Newsletter Excerpts

June - July 2005 Issue of
The Third Dimension, newsletter of

Contents on this page include:

Bronze Knock-Offs: Copyright Problems for US-based sculptors; Stop Art Fraud
SculptFest Questions?
The Internet and TSOS
Member & Sculpture News (New Works)
Submission Guidelines

Bronze Knock-Offs

by Lynn Watters

Because of the recent proliferation on the Internet of so many illegal copies of sculpture, we feel the need to inform you further about the problem. Are you aware that bronze sculpture done by legitimate, professional sculptors are being counterfeited? Have you heard the term "bronze knock-off"?

Knock-offs are cheap, very poorly executed "copies" of work of legitimate sculptors; made from "pot metal" of various and sundry metals from old lawn mowers and other inferior metals. They are NOT bronze and will deteriorate rapidly. These "knock-offs" originate in China, Taiwan, Thailand, and Germany, among other countries. They are imported to the USA and sold to the unsuspecting buyer. These knock-offs of legitimate sculptors' works are all over the Internet and even at your local furniture stores! Please spread the word and help inform art buyers and collectors. The old adage is still true: you get what you pay for. Bronze is indeed pricey, but it is the only medium that will last for centuries and still remain beautiful. [Webmaster Kelly Borsheim's note 6/10/05: Stone and terra-cotta are also medias that have been proven to last for centuries while retaining their beauty.]

For more information and to help stop other forms of art fraud, check out www.Artspace2000.com

Editor Theresa Bayer's Note: If you want bronze done right,our local Texas foundries are there to help you: check out our display advertising.

SculptFest Questions?

We have Answers! email SculptFest@tsos.org
Please do NOT contact the Umlauf Sculpture Garden & Museum with SculptFest questions. Thank you.

The Internet and TSOS

by Kelly Borsheim, TSOS Webmaster

As I write, TSOS has 59 members who promote their sculpture with their own pages on the TSOS Web site. All members are eligible to exhibit here -- the cost is included in your membership fee. For details on how to make this happen, please visit:
www.tsos.org/joinart.htm#advertise or visit www.tsos.org and click on the "Join TSOS" link and scroll down to "Advertise Your Artwork On this Site"

I sometimes have members write to me and ask about the veracity of various e-mails they have received. These are usually sales pitches. Although I am no expert and we each have different art and therefore different audiences and various ways to promote our unique works to those audiences, these are my general rules for my own art career:

I do not pay monthly or annual fees to have my art promoted on other people's Web sites. I only put money into my own Web sites. Why? Because it is my experience that when people take money up-front that covers their operating expenses, selling my art becomes less of a priority. It is bonus money, not necessary for survival. (This is true off-line as well as for online/Internet situations.) However, I have allowed people who wish to promote my work on their site for free to take up to a 25% commission in the event of a sale. Why? Because I have no problem rewarding good behavior. Those people are paid only if successful. They earned it.
Anytime I receive an e-mail that addresses me generically (Sir, Madam, etc.), I delete it. This is pure SPAM. The only way someone legitimate would KNOW my e-mail is if he visited my artwork online or knows someone that I know. Either way, the writer should have access to my name to address me personally when e-mailing. If you respond to an e-mail such as this, you are confirming that a live person uses your e-mail address. Your address will then be sold to other SPAMMERS. This is also why you should never "unsubscribe" from something that you never subscribed to.
I personally delete all e-mails from Chinese bronze foundries. This is because of the copyright infringement problem we are currently experiencing (see related story). It is also because we have many wonderful foundries in Texas and the US to help us realize our bronze works, while still maintaining control over our art and helping our own economy.

Thank you for reading. I hope this helps you with promoting your art via the Internet.

TSOS MEMBER & SCULPTURE NEWS

Stone Sculpting Class

by Rey Alaniz

After several years of trying to get a space that he could dedicate to making art, Rey Alaniz found it, and is now teaching classes in stone sculpture. Rey is teaching the techniques that master sculptors in Italy use to create beautiful works of art. Students will experience the thrill of seeing their ideas become reality in a lasting medium. All skill levels are welcome. Individual and small introductory classes are available, starting in June 2005. Instruction will cover basic approaches to carving stone (with hand and power tools), finishing, mounting, and photographing your work. Contact Rey at ralaniz@tsos.org for details. Website: Reynaldo Alaniz.

Former TSOS president Reynaldo Alaniz is an award-winning artist that has been sculpting since the 1900's (1993). He learned his stone sculpting techniques from working with master artisans in Italy. Rey¹s work has been exhibited extensively in the Austin area, including Clarksville Gallery, Butridge Gallery, Bergstrom Airport, Carver Library, and Mexique-Arte Museum. He has won awards in Austin, Brownsville and Chicago and also shown work in New York and Brookgreen Gardens in South Carolina. Rey is an experienced art teacher and active in promoting the arts, as well. He has taught stone carving at the Austin Sculpture Center and given presentations on sculpture to local school children. He is on the Texas Commission on the Arts roster of "Artists in Education," and served on a peer panel review committee for grants for the city of Austin (2004).

[stone sculpture by Rey Alaniz]
Above: "Sojourner" by Reynaldo Alaniz; Marble, 12.5 x 5.5 x 6 inches; October, 2002

ASC's Longhorns Workshop

by Bobby Pearl

On May 29th ASC held its last workshop under the City's Cultural Contract with us. It was a perfect day, sunny but not too hot. We were all guests at Bob Coffee's ranch. Participants were Val Mills, Kate Wilson, Ken Burns, Bobby Pearl, with Bob Coffee as host. We had a terrific anatomy lesson on Longhorn Anatomy, complete with a poster full of diagrams and pictures; then we were trucked to the top of a small and scenic mountain where we spent a very exciting hour in the midst of the Longhorn herd: cows, calves and bull. We got to observe, feed, feel and dodge our models. It was the most vivid anatomy lesson I ever had! After that we got to work on Bob's breezy screened in porch and put our understanding of Bob's wax sculpting techniques into practice. Thank you, Bob for an excellent workshop. We are trying to persuade Bob Coffee to do a repeat, perhaps in the fall. If we are successful we will make an announcement over the Internet.

Dan Pogue New Sculpture Commissions

by Marti Pogue

Dan Pogue has had a busy year. He has finished the original of the "Warriors" sculpture. It is 15 feet tall. It is being cast at this time and will be delivered to Liberty Christian School in Denton, TX in the summer of 2005. Pogue is currently working on the Lucress Watson Foundation Memorial. It is life size figures of Lucress Watson herself, and four children from around the world (See Photo). Her foundation supplies medicine to children in need in third world countries. They are scheduled to finished January, 2006.

Pogue had a one man show at Tarleton State University the month of October, 2004. He was invited to the Night of Artists Gala in San Antonio the past two years and is invited back for February, 2006. He showed his "Spring" fountain at the Sculpture Dominion Invitational Large Sculpture Art Show in San Antonio. He will have a one man show at the First State Bank of Uvalde, TX October 31, 2005 to November 4, 2005.

[warrior equine sculpture by Dan Pogue]
Above: "Warriors" by TSOS member Dan Pogue, 15 ft. tall, original model to be cast in bronze for Liberty Christian School in Denton, Texas. Dan is standing to the right of his sculpture.

George McFarland Sculptures

George McFarland has three new abstract pieces in wood at the Davis Gallery, 837 W. 12th Street, Austin Texas 78701 (12th at Shoal Creek), starting June 4 and continuing through the summer. If you'd like to visit, the Gallery phone number is (512) 477-4929, and their email is info@davisgalleryaustin.com

Thomas Studio Casts

Houston Vietnam War Memorial

13-foot high cast bronze sculptures of a South Vietnamese and an American soldier were sculpted by Tony Pham of Houston and cast and installed by Thomas Studio of Jonestown, owned by TSOS member Jim Thomas. The figures are part of a larger Vietnam War Memorial at Universal Center in Bellaire, Houston and include a cast 5' x 10' bronze bas relief depicting the escape of the Boat People from Vietnam plus a 60' curved wall with the names of the fallen. Another full scale concrete sculpture, also by Pham, of seven expatriates is also part of the memorial. The Houston Vietnam War Memorial is dedicated to the cooperation of the United States with South Vietnam in the conflict.

[Vietnam Memorial bronze sculpture by Tony Pham]
Above: The South Vietnamese figure from the Houston Vietnam War Memorial is shown in progress with sculptor Tony Pham. The figure is 12' 6" high and was rendered from Pham's personal photos and from authentic Vietnam War army gear.

Terry Wilemon's Portrait:

Above: TSOS member Terry Wilemon demonstrates her passion for sculpture with a clay portrait in progress at the Sculpture Academy of Austin, located at 4910 Burnet Road. www.sculptureacademy.com; (512) 419-7373. Photo by Marja Spearman.

Rodney Bohl's New Stone Sculpture:

Above: "Head over Heels in Love" by Rodney Bohl. Red and gray New Mexico alabaster, mounted on granite.

[Dylan Thomas inspired bronze art]
Above: detail of "Against the Dying of the Light" by Kelly Borsheim.

Against the Dying of the Light

New Bronze Sculpture by Kelly Borsheim

Although the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas was inspired to write his famous poem "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" as his father lay dying, I have always felt that his line "Rage, rage against the dying of the light" could be interpreted more broadly as our struggle for self. I am inspired by our desires to work to achieve our dreams, to find our own unique light, even when it means we strive -- sometimes against great odds -- to find that voice inside.

"Against the Dying of the Light" is my sculptural expression of the beauty and frustration we exhibit when we struggle within or with something that feels larger than ourselves. I hope he fascinates you. More images are online at: www.borsheimarts.com/sculpture/2005/ragerage.htm

My newest sculpture release is shown here while still in the original plastilina (clay). I envision the completed bronze to stand about five feet tall, including the 30" tall granite pillar supporting the bronze. The pre-casting price listed does not include this stone base. As usual, a one-third deposit will hold your limited edition bronze for you. Thank you for your interest and support.

[Dylan Thomas inspired bronze sculpture]
Above: "Against the Dying of the Light" consists of a nude male figure pulling up and away in a rage against two larger hands that are reaching up and pulling the figure's legs downward.

Book Quote Request:

TSOS member Kelly Borsheim took her first (adult) class in clay with Pern Smalley at the Elisabet Ney Sculpture Conservatory in September 1994. For those of you who have watched her grow her art career, you may be interested in the following:

Borsheim Arts Studio would like to include you in a new project. Amber Plank of Chameleon Print Design in Chicago and artist Kelly

Borsheim will be creating a book about "Phase I" of the Texas-based sculptor's work. Tentatively titled, "Artist Kelly Borsheim: The Beginning," the book will feature original drawings, paintings, and sculpture created approximately between the years 1992 and 2004, including never-before exhibited works.

Included in this book will be quotes from supporters that reference the artwork or the artist, in appreciation to those who have encouraged the beginning development of this art career. Please take a moment to send in your thoughts. You do not have to be a collector to be included. We will try to fit in as many quotes as appropriate.

Quotes and "permission to publish" form may be filled out on the Internet at: www.borsheimarts.com/book.htm or contact the studio at 512.303.3929 to request a form via US mail. Thank you for your time and interest.

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Texas Society of Sculptors
P. O. Box 49291
Austin, Texas (USA) 78765-9291
www.tsos.org