King's Cloak
By Robin Dodge
sold

Photograph by Mel Shockner



My inspiration was the immense body of work that Donatello and Michelangelo created with stone and bronze in their lifetimes. I wanted to share the experience of touching stone and pulling out the creation that lives within the stone.
My design strategy was the body of the owl to have a gentle curve to create the sense of movement even though the owl is in a stationary pose. I used the mix of media to extend the drama and to convey the regal presence owls hold in nature.
My work process. Monty Taylor, sculptor and I had shared a really cool studio with three other artists and at that time we became friends. Then life took us in different directions. Recently we shared in a collaborative project, he with the stone, I with the copper. Originally intended to be a fund raiser for a Kenyan tribe trying to put together a water source for an endangered heard of giraffe, we were very happy with the outcome. At the time I was studying the Renaissance sculptors  who used stone. I wanted to try it. At his studio we were looking in his scap stone pile for a small stone I could work with to get my toes wet. The owl was blocked out but the wing had broken off so it ended up in the discard. It attracted me on a number of levels. Re-purposing is a favorite pass time of mine and my love for winged creatures. The stone is Colorado alabaster and I made the wings with copper to resemble a royal cloak.