I'M CLOSE TO ASKING FOR APPROVAL ON THIS SMALL SCULPTURE

I have been spending a lot of time these days watching the seeing eye dog channel and watching the behavior of a seeing eye dog. Working on the small maquette and hope to show the client in the next couple of weeks. Even though it is a rough maquette to basically show myself and the client the position, pose, interaction etc. I feel I have the spirit of John in the piece.  Stay tuned.

A DIFFERENT SCULPTURE BUT MANY SIMILARITIES

I spoke with David Johnson of Seeing Eye Inc.  As I work with my own sculpture of John Turner I have many questions.

• Where does the dog face? 
• How close to the man is he?
• Where is he in association to the handler? 
• What is the hold on the Harness?

 David helped me a lot.  I am surprised at how much this  David spoke a lot about John turner.  HEre is his correspondence.

David told me about a sculpture similar to the one that I am doing. In fact I'm surprised that we have both come up with the same pose. According to WIKI.

" On April 29, 2005, a sculpture titled The Way to Independence was unveiled on Morristown Green in Morristown. The sculpture of Frank and Buddy, created by John Seward Johnson II, is made of bronze and painted in full color. It captures the pair in mid-stride, with Frank motioning his hand ahead as if he is giving Buddy the "forward" command. "

I wish I had a photograph to show of this sculpture. I found this link. I was first motivated to create the type of work that I do because of a piece I had seen of Seward Johnson when I was young.  I like the work, but have always felt that the faces lacked something. Even with all of the detail and color, it lacked something. It is my own personal opinion and I still love the work, but that is my observation. Seward is noted for his full color patinas. I prefer a traditional bronze patina.

"Please find the attached photo of a photo of Morris Frank and Buddy III that was used for our sculpture in Morristown. It gives good movement and posture perspective not dissimilar to John Turner.

 As I mentioned earlier,

John is an honored and cherished graduate of The Seeing Eye. 25% of our Board of Trustees is comprised of graduates of the program, and John held a board seat for a number of years. John has been a huge advocate of our school for as long as I have known him, and I have had the privilege of being in class with him more than once. One of John's hallmarks is that when he is engaged in conversation with you, you are the only person on earth. He is extremely sincere and a worthy opponent in debate. John has remained so close to The Seeing Eye that he opens his home to our staff any time we are in the Dallas area. Just last summer he, Linda, and Jessica entertained a dozen of us at their dinner table. John's blessings before a meal in our presence always involve kind words and tearful emotion about his dogs, his instructors, and our organization. I am honored to call him a friend. One of the most endearing things about John is that we might not speak for months, and out of the blue he will leave me a message wishing me a good day and telling me how much our organization has meant to him in his life. He's better than a paycheck."

All of this is so inspiring, I can hardly wait to get back to sculpting.

THE FOUNDRY- The Fine Art Foundry of Texas

One of the most important elements to a sculpture is the foundry. The foundry is what makes my work into metal. It is a very interesting process that I will be sharing on this blogs I create John. When an artist starts a project they must obtain quotes from a foundry. Then the job is awarded to a foundry.

Shidoni Foundry in New Mexico is working on my Alice in Wonderland Project.  They specialize in very large sculptures and are perfect for that job.

I am happy to be working a little closer to home with the sculpture of John Turner and delighted to announce that The Fine Art Foundry of Texas has been awarded the casting of the sculpture of John Turner.  I have a long working relationship with The Fine Arts Foundry of Texas and their main worker, Miguel is the best in the business. Miguel has cast multiple projects for me. Below is a sample of the many pieces of work that Miguel has done for me. Keep following along with this blog to see the foundry process.

Richard Hathaway is a sculpture that resides outside of Vermont College.
Richard was a professor, lover of the arts, and an all around intriguing man. 

The Newsboy was commissioned by the
Texas Press Association.  It is a limited edition of 10. 1 resides at the Texas Press
Association another is in North Carolina and a third is in the North West. 

Called to pray was commissioned
By Dallas Baptist University. 

Jenna was created for her cemetery plot.
Notice the sign language symbol in her left hand. It means I love you. 

WHY JOHN?

I was delighted to be with John Turner and his family the day that city council of Frisco, Texas declared John Turner day. It appears, that John is continuously being honored for his accomplishments and contributions. 

THE DOGS

As I get to know the subject I put a bit of that into the art. Maybe it is the essence.

 What do I know of John?

 He does not sit still. He told me repeatedly about the 80,000 miles he has taken on his journey with his dogs since 1953.

 How many dogs?

 Here is a list of John's Seeing Eye dogs and the date he met his dogs:
1. Villa November 21,1953
2. Inky February 15, 1964
3. Pepper May 1, 1977
4. Gordy April 7, 1979
5. Steffie January 4,1989
6. Corinne September 20,1993
7. Robyn March 29, 2003
8. Eben May 23, 2014

 We are honoring each of these dogs by putting their names and footprints that are left in the sidewalk as John walks on. These dogs gave John his freedom.

 The sculpture will be of John at a quick pace. He is on the go. These dogs gave him that freedom. All of his guide dogs were trained at The Seeing Eye, Inc. in Morristown, NJ.

Their web site is www.SeeingEye.org. I have asked The Seeing Eye Inc for more information on their dogs and facility, perhaps they will give us some guest blog "dog" posts. It sure will help me. It will add more passion to the piece. I can't help but wonder, what does the dog look like who is aware and walking and doing their job. Are their ears perked, tail high or low? I suppose each dog is different, but knowing dogs I would assume that a seeing eye dog has a certain personality. I can't wait to hear more about it from the SeeingEye. This will help me with the sculpture.

RECEIVING INSPIRATION

 In an interview today someone asked me how I capture the essence of someone.

That is exactly what I am after. I don't just want a likeness I want the spirit of the person. Often when creating a scupture I don't get to meet my subject. In this case I did get to meet John. I could see his spirit.  John Turner has a tremendous amount of spirit.

The essence comes from a few other places. The first is through the loved ones that know the person. That is why I ask you to send me your stories, thoughts and ways you have been touched by John Turner.

I received some photographs today. I'm thrilled to have them. The pose with John, his dog and his brief case is very similar to the pose I had in mind. I can't wait to get started.

 

 

TWO SCULPTURES AT ONCE? Getting started.

I have been absolutely overwhelmed with the latest commission, of a monumental sculpture of Alice in Wonderland's Mad Hatter Tea Party. It has received a great deal of attention in the media.  We are still not done, but I'm taking time to start on the sculpture of John Tuner.  Can't wait to share about John. If you are interested in this Alice in Wonderland Project for Evelyn's Park in Bellaire, Texas, just outside of Houston, follow along on the Finding Alice Sculpture Facebook page.  

Here is a video from the beginning of this project started 4 years ago. 

This is a recent segment from PBS on my artwork.