Search Results for: andy kennedy

Andy Kennedy Hosts Sculptors Group

About twenty Pacific Northwest Sculptors group members and guests gathered at the home of fellow sculptor Andy Kennedy and his partner Stephanie Buddenbaum on the evening of October 19th for the group’s monthly informal get-together.

A different member artist hosts the gathering each month.

The potluck affair began with time to get reacquainted before everyone moved on to Kennedy’s studio out back. The studio is a converted garage teeming with hundreds of clay sculptures, large and small. Kennedy spoke informally about his work, saying he has “been doing raw expression in paint and clay for years,” since the late 1980s at The Evergreen State College at Olympia, Wash, where he completed a bachelor of arts program.

“Raw” is an apt description of many, if not most, of Kennedy’s sculptures on display in his studio. They are evocative of an experience he described at Evergreen in which he created drawings from photographs of dissected cadavers.

Most of his human-form sculptures—nearly all of the large body of work in his studio is human form—possess not an unsettling quality but an aura of “one step beyond,” a view of what it is like on the other side of where we are.

Kennedy describes this in another way on his website, “Objects that inform by asking the unanswerable.” Saying that “we should all draw more,” a remark that elicited a collective murmur of agreement from the room full of sculptors, Kennedy went on to share more of his 2-D work besides the cadaver drawings at Evergreen.

Interactivity Encouraged at Sculptors Group

In his slide show, he shared examples from a mostly pastel chalk series he called “missing children drawings,” adapted from images of missing children reproduced on milk cartons in a 1980’s nationwide awareness campaign about kidnapped children. Later, he created a public installation about the missing children. Besides working in clay, Kennedy also hand-builds in concrete on armatures, sometimes adding features in wood.

He has created several larger-scale outdoor installations in concrete, “yard sculptures” that, over time, are cloaked in vegetation and become integral with the environment they inhabit.

To learn more about Pacific Northwest Sculptors group events, contact us today!

Common Sculpture Tools – Orange Plastic Bowl

Andy Kennedy

A couple months ago I described some of my clay sculpting tools, a fork, a baseball bat, a stone with a sharp edge. Tools can also be a word or an idea, or a whole system of ideas, anything that can be used to affect change. The tools of this essay are vague abstractions grounded by physical elements of process. And presently featuring an orange plastic bowl, about 17” diameter and one inch thick all around.

It’s very rounded because this bowl was part of a sphere that was once a float for a fisherman’s net. I found this orange plastic bowl buried in sand on the beach of Ft. Stevens park by Astoria and hauled it home. It’s surprisingly heavy at over ten pounds. I’m going to pause, because there was a time when I did not know what this thing really could do. That was a time of unknowing, but keen recognition that this orange bowl seemed to have Potential written all over it. Like being handing a big puzzle piece that is connected to a huge new view of the world. Finding this orange hunk of plastic was like a wardrobe that leads to Narnia or hearing at a planning meeting for International Sculpture day that an empty storefront adjacent to the CAVE might be available for art installation.

There were a few moments in the middle of International Sculpture day within the bustle of other artists setting up demonstrations and Vancouver residents walking into the PNWS event. I was there, in the middle of an installation that I co-created with Amber Metz (AKA Aim Axon) called Meditation and Manipulation playing with one of the 200+ bamboo sticks that I brought into the CAVE Adjacent space over the month leading up to the event. I stood there observing yet another wondrous property of an orange plastic bowl, a piece of found object art that I now call the haFast forms a cone with my hand at the apex and I’m in that state of discovery and surrender to wonder spontaneously conjured, hyper-present, ready and willing, at the axis of crafting reality and it occurs to me, “The quality of this moment is the thing I want to share”.

President’s Message November 2022

Changes are the theme of the immediate future. In an attempt to engage and involve more of our members, we are looking at additional times and formats for our meetings. Our VP, Andy Kennedy, will be updating everyone about some of the options and looking for your input. Look for a separate email soon.

Our November meeting will be delayed a week to avoid the Thanksgiving holiday. The new date is November 30. Our presenter will be Carole Murphy and the location will be at Oregon Society of Artists. See details.

Our January meeting will also be at Oregon Society of Artists on Sunday, January 8 at 1:30. Led by Russ Ford, this will be a member-only Spirit Mask Making event. The masks will be fired the following Sunday at his studio in Vancouver. See details.

Time and date for our Annual Meeting will come soon. There should be some language changes for our bylaws and election of new board members.

President’s Message October 2022

Several changes are in the works for PNWS members. After a highly uncontested campaign, Andy Kennedy has stepped into the role of Vice President and will succeed me as President in the new year. This is entirely appropriate since Andy the most knowledge of our volunteer resources.

Andy’s vision for member engagement revitalizes a process from our past where every member has a role. In a volunteer organization, it’s up to you to make the experience valuable for everyone else. And that, in turn, makes it more valuable for you. Watch for updates.

FIGs are a new feature. Focused Interest Groups are member organized communities within our organization to facilitate conversations and information exchange. The goal is to engage members on specific topics. Our Forums will be the primary point of contact, but face to face conversations, site visits are all possibilities. Read more about FIGs.

Long time member and former PNWS President, Carole Murphy is on a mission to contact and convert past members to active status. She’s the perfect person for this task. Carole is superb listener and natural motivator. Until this past year, Carole was the primary organizer for our annual participation at Art in the Pearl, our most visible activity. Many thanks to Carole for her consistent commitment to PNWS. Also, if you are not subscribed to Carole’s Sculpture Newsletter, take a look. It’s always an inspiring visual treat.

And finally, newsletter subscriber Melanie Furtado is a sculptor and teacher offering a free online workshop: Intro to Clay Sculpting. It starts Oct 12th. It’s 3 video lessons with a focus on traditional skills. Appropriate for stone sculptors as well. Register here.

President’s Message September 2022

It’s fall. The pace of life/work quickens as summer doldrums yield to fall activities.

Our next meeting is at Portland ADX on Wednesday, September 28 at 7pm. See the description for more details.

We ended the summer with our annual appearance at Art in the Pearl. Traffic was moderate. Demos were excellent. Although we had fewer than usual demonstrators, we were well represented. Thanks to Andy Kennedy for coordinating and to Jerry Woodbury, Russ Ford, and Jonas Hartley for their time and effort.

Our Creative Collaborations Show went live on our web site at the end of last month. We lost a few collaborators along the way, but the final list is an interesting mix of imaginations. Take a look.

Our Annual Picnic was held at Oregon Society of Artists on August 28. Maybe it was the timing, maybe the weather, maybe the location, but turnout was light. Those who did attend were rewarded with plenty of food and good conversation. Special thanks to Ulrich Pakker and Pamela Pakker-Kozicki for making the trek from Seattle to connect face to face. Also check out their article: Origin of a Successful Design.

This past month, Scott Price resigned from our Board for personal reasons. We appreciate his contributions. We will miss his wise perspective and organizational skills. He remains an active member and welcomes our participation in the Price Sculpture Garden.

Additions to the Board in the past few months include Bob Deasy and Katie Sallos. Look for a few changes in committee assignments to rejuvenate member interaction and volunteer participation. After a few years of pandemic pandemonium, it is time to return to our more social and less virtual interactions. Be prepared to get involved again.

In an attempt to build a stronger relationship with Oregon Society of Artists (aka Oregon School of Arts), we are invited to participate in an all sculpture show in May 2023. We helped define this show. Our members may submit images at the member entry fee rate of $35 for two entries. Although this is a juried show, Rip Caswell, the juror, will identify recipients of cash awards. Acceptance of at least one, and more likely two entries is consistent with their usual procedure. More details will be shared as soon as dates are finalized. I hope everyone will consider participating.

President’s Message June 2022

There’s a lot going on in the next few months. Here’s a quick list of what’s coming up:

We are partnering with Oregon Society of Artists for a May 2023 sculpture show. This will be an open call for entries. Rip Caswell will be the Juror. Cash awards will be given in several categories. Watch the monthly Calls for Artists. The listing will be added soon.

We still have a tentative show scheduled for May-June 2023 at Newport Visual Arts Center. We are trying to reschedule that for a slightly later date since it will conflict with our OSA show. Details to come as we learn more.

We have a new member sculpture on display in the garden at OSA. Shelly Durica-Laiche with help from Andy Kennedy have installed a large steel sculpture. See “Who’s Doing What” for a photo.

Our relationship with OSA continues to expand. Proposals for workshops are open now. Download the overview for course proposals. Their goal to include more sculpture in their shows and classes is an open opportunity for us. We also share a goal of expanding the diversity of our membership.

Creative Collaborations continues with about 18 sculptors collaborating in pairs and trio to produce a virtual show that will be posted by September 1.

We have tentative plans for an Annual PNWS Picnic. Pending confirmation of a location, the date is Saturday, August 27. This will be a real face-to-face event with opportunities to share experiences, ideas, stories, food and drinks. Mark your calendar. Confirmation to come soon. Contact Terri Elioff to help organize.

We are always looking for interesting places to hold our monthly member meetings. If you are interested in hosting a meeting, contact Bob Deasy. As pandemic restrictions loosen, opportunities for more hands-on demonstrations become much easier to create. Our goal is to fill our calendar for the year with interesting presentations. Sculptors in all media are welcome. You do not have to be an active member to host an event.

Our June meeting with be with Ulrich Parker. His work is bold and dynamic. His works in steel and water are impressive. It should be an enlightening meeting.

Our July meeting is scheduled at Marty Eichinger’s studio. Marty has been exploring 3-dimensional images in 2-dimensional space using epoxy and a variety of additives. This is a bold departure for one of our most successful sculptors. Plan to attend this live event. We plan to Zoom it as well.

President’s Message – May 2022

Our monthly meeting for April included an interview with stone sculptor, Art Wells. His insights included a perspective on selling through design centers. These are private showrooms where interior designers seek unusual art pieces for their clients and commission artists to create site specific pieces. For Art, this has been a far more lucrative channel for sales than his gallery affiliations. See the whole story.

Our show schedule now includes Oregon Society of Artists for May 2023. This will be a juried show of PNWS and OSA members. Details to come as we get closer to the date. We are also scheduled for the Newport Visual Arts Center in May-June 2023. We are trying to push that date back a month or two so it won’t conflict with the OSA show. Finally, work for our Creative Collaboration show continues. Most projects are still at the conceptual stage, but visible progress should be available soon.

Another upcoming opportunity for PNWS members is our demo booth at Art in the Pearl. We have been active participants in this event every year since its inception. It is always a great source for connections with potential students and sales. To be included in this Labor Day weekend event, contact Andy Kennedy.

Finally, our social media activity has been in hibernation for the past few months. This is usually a significant source of new web traffic and connections. Shelly Durica-Laiche, one of our previous social media champions has offered to assist getting one or two new people up to speed. This is a project that takes little time, but produces important results for all of us. It’s an ideal task for members in remote locations. As an all-volunteer organization, the only way things get done is through contributions by members. Please contact me if you can assist.

President’s Message April 2022

Here’s a quick overview of recent and upcoming activities for PNWS Members. See “Who’s Doing What” for an update of recent work, work in progress and member shows.

Our Creative Collaborations virtual show participants have started their journeys for their September 1 show. We have over 20 participants. You can monitor their conversations on our NEWS PNWS forum. Not much to see yet, but as the ideas, issues and solutions are discussed, you will be able to participate and even contribute your opinions.

Check out another collaboration currently in progress with Andy Kennedy and Russ Ford: Kiln Loading.

Our March meeting included an amazingly informative and insightful talk with sculptor, Sam Cobb. The video is available. It’s worth a look. Our next meeting, April 27 will be a conversation with Dan Fine. Dan’s knowledge of NFTs will include overview and advice.

Our informal Zoom conversations continue every 2^nd Wednesday at 7pm. Hosted by Alisa Looney, every session is driven by the interests of whoever shows up. Join the conversation! Share work in progress, ask advice, find resources, and more.

We are happy to welcome Toni Parque to our Board. Toni is a retired school teacher who has worked in education for 40 years. She has been a lifelong artist, drawing, painting and printmaking. She plans to help with connections to arts organizations and schools to hopefully expand the membership and provide some educational experiences through those connections. Toni is also interested in working on diversity.