John Hebenstreit and the Black Brigade

Visitors to Riverfront Park
in 2011
will find some new pieces
by John Hebenstreit
honoring the history
of the Black Brigade
of Cincinnati.


We will keep you posted
when the actual pieces
have been installed

Tom Tsuchiya and the 50-foot Jesus

Monumental religious statuary
has often been the target
of angry men or gods








And here's what happened
to the monumental
"Touchdown Jesus"
of Solid Rock Church
in Dayton, Ohio






on the evening of June 14, 2010.



(Or was this destruction
caused by an ornery ghost
with strong opinions
concerning public sculpture?)




Whatever the case,
the insurance settlement
offered a great opportunity
for sculptors in a very tight market,






and Tom's team
came up with the winning design.









Here's Tom
working on his
most recent monument,
and the head of Jesus
will be even larger.


And here's Tom describing the process:



Rebar and hardware cloth will cover the substructure defining the general detail of the statue. Urethane foam will cover the wire mesh and will be sculpted into the refined detail of the statue. It will be finished with a top coating of acrylic-based aggregate to resemble limestone.


(and just in case the angry ghosts or deities
are not satisfied with the results,
a lighening suppression system
will be installed as well)






Here's another local news story about the new statue.


and yet another news story
about how donations
have been trickling in.

Millerino at the North Park Art Walk

This blog
is not really intended
to showcase the work
of young Millerino.

But what the hell,
he makes things too.


Above is the
"Birth of Venus"














This illustrates
some lines
from Marlowe's
"Hero and Leander"

"Blood-quaffing Mars, heaving the yron net,
Which limping Vulcan and his Cyclops set"





Here's
some pictures
of other things
seen at the North Park Art Walk

April's Book of Sunflowers

April Foster
is working on a book
about sunflowers.


"it has text - mostly botanical info on the sunflower
like in Audubon wildflower books
and some historical uses for the seeds and oil.

It is letterpress,
handprinted with relief images
and then some lithos.

It will be hand bound
using a raised cord binding"











"I enjoy the sunflowers because they stand as tall as people."



And I like them
because they seem to offer so much
while taking so little.

Closson's is Closed

All I could discover
about Charles Frymier
is that Clossens,
where he was a featured artist,
just closed last month.

They had stayed open for 165 years,
surviving two world wars,
the Great Depression,
and a few Great Panics before that.

But 8 years of G.W. Bush
finally did them in.

Unfortunately,
Charles has no website,
(and apparently, not even a telephone)
so it may be a few years
before we hear anything more
about him.

Nightclub Fire Memorial

Here's Larry Elig
with a maquette
for a memorial
to the 100 people killed
at a local nightclub fire.

(Here's the full story )

Don't know whether Larry got the job.
(or why he didn't use this as an opportunity
to model a hundred figures
instead of three)

We'll have to wait and see
if he gets the job.

Corn Kings and Maize Giants

Water Nymph




Pat Brutchin
came to my Labor Day
Drawing Marathon
and showed me
some pictures,
which gave me the idea
of starting a blog
(my 15th !)
to follow the wandering imaginations
of her
and everyone else
who, at some point,
studied with Dick Miller.

And perhaps,
to note some
of the connections

(for example,
the title of the above)




Spring Nude



and the carefree spirit
of a piece like this

Maize Giant


Though,
I'm not sure
that old R.J.
would have given this fellow
a pair of jockey shorts

Corn King