2006 May – Artist: Susan Van Winkle - Society of Connecticut ...

Newsletter of the Society of Connecticut
May, 2006 – Vol. 3, No. 2
SCS, Inc., P.O. Box 415, Essex, CT 06426
FROM THE PRESIDENT’S PEN
We’re making the final preparations for our 14 th annual exhibition which will run
from June 9 to July 23. Hopefully you received the mailing on this, and we are
looking forward to your participation. The Alexey Von Schlippe Gallery of Art
on the University of Connecticut’s Avery Point Campus is a new venue for us
and a lovely space in which to display and sell your work.
The exhibition is being coordinated by Ken Bujnowski (860 537-5911),
Rosemary Gurpide (860 526-1757) and Helene Johnson (860 767-0445) so
you can call any one of them for more informion.
We’ll look forward to seeing your work in the show and chatting with you at the
Opening Reception on FRIDAY, JUNE 9 from 5 to 8 p.m.
⎯John Molloy
Spotlight on the Artist—Susan Van Winkle
Susan Van Winkle has been devoted to the visual arts for most of her life. As a child and
teenager, Susan recalls she wanted to possess lots of animals, but
realized that was impossible—so she began to draw and sculpt
them instead.
She now works full time as a freelance
artist and produces wild and domestic
animals in diverse media including pen &
ink drawing, scratchboard, and sculpture
in bronze, alabaster, soapstone, marble,
cold cast bronze, and cast stone.
SCS Newsletter May, 2006
Van Winkle's formal art training included 4 years of
study in fine art, illustration, photography, and commercial
art at Paier College of Art, Hamden, CT. Her techniques of
sculpture have been enhanced through courses at the
Washington, CT Art Association, guidance
through the Paul King Foundry and Mystic
River Foundry, plus personal
self-taught experimentation.
Oxford American Dictionaries
have engaged Van Winkle's talent
in illustrating numerous fish, reptiles, birds, and mammals for their
newest dictionary editions.
She has exhibited both nationally and internationally
and has received a number of awards for her work.As an
active artist member of the Lyme Art Association, an
elected artist member of the Mystic Art Center and a member
of the Society of Connecticut Sculptors, Van Winkle's inspiration
comes from “the ultimate artist – Nature.”
Her work is in private collections worldwide.
Way to go, Helene Johnson!!
Helene Johnson has recently won the top award - Best of Show-- which is the Gold Prize
for Sculpture at the Pen and Brush Society in NYC. Located at 16 East 10th Street, the Pen
and Brush. Inc. is a non-profit organization of professional women in the arts, including
painters, sculptors, crafts artists, writers, photographers and performing artists. It is one of the
oldest women's arts organizations in the country. Helene has been a sculptor member since the
late 90's. The 60th Annual Sculpture Exhibition was held recently and was open to artists from
all over the nation. The jurors for awards were: Denise Bulbar, owner and director of Chelsea
Gallery; Denise Bib, Fine Art; Jonathan Shahn, sculptor, teacher at the Art Students' League,
NYC; and Peter Trippi, director of the Dahesh Museum in New York City.
She was awarded a cash prize of $500 plus the opportunity to participate in a Pen and
Brush all-sections-award -winners' show in the fall.
2

SCS Newsletter May, 2006
EDITOR’S MUSINGS
We’re entering a new phase in the life of the Society of Connecticut Sculptors with the
creation of our very own website thanks to the invaluable and tireless work of Charlie Young.
We are hoping that you will be as delighted by this as we are in that with your
membership in the Society, you will be able to post your own bio and website
there. This can increase your own exposure in the sculpture world and
hopefully bring you commissions and sales if that is what you are looking for.
We now have a pretty complete list of members’ emails so there is a lot
we can do online to inform you of events and remind you of deadlines for shows, etc. In the
future, email may be used as a way to transmit our newsletter if individuals prefer to receive it
that way.
As always, comments and suggestions are welcome. The survey sheet at the end of the
newsletter will help us in our planning. Thanks!
3
--Wendy Swain
Outdoor Sculpture at the Stamford Museum & Nature Center
For sculpture lovers, it is worth a trip to Stamford to see the impressive collection of
outdoor sculpture that is there. The building and the grounds are lovely. In the late 1920’s,
New York designer and department store owner, Henri Bendel asked his architect, Perry
Barker, to design a mansion in North Stamford that recreated the classical elegance of the
British manor house. Since 1955, it has been the home of the
Stamford Museum & Nature Center.
The Bendel
/Perry design
included the use
of several Italian
marble sculptures
in the
decoration of
the gardens.
This was in
keeping with
the British habit
SCS Newsletter May, 2006
of adorning the grounds of some of the “great Houses” with
Italian art, much of it acquired by their owners in the mid to
late 1800’s in the course of their “Grand Tour.”
The artworks most essential to the design of the mansion are
the so-called Bendel Horses and the Bendel Lions on the
Fountain Plaza. Made by unidentified artists, these Italian
sculptures give the entrance to the mansion an impressive
and sumptuous effect. The Horses are the oldest pieces in
the group, dating from ca. 1850 while the Lions date from
ca. 1875. The stairway that surrounds them with its
balustrade is a classical feature of the Italianate period in
British garden design, which started about 1850 and
remained in fashion until the late 1800’s.
On the walkway between the lakeside and the main
building’s entrance are “The Four Seasons” sculptures which
were donated to the Center by Conde Nast, Inc. in 1947.
The originals of these allegorical sculptures were designed to
celebrate the wedding of CosimoII, Grand Duke of Tuscany,
in 1608. They are the work of Pietro Francavilla (Spring),
Artists are visionaries.
We routinely practice
a form of faith, seeing clearly
and moving toward a creative
goal that shimmers in the
distance—often visible to us,
but invisible to those around us.
--Julia Cameron, The Artist’s Way
Giovanni-Battista Caccini (Summer and Fall)
and Taddeo Landini (Winter). The Museum’s
sculptures are probably 19 th century copies,
except for Summer, which may be an original by
Francavilla.
One of the most appealing pieces in the
Center’s outdoor sculpture collection is “Ruth”
by Giovanni-Battista Lombardi. Made in Rome
in 1862, this graceful sculpture sits in a gazebo
across from the “Four Seasons.” In “Ruth,”
Lombardi blends elements of the Neoclassical
and the Romantic styles. The serence demeanor
of the figure is most appropriate for this Biblical
character, a symbol of kindness. The gazebo
itself is a replica of a small circular temple located
in the Villa Cimbrone in Ravello, Italy.
There are also sculptures in different
4
Society of CT Sculptors
Board of Directors
John Molloy, President
Harold Wright, Treasurer
Susan Zurles, Vice President
Lea Ann Cogswell, Secretary
Members at Large
Ken Bujnowski,
Steffi Friedman,
Rosemary Gurpide,
Helene Johnson,
Fred Richman,
Fay Stevenson-Smith,
Wendy Swain,
Jack Yerkes

SCS Newsletter May, 2006
locations on the property by the following artists—Katzen, Nozaki, Mohr, Kotska, Forakis,
Reginato and Borglum.
(Editor’s note— Thank you to Rosa Portell, the Curator of Collections, and Melissa Mulrooney,
Executive Director at the Stamford Museum & Nature Center for this informative article!! And
thank you also to Jack Yerkes who brought the sculptures to my attention and to Bob Swain for the
photos.) (The Museum is easily reached by going one mile north off exit 35 of the Merrit
Parkway (Route 15) in Stamford.
The Guilford Art Center’s Puppetry Show
Seventeen puppeteers from across the Northeast
exhibited recently at the Guilford Art Center showing the 5
major puppet styles—shadow, rod, hand, mask and string.
Makers of puppets are artists of wide-ranging skills whose
handmade, sculptural works must function practically in a
performance, yet be also artistically beautiful or intriguing.
The Guilford show
brought together some
very fine examples of
the best that puppetry
artists can achieve.
The puppets in the
Guilford Show were
mostly characters from
children’s books brought to life by the fine artists who
participated in the show. They are from a variety of
backgrounds and art educations. As you can see from the
photographs, the artists’ creations are of the highest
calibre and worthy of note.
It is interesting to note that Connecticut boasts our
nation’s only museum of puppetry arts—the Ballard
Institute and Museum of Puppetry located at the University of Connecticut in Storrs. (This
article is a summary of the handout for the show from the Guilford Art Center -Editor.)
SCS Newsletter May, 2006
SOIREE!! SOIREE!! SOIREE!!
A wonderful evening of visiting a working studio, interacting with other
sculptors in our society and sharing a delicious dinner is being planned. Please put the
date on your calendars—SUNDAY, JULY 16 starting
at 4pm at the home of Steffi Friedman in Westport.
(Her house is very close to Compo Beach, so you might
even plan a whole day’s outing.) Steffi has graciously
agreed to host the event ( And we are hoping that this
will be the first of many more social evenings together
in the future.) Please let us know that you are coming
by the 9 th of July—phone Wendy Swain at 203-
386-9125 or email her at wgs10s@yahoo.com.
Everyone will be asked to contribute some food item to
the dinner and that will be coordinated closer to the
date of the event. Reminders will be sent out by email in
early July. If you don’t have an email address, please call
Wendy to confirm.
THE CONNECTICUT
COMMISSION ON THE ARTS
Have you considered submitting your portfolio to the Connecticut Commission on the Arts? Several
of our members have reported that they have gotten commissions from this group to produce sculptures
as a result of having their portfolios on file. The address is An-Ming Truxes, Director of the Arts
Division, Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism, 755 Main Street Hartford, CT 06103.
ADVERTISEMENTS
Now that our membership has grown and continues to grow, it is
increasingly desirable for businesses wishing to attract new customers in
the art world to place their ads in our publication. An ad costs only $15
per issue.
5
6

SCS Newsletter May, 2006
SURVEY
Please fill out the survey below and return it to: Harold Wright 81 Green Hill Road Killingworth,
CT 06419.
SCS Newsletter May, 2006
Society of Connecticut Sculptors, Inc.
P.O. Box 415
Essex, CT 06426
Name_______________________________________________________________________________
_____I have been a member of SCS for ____________ years.
_____I would like to become a member of SCS—benefits include newsletters, venues for exhibiting
work, social events with other sculptors, etc. (Individual membership is $45 per year; Please enclose a
check made out to SCS.)
_____I would be interested in writing an article for the newsletter or suggesting a focus for future
articles.
_____I have the following talent(s) that I would be willing to share with SCS members:
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
_____I would be willing to get paid advertiser(s) for the newsletter.
_____I would like to participate in future exhibits.
_____I am interested in attending/hosting social events—field trips, evening soirees, demonstrations or
lectures.
The National Sculpture Society (NSS) is presenting “Literary Sculpture” at its headquarters
and exhibition space in the Park Avenue Atrium, located at 237 Park Avenue and 466 Lexington
Avenues (between 45th and 46th Streets) in midtown Manhattan. The exhibition, which runs from
April 3 to July 14, includes contemporary works by twenty-four sculptors working in the U.S. today.
Artists were asked to explore three-dimensional characters or moments from the written page. The
sculptors have drawn inspiration from ancient mythology, nursery rhymes, the Bible, gothic and
contemporary writings. Works range stylistically from classical to constructive to humorous – each the
individual interpretation by one artist of another’s work.
For names of sculptors participating and more photos of works, please see the NSS website at
http://www.nationalsculpture.org/nss/exhibits/literary/literary_pr.asp. –Ed.)
Comments:
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
“Young Pan” “The Bone” “Persephone” “Orpheo & Eurydice…” “Isis” “Not a Sparrow…”
Dennis Nolan Susan Read Cronin Amy Unfried Richard MacDonald Bunny Adelman Roy Madsen
____________________________________________________________________________________
7
8