Capturing Life IN BRONZE
U.S. Open 2021 •
Compassion International •
Cleveland Heart Clinic •
St. Francis Children's Hospital •
Oklahoma State Capitol Building •
University of Tulsa •
Sedgwick Zoo •
U.S. Open 2021 • Compassion International • Cleveland Heart Clinic • St. Francis Children's Hospital • Oklahoma State Capitol Building • University of Tulsa • Sedgwick Zoo •
Hello & Welcome!
After 30 years in my studio, I am now RETIRED.
I invite you to enjoy the NotableWorks of my career, the stories behind a few of them (directly below), and more about sculpture.
You will see that some of my sculptures are still Available for Sale.
Thank you for sharing your time with me.
Scrolling above are a few places you might’ve seen my work.
A short story
Windy
Collection of Utica Square Shopping Center, Tulsa
~ sculpture created in 1996
I asked myself, “How could I create a statue that ‘captures’ the wind?”
Integrating childhood, motion, and grace, I imagined Windy. Though she is gracefully standing still, the motion caused by the wind is evident throughout. The concept of wind blowing her dress also allowed me to connect the internal plumbing from the figure to the watering can from which water could flow and diversify her as an optional fountain.
Windy is my husband’s favorite sculpture and so I chose her for the cover of my now sold-out book, Capturing the Spirit in Bronze (2015) and for the topmost images on the Home (opening) page of this website.
Click on image for larger view of The Bird Feeder, companion to Windy, above right.
A short story
Celebrating the Arts
Collection of the University of South Alabama
Collection of Tulsa Arts Council
~ sculpture created in 2000
My minstrel is a very lively and exaggerated entertainer. All the arts are represented in this character.
He is dancing; he is playing a musical instrument; masks of comedy and tragedy swing from his chest; and he, as a sculpture, is a part of the visual arts as well. As an artist, I wanted the sculpture to become airborne in some way, so I created a form made of a twisted tree trunk with three huge leaves upon which he is dancing, symbolic of how our lives flourish through the arts. The three leaves represent body, mind, and spirit.
Sometimes, the unexpected would happen in my studio. My husband, Hal, walked in as I was finishing the minstrel’s face and remarked, “He looks just like my father.” Hal’s father, usually a very somber person, had passed away several years earlier. Now Hal Cook, Sr. is captured in bronze, dancing and forever smiling.
An ode to Katie
Tulsa’s beloved Katie Westby, patron of the arts, who was still very much involved with the arts in her 80s, graciously wanted to fund this sculpture project. Katie came several times to my studio in her wheelchair and watched me create the original minstrel in clay. With this connection, I became very fond of her amazing spirit. One day, when I was adding balls on the end of the minstrel’s long, pointed shoes, it occurred to me that this sculpture would outlive Katie and me. I had Katie press her thumbs into each of the shoe’s balls so that her very own thumbprints would be cast forever in bronze.
I was privileged to create a bust of Katie Westby for Harwelden Mansion. Katie brought me an earlier photograph of herself and said, “I was always noted for my friendly smile and would like for you to capture it.” So I did. Dear Katie passed away in 2020.
Full View
Detail
A short story
Christ’s Love for the Children
Collection of St. Francis Children’s Hospital, Tulsa
~ sculpture created in 2008
Working on this sculpture was such a pleasure, for often the nuns from St. Francis would come to my studio and pray for me which was certainly an added blessing. Mold makers came to my studio and after the molds were completed they were taken to the foundry in Colorado. After the sculpture was cast and finished, it was loaded onto a flatbed trailer for its journey to Tulsa. At its delivery, the driver of the truck remarked, “This sculpture almost caused a few wrecks on the way. Can you imagine seeing a ten-foot Jesus coming down the interstate?”
The dedication of the hospital and the unveiling of the sculpture took place on a snowy January day. The Marine band played, officials spoke before dignitaries and guests in the bleachers, who were holding umbrellas, and I unveiled the sculpture. Many of our friends from Crested Butte, Colorado, flew into Tulsa for this celebration. What a joyful day!
I continue to receive notes and emails from family members whose children are hospitalized at Saint Francis Hospital telling me what hope and comfort my sculpture gives them.
SKIP TO: • Notable Works | History • Sculpture Available for Sale • Contact Rosalind
Dedication,
Roz and
Bishop Edward James Slattery
At the foundry, artisans finishing a casting.
Installation
Cleveland Heart Clinic
A short story
Welcome Friends
Collection of Cleveland Heart Clinic
Collection of Utica Square
~ sculpture created in 1995
My Goddaughter, McKenna, was the model for Welcome Friends, created in 1995. She signed her name under the skirt when it was in clay, and now she is forever cast in bronze.
Having no knowledge of dove anatomy, I purchased a live and a “deceased” dove at a farmer’s market. The deceased dove was kept in a sealed bag in the freezer so that I could study its anatomy and manipulate its wings. The other dove lived freely in my studio so that I could observe her fly. Named after Amelia Earhart, Amelia lived with me for three months until the sculpture was completed in clay. I then took her out into the countryside and released her. Three days later, while working in my studio, I heard pecking on my window—it was Amelia! She flew in and out of my studio until she left me, most likely for a mate.
In 1997, the well-known Tulsa painter Leonard Wren and I were having a two-man show at Saks Fifth Avenue in Utica Square. Welcome Friends was prominently exhibited. Walt Helmerich, chairman of Helmerich & Payne, Inc. and his wife, Peggy, attended the show. The Helmerichs also own Utica Square, an upscale shopping center in Tulsa. They told me they had searched Europe for the perfect sculpture for the fountain at Utica Square and had now found it in Welcome, Friends.
Mrs. Helmerich later told me that one day, she and her friends were observed at Utica Square looking under the skirt of the sculpture for the signature of McKenna. I wish I could have seen that!
SKIP TO: • Notable Works | History • Sculpture Available for Sale. • Contact Rosalind
Utica Square
A short story
Legacy of Literature
Collection of Peggy V. Helmerich Branch Library, Tulsa
~ sculpture created in 1999
In 1998, Walt and Peggy Helmerich called me about creating a life-size sculpture to be placed outside the entrance to the Helmerich Branch Library. Preliminary to creating a maquette [French word meaning model], I did research on neighborhood libraries. I discovered that the two populations who most use branch libraries are senior citizens and young children.
Using a strong triangular composition, I created three figures: a grandfather, an adolescent boy, and a young girl, reflecting this research. A maquette is the sculptor's laboratory, allowing the exploration of various options of line and form to create the strongest design for the communication of the artist's ideas before the same sculpture is created in life-size. If one follows all of the main lines of this sculpture, they lead to the three faces of the subjects. The heads are all on different levels. The female has many "S" curves and the males are very angular without having any of the 90 degree angles that can kill a composition.
Peggy Helmerich chose the scripture from Proverbs 22:6 to be inscribed on the pages of the statue’s book. The sculpture is appropriately named Legacy of Literature.
This new website is a gift of gratitude to my patrons—collectors, commissioners, and all those who appreciate my work.
Please feel free to continue and you will find . . . my historically NotableWorks, and sculptures which are Available for Sale.
SKIP TO: • Notable Works | History • Sculpture Available for Sale. • Contact Rosalind