Athletic Inspiration

I thoroughly enjoyed watching the Olympics. Being a former swimmer and diver, some of my favorite events were in "The Cube." Although I was never at the level of these athletes, it is a pleasure to watch them and I can better appreciate their efforts having been in the water myself a time or two!

The divers were inspiring for their athleticism and their strength and I am finding myself wondering just how can I capture some of that sport's unique qualities in stone.

At first, it seems like such an unlikely pairing--stone to represent diving. I have made sketches for sculptures inspired from Ice Skaters and other athletes, but have never attempted a diver before. It definitely deserves some exploration.

Exploration and risk taking is part of the artist's life. If we only did what was done before I think it would not be fulfilling for the artist. Sometimes the viewer likes to see that however. It can be uncomfortable for the viewer if the artist takes risks and goes beyond what is expected of them.

I like to work out my ideas in sketch format. Then I typically go directly to the stone. I know some sculptors like to make maquettes and while they can be useful for working out some details, I prefer whenever possible to have the stone communicate to me what is the best way to resolve the challenge.

So I will draw some and sit some with some stones and we'll see what I come up with! Will it be a 10? Or will it be a miss? Like diving, we won't know until it is all done.

Sculpture at the Olympics

In addition to all the great athletes to watch in Beijing, there is also great art. Part of the Olympic celebration is a fine arts exhibition, Olympic Fine Arts 2008. Artists from China and around the world are participating in this exhibition.

The International Olympic Committee first held the art contest at the 2000 games in Sydney, Australia.

This third Olympic arts festival, with the theme "China and the world", will last nearly a year with the intent to continue the spirit of the games. Works are in all media, with over 800 works on display. That's out of over 10,000 that were submitted!

The exhibition opened on Aug. 11, 2008 and is scheduled to remain up through Sept. 17th, however the preparations and festivities started in January of this year. The plan is for exhibitions to travel to other countries around the world.

Unfortunately the much promised web presence has not turned out--at least I haven't been able to find it. There are lots of articles confirming the opening, and even a few photos of people at the exhibition, but not the gallery of the works that I was hoping for.