A Dozen Wise Men

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

These were gifts our family painted for grandparents this Christmas. I don't think they'll be checking the blog before then... Everyone pitched in and it was a much needed creative release for me between my Calculus and Statistics finals (2 finals down, 1 to go!). Andy painted the hay for the cradle and the spots on the cows. Audrey painted the donkeys all by herself, as well as the crowns, and helped on lots of others, and Daddy even did most of the camels!

I wish everyone a very happy holiday surrounded by loved ones.

Alllmooost there...

If my head has been stuck in the proverbial sand (or in a tree as this poor horse found himself - I think the story ended well for him), it's because I'm waist deep in quicksand ..er.. homework. Just finished up the last of my 8 midterms yesterday and now I have one more push to get ready for the 3 finals. I will be so happy to finish Calculus - that's what I'll be working on today. Next up (over the holiday break), editing the next batch of DVDs (that I wanted to have released last spring - yikes!) and some repairs and commissions (one for a friend and the other that was a trade I simply couldn't pass up!). If those all go well, I hope to finish up the Arab from the NAN 2008 auction so that he can go home with someone and a surprise sales piece I've been itching to do for a few years now (where does the time go?). Stay tuned...

Visions of DaVinci

DaVinci's Horse (note Audrey underneath!)

Last school year, Audrey brought home a book about this amazing sculpture and we discovered that one of the two existing sculptures resides in Grand Rapids, MI...

So, this past weekend our trip to Battle Creek to see family and Ann Arbor for a football game was slightly diverted to the Fred Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park. We arrived with only 30 minutes until closing, so we made a quick lap around a section of the sculpture garden after stopping to admire The American Horse.

DaVinci was never able to cast the sculpture himself during his time and the original clay version was destroyed. 500 years later, many artists and individuals came together to recreate DaVinci's dream horse. Il Cavallo resides in Milan, Italy and this one is right here in Grand Rapids, MI.

Right across the way was this sculpture by another artist.

I believe there may be a horse sculpture by Degas somewhere on the premises, so we'll be back someday...