Saturday, May 30, 2009

A new venture



Today I made a big decision, partially on what direction I want my art to go in, and partially in a way to help the furry friends that I hold so dear.

Its no secret that I love dogs... heck, I have 3 of them that I bring with me where ever I go, and then another 3 (1 that belongs to my neighbor, 2 that belong to my sister) that normally come up to hang out in the studio while I work. Dogs are some of my favorite people, and my love for these fur-children really has started to direct me on a new path... fueled even more by having the opportunity to look through a Hagan Renaker book for the past week and marveling at some of the pieces that they used to produce.

After doing a LOT of research on dog figurines... it came to my attention that they are all very breed-specific. Boxers, danes, pointers, pugs... but there are no underdogs, no common dogs... no mutts in the mix. And so my calling became clear... it is time for a line of figurines that champion the dog so many of us love so much... the rescue pups who became the loves of our lives. Not just figurings, but all types of dog art that highlights these unsung heros.

Tonight after getting home from a show I sat down and started to plan out some pieces. LOTS of sketching, some website building, and some business planning. The figurines will probably LB to classic scale (curio sized), of all shapes and sizes. I bought the domain tonight: MutzArt.com and its going to be devoted to love of mutts in all sorts of artwork, with a portion of the proceeds going to rescues. I plan on starting things right away; I want to get a few fun things up there and the first in the line, which will be of Hayden. The website won't lauch until I have quite a large body of work together. But, I do plan on putting up a "coming soon" message so that people know its in progress.

So for those of you who read this... if you have a canine companion that you'd like to be MutzArt, drop me an email and/or send along some pictures. I want to get one piece completed every month (both flatwork and 3D work) until I have enough to really launch the site. I'd LOVE to do the figurines in china. But, we'll see how that goes as I get farther along. I plan on doing very small editions of each piece, with Hayden being an edition of 15-20, all numbered and with a COA. I've also been thinking cold-cast bronze. But, its still very much in its planning stages. If you've got thoughts or ideas, I'd love to hear them!

7 comments:

Sian said...

Bravo!! I will hope though, that you might be inspired to do an occasional trad size sculpture since it's all I collect. :-) I have a mutt, I german shepherd mix you might like to see, too. Look foreward to seeing your sculptures!

Liesl said...

Sian-- email me pics at liesl_dalpe@cox.net of your pooch!

Braymere said...

I have two muttly mutts to share with you. One is obviously American Eskimo plus, but the other is the dog that stumps all the self proclaimed dog experts at the dog park. I call her my Kansas City Dawg! I'll send you pictures later tonight or tomorrow. Great idea for a sculpture line by the way!!!

Sian said...

Jennifer's Abby is super cute :-)

SheMovedtoTexas said...

That's really exciting! I love dogs and model dogs and would love to see some of your art in this venue. Hope you don't exclude pure breeds though. We have 1 purebred rescue, and the number of people rescuing purebred dogs as opposed to buying them is definitely on the rise.

Unknown said...
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Unknown said...

hey ! what a great idea! I have a new dog resin out.. would you like to be a guest artist ? there are pic on my blog if you go back a month or two...I can give you a casting in return if you like? not sure how you usually work that? . just let me know. we can make some of the proceeds go to your dog rescue or however you will be helping dogs.. great Idea! I love dogs too! cant wait to see your new sculpt!
Rebecca Turner
www.solticeartstudio.blogspot.com