I am pleased to announce my newest work in clay…and introduce my new philanthropic organization

My newest sculpture, The Chaperone, features a Navajo woman tending to young sheep of her flock. Notice her garments: She is wearing the traditional blanket dress of 150 years ago.

The Chaperone

You may be thinking that Navajo subject matter is a departure for me-and you would be right.

My typical Native American subjects are high country and Great Plains warriors. So where did I get this inspiration?

Sharing our blessings

The story of this sculpture starts with a conversation over barbeque in my backyard with my good friend, painter James Ayers. James and I were relaxing after our meal and chatting about how fortunate we were to have successful careers creating fine art.

We realized that our professional achievements would be even more satisfying if we “paid it forward” and shared our good fortune with young artists trying find their place in the art world.

Since both of us derive inspiration from Native American cultures, it seemed only natural to help Native American youth enjoy the benefits of art education.

From this, we started a new organization, Wopila Artist Guild . We plan to have a benefit art show in 2011, with part of the proceeds going to benefit the young weaver fund of the Navajo trading post at Toadlena.

Wopila: Thanks given for all of existence and the blessing inherent in each moment of it

The Lakota have a saying “What you give away you keep; what you keep, you lose; this is the spirit of the Wopila Artist Guild.

By definition, Wopila is a Lakota word often is used in connection with the Lakota tradition of giving away things to people you love as a gesture of thanks and blessing.

Our mission is to help keep traditional art forms alive by providing support, education and funds for Native American young artists, to keep by giving away. James Ayers and I thought, what better way to give back then to provide support and encouragement to young Native American artists?

Honoring the Navajo weavers of Toadlena

James and I will host our first benefit show in June 2011, to celebrate the Navajo weavers of Toadlena.

These traditional weavers continue the intricate process their great-great-grandmothers used, from raising the sheep, to hand-spinning the wool, to create their peerless textiles.

This type of weaving is an endangered art form, as fewer people every generation choose to make the commitment this ancient, skilled art requires.

In Native cultures, there is a very fine line between function and art with art nearly always being an integral part of function. Weaving is a perfect example of the Native idea of art and function being two sides of the same kind, with the textiles being both exquisite and useful.

Four footed inspiration

The colored-wool sheep of Toadlena

James and I will both be debuting three pieces created in honor of the Navajo weavers of Toadalena at this benefit: James’ on canvas, and mine in bronze.

To decide what to depict, I chatted with one of the weavers at Toadlena. I asked her if she could find one word to encapsulate the whole culture, to sum up the most important parts of it in one word, and she immediately said “the sheep”. Given that answer, I have chosen to highlight the sheep in each of my three pieces.

Culture in clay

Close-up of shoulder detail

My first piece, titled “The Chaperone”, depicts a Navajo woman wearing an historic blanket dress and holding a sheep. The blanket dresses, which replaced the older, Pueblo style dresses in the 1700s, were created entirely by the weavers, from the yarn to the finished product.

I felt it was important to ground the modern craft in its history, to show how venerable and central this type of weaving was, and still is, to the Navajo people.  The blanket dresses were fastened at the shoulders and stitched up the sides, leaving the arms bare.

In addition to showcasing the weaver’s art by choosing to have my subject in a blanket dress, I think the bare shoulders give the sculpture dimension and texture. The soft slope of the shoulder, bared to let the arms curve around the sheep, gives her a degree of emotion and femininity that I find very appealing.

Two more works to follow

Virginia Deal, master weaver at Toadlena, demonstrates wool carding

In addition to The Chaperone, I will be debuting two other sculptures in honor of the Toadlena weavers.

One will depict a male figure on a horse, carrying or rescuing a lamb, highlighting the deeply ingrained tradition of caring for the sheep as an integral part of Navajo culture not limited to the weavers themselves.

The other will center on women involved in the painstaking process of carding and spinning the wool into yarn, prior to weaving it.

For more information

Would you like more information on The Chaperone, Wopila artist guild, or the Navajo weavers of Toadlena? Please call me at 720-312-4498 or send me an email.