Magazine Articles	Museum News	Reproductions in Crystal

Exhibition Schedule	Animals of Montana	Felidae Conservation Fund


Wild About Wildebeests! My Wildebeest Mask has been getting some wonderful attention lately! We attended the opening for the SOCIETY OF ANIMAL ARTISTS annual exhibition at the WILDLIFE EXPERIENCE in Parker, CO, and I was delighted to be surprised with the SAA’s AWARD OF EXCELLENCE for the Wildebeest Mask! It was displayed beautifully with the Cape Buffalo Mask, one on each side of a huge John Banovich painting of elephants and a giant baobab tree - a fitting setting and much-appreciated honor. Dr. Estes with Wildebeest Mask Perhaps even more exciting was the selection of Wildebeest Mask as the “award” presented by the RARE SPECIES CONSERVATORY FOUNDATION to DR. RICHARD ESTES for his “life-long dedication to African mammal research and conservation.” When the RSCF called, they said they had searched the internet for “everything Wildebeest” and had picked my sculpture because, as Dr. Estes said later, “It captures the true essence of the antelope that I call my totem species.” Dr. Estes is considered the foremost expert and proponent of the Wildebeest, and is the co-author of the Audubon Society Field Guide to African Wildlife that was my faithful companion on all three of my trips to Africa (among many other books and articles and important research on the subject.) The presentation was made November 13 at the Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens in West Palm Beach, FL.

New Sculpture Two new pieces will make their debut at the annual UNVEILING SHOW at Bronze Coast Gallery in early May of 2008. Every year, most of the galleries in Cannon Beach, OR, participate in this event in which a previously unseen work of art is unveiled at a different gallery every half hour! It’s a very exciting time and we’re looking forward to another visit to the beautiful Oregon coast. I’ll be the featured sculptor at Bronze Coast this year, so I can’t reveal what the new pieces are until after the event, but I can say I’m really excited about both of them and will post photos as soon as I’m allowed, in mid-May. My newest commission, that took up a good bit of the summer, is an enlargement of “On The Alert”, about half way between the original table-top version and the over-life-sized one which was commissioned by Alden Vineyards in CA. A more comfortable size for the intimacy of a residential setting, this one will be going in front of a beautiful home in the hills of Belvedere, CA, overlooking San Fransisco and the Golden Gate Bridge. The commission is a result of my partnership with the conservation organization, Feildae (see below), and is scheduled for early ’08 installation.

The North American Animal Masks series is now under way in earnest (the Bison Maquette having been completed in 2004 before I had to take a break to do some large commissions). Now completed in bronze are Eagle, Grizzly, Bighorn, Moose and Bobcat Mask Maquettes and the large version of Grizzly Mask. I have a long list of animals I want to include in this series and am really having fun doing them!

I've also introduced four miniatures of existing pieces: "On The Alert Mini" (5"x 3.5"x 3" in an edition of 50), "Running Cheetah Mini" (3"x 9.5"x 2" in an unlimited edition), "Vantage Point Mini" (4.5" x 4.5" x 4" in an edition of 50) and "Mountain Fishing Maquette" (4.5"x 8"x 5" in an edition of 50).

Animals of Montana

I spent a fun and exciting three days in July at Animals of Montana outside Bozeman, MT, photographing cats: a magnificent male Lion, Tiger, Cougar, Asiatic Lynx, Bobcat and Snow Leopard, and some Bobcat kittens. Since the black Leopard didn't feel like working that weekend, we were also treated to a Grizzly and Wolf and some baby raccoons. These animals are beautiful, healthy and as well-behaved as wild animals can be, thanks to the expert and loving training of their handler and owner of the animal photographing business, Troy Hyde. I was impressed. I came away with some great reference material and several ideas for new sculptures! Here are a few shots from this very un-professional photographer:

Felidae Conservation Fund

Felidae Conservation Workers I'm very excited to be embarking on an ongoing relationship with Felidae Conservation Fund, which raises money to support wild cat research around the world. I have and will continue to provide sculpture for Felidae's fundraisers, both for silent auctions, a gallery situation and commissioned pieces, whereby we both benefit from sales of my feline sculptures and my work can serve as reminders of these creatures' beauty and nobility for the wildlife supporters who purchase them. Felidae's executive director, Zara McDonald, is based in Belvedere, California, but travels worldwide to find research and education projects dealing with the world's 37 species of wild cats, to benefit from the funds she raises. I'm proud to be associated with Felidae and look forward to an exciting and productive, mutually beneficial relationship well into the future.

Magazine Articles

"Peaks & Plains" is the in-flight magazine for Great Lakes Airlines and there's a nice three-page feature on my work in the "Arts" (Spring) issue. The title of the article is "Capturing Beauty & Power in Bronze".

"Wildscape", published in the UK and subtitled "The Journal of Wildlife Art & Conservation", features artist-written articles on all aspects of wildlife art and the business of art. The June issue includes one they invited me to submit, titled "Rosetta's Interpretive Realism".

June’s edition of “American Art Collector” included an article titled “Animal Magnetism, Sculptors connect man to fellow creatures” by John O’Hern, Executive Director and Curator of the Arnot Art Museum in Elmira, NY. Seven sculptors were selected for inclusion and a full-page image of my “The Leap Maquette” (version II) fills the second page of the article.

Museum News

The Virginia Museum of Animal Art: Due to the very sad passing of Eugene T. Worrell, his amazing collection of wildlife art has now become "The Virginia Museum of Animal Art" in Charlottesville, VA, under the capable direction of his wife, Ann Worrell. Eugene was a wonderful human being and was absolutely passionate about animal art, which is evident in the incredible collection he and Ann put together over the years. We will miss his glowing personality and are forever grateful for his support and encouragement. The collection includes five of my bronzes: "Descending Panther", "Stone Lion", "At The Waterhole", life-size "Alpha Pair" and "Falcon". The Museum is not yet open to the public.

Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum: After a wonderful weekend of festivities at the "2006 Birds in Art" show at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum in Wausau, WI, where we experienced a beautiful show, a beautiful museum and beautiful people, I was honored to find out that the Museum was buying the piece I had in the show, my new Falcon sculpture.

Brookgreen Gardens Sculpture Garden: The last life-size "Mountain Fishing" in the edition has arrived at its new home at Brookgreen Gardens in Pawley's Island, SC. It was honored on May 19 when new works by National Sculpture Society members, added during the past year to the Brookgreen collection, were celebrated during the NSS Annual Sculpture Weekend festivities there.

Ella Sharp Museum of Art and History: Wildlife Art collector Andy Andrews has donated his extensive and celebrated collection of wildlife art to the new Andrews Gallery of Wildlife Art, a new addition to the Ella Sharp Museum in Jackson, MI, built especially to house the renowned collection which includes two of my sculptures: Lynx Legacy and Mountain Fishing. In fact, they used a photo of Mountain Fishing for the banner on the side of the building announcing the grand opening of the new gallery!

Reproductions in Crystal

The French crystal company, Baccarat, will be producing some of my existing small pieces in crystal. So far they’re doing Misty, The Leap and Panther.

2007 Exhibition Schedule

Jan. 13 - March 4	2006 National Sculpture Society Annual at Brookgreen Gardens, SC
Jan. 27 - April 1	“Colorado Gold: a Cache of Animal Artists” at The Wildlife Experience, Parker, CO. Reception February 9, 5 - 7 PM (We’ll be there!)
Feb. 5 - March 30	"Arts in Harmony 07", Elk River Area Arts Alliance, Elk River, MN
Feb. 19 - June 1	2007 National Sculpture Society Annual at NSS headquarters, NYC
April 12	"Faces in the Wild" Auction, World Wildlife Fund/Humanscale, London
April 12	"Felidae" fundraiser for wild cat research, Belvedere, CA
April 21 - May 27	Colorado Governor’s Invitational Art Show, Loveland, CO (We’ll attend)
June 2 - July 1	"Westmoreland Arts & Heritage", Westmoreland County Community College, Latrobe, PA
June 16 - July 29	"Art of the Animal Kingdom XII", Bennington Center for the Arts, VT
June 16 - Sept. 8	"Masters in Miniature", C.M. Russell Museum, Great Falls, MT
June 21 - Sept. 30	2007 National Sculpture Society Annual at Tampa Museum of Art, FL
June 29	"Felidae" fundraiser for wild cat research, Belvedere, CA
July 16 - Nov.18	"Fellows Invitational", National Sculpture Society, New York, NY
August 16 - 19	Western Rendezvous of Art, Helena, MT (We’ll be there!)
Sept. 15 - 23	"22nd Annual Conservatory Art Classic", Bosque Conservatory Art Council, Clifton, TX
Oct.19 - Feb.17	"Art and the Animal", Society of Animal Artists, The Wildlife Experience, Parker, CO
Oct. 20 - Dec. 2	"Miniatures/2007" Albuquerque Museum, NM
Nov. 2 – 4	“Celebrate Sculpture 2007”, Nine10Arts, Santa Fe Drive, Denver, CO
Nov. 17 - Jan 1	"Small Works - Big Impressions", Society of Animal Artists at The Wildlife Experience, Parker, CO
Nov. 15 - Dec. 30	"Creatures", Sisko Gallery, Seattle, WA
Dec. 7 - Jan. 7	"American Women Artists", LeKAE Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ

Theft Alert!

It seems there are too many people out there ready and willing to steal artists' designs or actual sculptures. Companies in several countries are casting cheap copies of many professional sculptors' work and selling them at a fraction of what it costs us to cast them. Please be aware of this and if you see any of these cheap rip-offs for sale (the only one of mine that I'm aware of is "Siblings"), we hope you will let the dealers know that they are violating artists' copyrights, and don't purchase anything from them. If you should see a poor copy of "Siblings" anywhere, I'd appreciate it if you would let me know. For more information about the bronze copyright violation problem, check out the web site: www.bronzecopyright.com.

STOLEN sculptures I would like everyone to keep an eye out for are "Seated Cheetah #54, The Challenge #10 and Defiance #14. All three were stolen from the Rice Gallery in Denver in October of 2004.

In early 2006 Running Cheetah #72 was stolen from New Masters Gallery in Carmel, CA.

ROSETTA
405 8th Street S.E. #15 • Loveland, CO 80537
970-667-6265 • E-mail Rosetta: rosettasculpture@earthlink.net

Photography by Mel Schockner