His Gift

About nine years ago, a dear friend and fellow sculptor, Jeff Oens, invited me to stay with him and his partner for awhile in their loft studio above the foundry we had our bronze sculptures cast at.   During the days I enjoyed Jeff and David's hospitality, Jeff and I both progressed on pieces that were roughly the same size.   Mine was this gentle monk I called "His Gift", his was an expressive gargoyle on a pillar.   After some weeks of applying oil-based clay to the surface of the wire and foam armatures, Jeff and I both finished our pieces and signed them on the same evening, amidst much partying and cheering from fellow sculptors and foundry folk.   In the following weeks they each worked their way through the different departments of the foundry as they became bronze. 

"His Gift" spent a couple years on loan to Art On The Avenues, perched on a basalt pedestal in public, outside of the Oncology Department at the Wenatchee Valley Medical Center in Wenatchee (top photo).   He now resides at the entrance to our garden, welcoming visitors.