Panda Bear

Studios Without Walls 2010: May 1st- June 13th, Temporary Sculpture along the Muddy River. Closing reception, Sunday June 13th, 1-5pm. Donna Dodson, Panda Bear, cement, styrofoam, paint.

The Panda Bear will travel to the Mill Brook Gallery, Concord, NH May 30th-October 17th for "The 13th Annual Invitational Outdoor Sculpture Exhibit." Sunday, May 30th 2-4pm: "Opening Celebration" For more information visit www.themillbrookgallery.com.

Poem by Charlanne Kallay:

Panda Bear

There’s been a seizure between her ears
excavating a fossil word
“adapt”.

Gloves of influence
cuff her instinct.
Her heart opens.

Excitation swells
as if her soul
is pushing out her skin.

She’s luminous.

Update: The Panda Bear was reviewed on Thats Boston as 'The most striking piece of the exhibit,' http://www.thatsboston.com

Studios Without Walls 2010

Studios Without Walls 2010:
Temporary Sculpture along the Muddy River

I will be exhibiting my first large scale outdoor piece with Studios without Walls. I am posting several images, courtesy of Andy Moerlein, that show the process of making the piece including laminating two 8'x4'x2' billets of styrofoam, carving the giant panda bear, covering the piece in surface bonding cement& painting the piece. There are also a few images of the model or wood maquette of the Panda Bear, that measures approx. 16" tall, at the end of this post. Check my blog in a few days to see some images of the finished piece that will measure approx 8 ft tall, www.donnadodsonartist.blogspot.com.

Exhibition: May 1-June 13, Riverway Park, Brookline/Boston, MA
Hosted by Brookline Department of Parks and Recreation
Opening Celebration: May 1-2, 11AM-6 PM
Artist tours by Studios Without Walls hourly during Brookline Open Studios
Closing Reception: Sunday June 13, 1-5PM, Walkthrough with Artists & Park Ranger 2PM
Jazz Concert: The Joel Press Quartet, Sunday June 13—3-4:30PM
Exhibition is visible during daylight hours

Directions: The Riverway, Longwood T-Stop on the MBTA Green Line) Emerald Necklace-Riverway Park runs between Park Drive, Boston; the Riverway; Longwood Ave; and Chapel St., Brookline. Public access is at Park Drive, Chapel St., Longwood Ave. or Netherlands Road. On- street parking available in Brookline. Information: contact iNFO@studioswithoutwalls.org / 617-327-5171 /
www.Studioswithoutwalls.org

Participating artists include: Muriel Angelil, Myrna Balk, Camilo Cardenas, Donna Dodson, Louise Farrell, Janet Hansen Kawada, Karen Klein, Milan Klic, Bette Ann Libby, Lyn MacDonald, Elizabeth Michelman, Andy Moerlein, Joan Schwartz, Barbara Vogelsang, Jeanne Williamson, and Jim Wright.

For the third year, sculptors of Brookline-based STUDIOS WITHOUT WALLS return to exhibit temporary outdoor installation and sculpture along the banks of the Muddy River in Frederick Law Olmsted’s historic Emerald Necklace- Riverway Park. Sixteen artists present outdoor works in dialogue with their environment, community, and the world of art. The artists work in a variety of nontraditional materials---concrete, ceramic, Styrofoam, plastic sheeting, snow-fencing, metal, wire, recycled fibers, bone and feathers. Their forms are equally diverse, from elephants in the bush to translucent rocks; to poetic puzzles, oversized flowers and fungal invasions in the semi-natural parkland of Olmsted’s Emerald Necklace. Covering a broad range of subjects, the works subvert natural forms, decry environmental spoliation, invoke fertility and decay, up-end expectations of gravity and support, explode aesthetic theories, and provoke imaginative reverie.

STUDIOS WITHOUT WALLS has exhibited public art projects fostering individual expression for over ten years. The group also presents visual arts and cultural programming to students, seniors, and community groups in Brookline and Boston. Sponsors of its outdoor installations since 2007 have included the Brookline Commission for the Arts, the Brookline Parks and Open Space division and Environmental Education Program, the Emerald Necklace Conservancy, the Friends of the Muddy River, the Brookline Greenspace Alliance, the MassAudubon Society, Friends of the Carlton Street Footbridge, Church of Our Saviour, Brookline Arts Center, and the Olmsted National Historic Site.

On Sunday, June 13 at 3PM, a closing concert sponsored by Chobee Hoy Associates will be held near the Longwood T-Stop. Members of the Joel Press Jazz Quartet will perform straight-ahead jazz under the direction of Brookline/Brooklyn’s seasoned saxophonist Joel Press. Press has played jazz with roots and companionship in the music of Duke Ellington and John Coltrane for over fifty years.

"This program is supported in part by a grant from the Brookline Commission
for the Arts,, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts
Cultural Council, a state agency."

Elephant Parade

For Immediate Release

Elephant Parade: Art by Donna Dodson on exhibit at New Hampton School’s Galletly Gallery

New Hampton, NH, March 13, 2010 – New Hampton School’s Galletly Gallery is pleased to host sculpture by Donna Dodson from April 1 through May 1, 2010. The public is cordially invited to an opening reception on Friday, April 2, from 5:30 to 7 pm. The reception will feature the “Elephant Princess” jewelry collection by Knight&Hammer Jewelers, inspired by Dodson’s work.

Elephant Parade is a gathering of 15 elegant wood sculptures of the female form with elephant heads. They range in size from 1 to 4 feet tall. Dodson uses the flow of the natural wood grain with the form of the sculpture to reveal and enhance the girl, woman, queen or goddess within. Their mouths are closed, symbolizing the mysteries they embody. Created as archetypes, these figures evoke a personal experience for the viewer. “My artwork celebrates the mystical relationship between human beings and the animal kingdom," says Dodson. "The challenge is to fuse feminine sensuality, sexuality and soul with a well-proportioned figurative vocabulary."

In November of 2009, Dodson exhibited a similar series of work, Elephant Tribe at the Boston Sculptors Gallery in Boston’s SoWa arts district. Says Dodson: "Both installations play upon themes of family identity and individualism, group dynamics, rank and order, kinship and clan, totem, mascot, personal spirituality, feminism and wild animals.”

The Elephant Princess jewelry collection is designed by Joseph Knight of Knight&Hammer Jewelers. For Knight, Dodson’s work "merged ancient cultural ideology with modern linear lines." Sharing a commitment for a better world, Dodson and Knight partnered with Dr. Stuart Pimm, founder of Saving Species. The “Elephant Princess” series, in necklace and earrings, is a limited edition series whose sale benefits "Saving Species." All jewelry is created by American craftsmen in fine sterling silver.

For more information, visit www. KnightandHammer.com and SavingSpecies.com. The Elephant Princess jewelry will only be on display at the reception, Friday, April 2.

Poetry written by Charlanne Kallay will accompany the elephants on parade. There will be a poetry reading and gallery talk on Friday April 2nd during the reception.

The Galletly Gallery is located on the second floor of New Hampton School’s Moore Center. The gallery is open to the public Monday through Friday from 8 am to 4 pm and on Saturdays from 9 am to noon. For directions and more information, please call 603-677-3513 or visit www.newhampton.org.

Update: The NY blogger, Joanne Mattera featured me as one of 3 sculptors to watch. I'm in good company with Nancy Azara and Ursula Von Rydingsvaard this month.

Prom Queen, 31" tall, poplar wood & paint, 2009
Photo credit: Clements Howcroft Photography

Go Green

Members' Open Exhibition:
Go Green

On view March 5 - April 18, 2010
Potluck opening reception March 12, 2010 at 6pm

A new exhibition at the Provincetown Art Association and Museum (PAAM) features work by emerging and established artists from within the PAAM membership. "Go Green," includes pieces that reference environmental awareness and/or are predominantly green in color.

Red Panda, 24" tall, wood & paint, 2005
Photo Credit: Bruno Giust

Celestial Elephant

Celestial Elephant, 8' tall, snow sculpture, 2010 by Donna Dodson & Andy Moerlein, Black Mtn Ski Resort, Jackson, NH. [Invitational-Snow-Sculpting-Event]

This was my first event making a snow sculpture. I worked with my friend and fellow sculptor, Andy Moerlein on this piece. We heard about the event from Anne Alexander, a Maine sculptor and we consulted with her partner from last year, Sandy Moore who has inspired many people to try their hand at making snow sculptures. The event takes place from noon on Friday-noon on Sunday. Each team starts out with an 8ft cylinder of snow that was packed into a round form on site that measured 4 ft diameter. No colorants, power tools or armatures are allowed in the sculpture but the finished piece can be of any height and can spread out to 12 ft diameter. There were 12 teams- some novices like us and some experienced snow, ice and sand sculptors as well.

The snow this year was made on site at Black Mtn ski resort since there was not enough natural snow to hold the event on the common in the town of Jackson. The snow was soft to carve. We used hatchets, snow saws, and finished our piece with rough grit sandpaper belts. We worked on ladders as well as on our hands and knees. Keeping warm in the 0 degree weather was one of the biggest challenges but we had perfect sunny weather all weekend long. We experimented with water, slush and ice details as well. Snow does not hold fine details well but the surface is very dynamic and working at a monumental scale was very exciting. There are snow sculpture contests all over New England, North America and the world. We might try another event or try our hand at ice or sand sculpture in the future.

We decided to create a white elephant out of the snow, so we did some research...

A white elephant is an idiom for a valuable possession of which its owner cannot dispose and whose cost is out of proportion to its usefulness or worth.

To possess a white elephant was regarded as a sign of justice and power, peace and prosperity. The tradition derives from tales which associate a white elephant with the birth of Buddha, as his mother was reputed to have dreamed of a white elephant presenting her with a lotus flower, a symbol of wisdom and purity, on the eve of giving birth.

Because the animals were considered sacred and laws protected them from labor, receiving a gift of a white elephant was both a blessing and a curse: a blessing because the animal was sacred, and a curse because the animal had to be retained and could not be put to much practical use.

In the Pali scriptures it is duly set forth that the form under which Buddha will descend to the earth for the last time will be that of a beautiful young white elephant, open-jawed, with a head the color of cochineal, with tusks shining like silver, sparkling with gems, covered with a splendid netting of gold, perfect in organs and limbs, and majestic in appearance.