Visitors and employees in City Hall cast votes for their favorite piece during the month of January. [TSOS President] Hank Waddell's West Texas Beach Ball sculpture won the popular vote among the 79 pieces in the 2005 exhibition. As the winner, the piece will be purchased from the artist to become the first work in the City Hall permanent collection.

The public and media are invited to preview the new 2006 exhibition and meet the artists at the opening reception on March 3, 2006, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the atrium of City Hall. Over 100 local artists are featured in the 2006 exhibition, including Waddell and 20 others that were in last year's exhibition.

West Texas Beach Ball charmed countless visitors who were enamored by its natural textures as they came off of the elevator. Hank Waddell sculpted West Texas Beach Ball from piece of mesquite as part of his Stump series in which he utilized lower sections of trees that often have a severe curve or deep crevices that cannot easily be made in to lumber. "I feel very fortunate to find these 'stumps' and am happy to give them a new life. Most pieces from this series would have ended up in a burn pile or chipper. This particular piece is from the edge of a cattle trail, which was probably stepped on regularly to give it all the deep crevices during its life," said Waddell.

For more information, contact Vincent E. Kitch, Cultural Arts Program Manager at (512) 974-9310.

The natural textures in Hank Waddell's 'West Texas Beach Ball,' made of mesquite wood, charmed many visitors as they got off the elevator.
Photo provided by the artist.

Vasily Fedorouk teaches Michael Sloan, Ruth Baker and Kara Kellogg how to split stone at recent workshop sponsored by Kelly Borsheim in Cedar Creek, Texas 27 Feb 2006. Photo by Kelly Borsheim.

TSOS member Philip Hoggatt carves a granite bench at Kelly Borsheim's stone workshop in Cedar Creek, Texas. 24 Feb 2006. Photo by Kelly Borsheim www.borsheimarts.com

Joseph's Coat by Lisa Brummel

The sculpture is the first in a series of what the artist refers to as "glass tapestries." Colorful enamels were fused to strips of copper in a kiln prior to connection to a steel armature. Steel balls were welded to steel rods and attached to the armature to serve as loose threads in the garment which is designed to hang on the wall.

Above: "Joseph's Coat" by Lisa Brummel. Vitreous Enamel, Copper and Steel. 36" Wide x 33" High x 4.5" Deep; September 2004. Photo and sculpture by Lisa Brummel

Ongis Mutan's Quote Selected for T Shirts

"Stone carving is easy! It's the stone that's hard!"
--Ongis Mutan

Ongis received two T-shirts, a $25.00 gift certificate, and a bush hammer reward. You can visit Ongis's website at www.mutan.com and Montoya Sculpture & Supply at www.MontoyaSculpture.com.

Ongis Mutan is also the first Royal Stone Carver for the Texas Renaissance Fair. Ongis has demonstrated stone carving for more than 400,000 people -- more than any other stone carver in the world.

Above: "Orange Crush", Utah Orange Alabaster, 22" x 29" x 7", 2005, by Mark Yale Harris. Photo by Steve Yadzinski.

Mark Yale Harris Sculptures in Two New Galleries

Harris states, "I enjoy the challenge of working with permanent and natural matter. Unlike other art mediums where one can add or delete, with stone, one can only delete. The material often dictates to me the direction in which the design is supposed to head. It is my belief that as we go through life we can only create from that which we have, or are given. We cannot replace what is lost or taken away, or that which we never had. The ability to interpret and create beauty from what we have is the challenge and the satisfaction I experience in creating my work."

Harris furthers, "As I move through the creative process of visualizing, drawing, or forming a maquette in clay, I utilize a sixth sense through my hands. I am able to draw upon the subconscious of my experiences and, in-turn, interpret gesture, form, energy, pleasure, and pain. Alternating between gesture and geometric form, depicting the contradiction we experience in nature, awakening in the viewer an appreciation of the duality in the world around us. The purpose of my artwork is to provoke a perceptual, internal, and intellectual response: a visual that speaks to life's experiences. To create symbols of universal connection and the relationship that one has with others and with nature."

Danville Chadbourne - Recent Works

In 1848, Scotsman Robert Robson built a castle on the river and began providing homes to local and itinerant artists. Today, creative spirits can rejuvenate at the Live Oak Art Center, housed in the historic Brunson Building. Established in 1954, the center promotes the arts for local talent, emerging artists and established Texas artists alike. The Live Oak provides workshops for all ages, hosts rotating exhibits and maintains an outstanding permanent collection.

We have come a long way from the first meeting fifty years ago in Betty Lee Walker's living room to being recognized in last September's issue of Texas Monthly as one of the best small town art centers in Texas and the recently released Art Guide of Texas published by the University of Texas Press.

The Live Oak Art Center is located just off the town square in historic Columbus, Texas, located at IH-10 and Hwy 71 in central Texas. With 80 historical markers, beautifully restored homes, centuries old Live Oaks, and a past as colorful as the wildflowers lining the roadway.

The Live Oak Art Center will present recent works by San Antonio sculptor Danville Chadbourne, opening March 18, 2006. The exhibition will feature works in clay and wood, including both large and small-scale sculptures and a new body of wall-mounted ceramic works. The exhibition will also include several large-scale outdoor ceramic sculptures on the grounds. It will run through May 6th.

Known for his craftsmanship and use of primal materials such as wood and clay, Chadbourne's work is often likened to a body of cultural artifacts. The visual and ritual impact of these beautiful objects is made more complex by their provocative, poetic and often paradoxical titles. They are, in essence, monuments to irrational ideas and human impulses.

Danville Chadbourne was born in Bryan, Texas in 1949. A resident of San Antonio since 1979, Chadbourne taught at the college level for 17 years until he devoted himself in 1989 to working full-time on his artwork. Chadbourne has been featured in over 50 one-person shows and numerous group exhibitions. His works are included in many public and private collections across the nation.

Above: "The Unstable Truth of Relative Values" by Danville Chadbourne; Year made: 2005-2006; Medium: acrylic on earthenware & plywood

Portrait sculpture of Mark Twain, by Beth Schoen

Stacy Deslatte show in Shreveport, Louisiana

Above: "Quizzical Rascal," bronze, by Suzanne McBride came out of the foundary in 2006. Photo by Suzanne McBride.

Quizzical Rascal is raising eyebrows!

By Suzanne McBride

Other bronze sculptors who have experimented with or embraced stone-like patinas are likely to have encountered similar questions. They may also have encountered resistence to using the colors, too! Suzanne continues to meet people who reject a bronze sculpture unless it wears a brown or black patina with minimal polished highlights because "that's what's traditional" for bronze. "Many of my pieces could be finished in the traditional way, and I'm always glad to meet my client's wishes," Suzanne says. "However, I'm interested in the interplay of realism and abstraction, of natural and manufactured. And so I have a realistic horse's head and neck adorned with a playfully draped mane that only vaguely resembles hair, and the whole animal looks likes he's been sculpted from natural materials until you notice the metallic shine."

Named Quizzical Rascal for the turned head of the animal, and the rakish forward-falling mane, Suzanne's newest work will play a prominent role in all her exhibitions throughout the year. To view samples of Suzanne's work, visit her website at www.smcb.com or call her studio to make an appointment for a private showing. 512.847.8122 email: studio@smcb.com

Above: "The Guardian" by R. David Mattiza Bronze; 24" h x 9" w x 9" d ©2004 Photo credit Tamara Ritchie

R. David Mattiza Bronzes at "Hope and Harmony for Humanity"

Sculpture by Vincent Villafranca

Raku Sculpture by Rabia Clark