring." The life-sized children are a compilation of kind neighbors' and friends' children as I did not have specific models to work from.

Phooey on Vandalism

Replaced the three stolen bronze sculptures in downtown Bristol for the permanent children's scavenger hunt based in the book "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" over Halloween week-end. It was a huge amount of effort and work for so many folks! But they are back in place, with a significant increase in the amount of concrete and steel securing....

Let the Caterpillar Crawl Resume!

"From These Hills" 2009 juried by Ray Kass

"From These Hills" Contemporary Art in the Southern Appalachian Highlands, the big biennial exhibition at William King Museum in Abingdon, VA opens Thursday Oct 22nd 2009. Ray Kass is the guest curator this year and will give a talk during the reception.
"Aileen's Window", my 7.5 feet tall by 5 feet wide painting from the inside of my Great Grand Father's barn loft is included! 83 pieces by 37 artists representing all media is one heck-of-a-show not to miss. It will be on display from October 23, 2009 to February 14th, 2010.

Appalshop Show "Sanctuaries"

Appalshop invited me to exhibit "Sanctuaries" as part of their 40th Birthday Celebration!
Opening Saturday Oct.10th along with String Band Day, free music lessons and a square dance!
I am honored to be a part of this wonderful and strong community asset in Whitesburg, KY.
If you are not already familiar with this institution, check them out at Appalshop.org.
The finished installation looks GREAT.
I under-estimated the amount of work it takes to adapt to a new space, but I did necessary reconnaissance ahead of time to be able to put in long days and nights to adapt the show.
Every single wall mounted piece had to be re-done to fit their hanging system.
At Arts Depot, I had six helpers and three days to install.
At Appalshop I had the equivalent of two helpers and three hours to install.
It's amazing how much you can get done when you really focus!
The show looks really nice, and it's wonderful to see the same pieces in a different setting.

"Tea Time for Darfur" wins Top Prize at Mid South Sculpture Conference

Just back from Mid South Sculpture Conference in Chattanooga, TN last weekend-what a high quality excellent event they put on! Lots of new friends and new knowledge to build on. The guest artists / jurors Carol Mickett and Robert Stackhouse were insightful and kind, making themselves available throughout the conference to attending sculptors. The key note speaker, Valerie Fletcher, Senior Curator (of Modern Art) of the Smithsonian Institution Hirshorn Museum and Sculpture Gardens in Washington D.C. is simply not available elsewhere, and gave an insightful presentation on contemporary sculpture from the top museum's viewpoint.

Did I mention I WON top prize for indoor sculpture?

"Tea Time for Darfur", my cocklebur / burdock teaset looked great with the afternoon sunlight on it in the window of the gallery.
There were two "top prize" awards each for indoor (Ron Gard from Chicago took the other top indoor prize) and two outdoor sculptures.

"Sanctuaries III" Arts Depot, Abingdon VA

What a priceless opportunity it is for an artist to have a public artspace to experiment in! The folks at The Arts Depot in Abingdon VA were terrific to work with, booking almost a year and a half in advance, touching base every couple months with a timetable for press and installation and reception and artist's talk. We set a new attendance record for a Spot light Gallery solo show opening! Roy Andrade, Cary Fridley, Doug Dourschug and Ed Snodderly played old-time music while huge projections of pioneer barns, both from the inside and out, filled the wall behind spontaneous dancers.
It was the happiest opening I've ever been to, even if I am biased. Folks connected easily with the art, and discussed the contemporary context. Everyone it seemed had "Barn Stories" to share with each other.
I heavily documented the whole experience with the intention of using the images in a proposal for a much expanded version.

Lesson number 11: Never underestimate an opportunity!