Newsletter, March 2008

J. CHRISTOPHER WHITE - Parables In Wood

Greetings,

Spring is finally in the air. After a long cold winter, I am really glad to see green shoots poking through the fresh spring snows and woodchips beneath my outside work table. Sculpture related plans for these next few months include, classes, shows, of course, sculptures and a good long spring wood hunting trip in the beautiful canyons of West Texas.

I will be teaching at Marc Adams School of Fine Woodworking in Indianapolis in September. I will be giving a two day class on working with alabaster on September 13th and 14th, come prepared to get dusty.  Actually, you can wet sand alabaster so looking like you've been dipped in flour doesn't have to happen, it's optional. The following week will be a class in sculpting wood on September 15th -19th.  The facilities and staff there are only rivaled by the fellowship and fine food provided. I believe there is still room in those classes, the school handles all the registration.

Shows this year include: The Colorado Governor's show here in Loveland. I'll have two bronze wood meld fish, an alabaster cross carved out of an extremely unique piece of stone I found on the floor of a cave in Texas (check alabaster page on my website for cool pictures of one of the caves).

As in the past 12 years, the second weekend of August 11-13 is set aside for Sculpture in the Park. That is an increasingly great show. The organizers of that show make it a great experience for artist and art lovers alike.

Three recent completed sculptures are shown to the left. Be sure and roll your cursor over the images. My web designer, Mike, has dome some fun technical stuff with that. I have three works in progress.  I finally cut into the last of my rare rippled juniper, the special variety that, when finished, gives the impression of being under water. This is so rare that I only find a piece every few years or so. It's a real hassle to carve, but it is transfixing in its beauty. From this last find, which almost cost me my life to harvest, I have begun small pair of Eagle Rays (right). With the prime piece I am sculpting a brown trout (right) darting through the water. The base is an exceptional mesquite burl that I hollowed out. (See multiple pictures of these on "Works In Progress" page)

Every once in a great while I will find a truly ancient juniper. These trees are scattered about over some really rugged canyon land. Last fall, I found one so big that I thought I was looking at a tree growing out of a large gray boulder. As it turns out the boulder was the trunk of the tree. From one of the branches of this twisted mass I have begun two sculptures. One is call "Bride", pictured top right, it has a quite a way to go as far as detail and firming up the planes. The grain is going to be extraordinary.

The rest of the branch is going to be a highly fluid exercise in motion with five swallows in flight called "Turbulent Times," For pictures of this piece, click on the "Works In Progress" button in my web site. Also, I have an unusual piece of orange, red and cream colored crystalline alabaster that is perfect for an otter in a dive. It will be mounted on a juniper sculpture which will showcases the beautiful stone and serve as a base.

I appreciate your continued interest in me and my work and in what is going on with both. I look forward to hearing from you in the future, until then enjoy the spring weather that is coming up.

Sincerely,

J. Christopher White