Cay Denise

It was the Piccirilli Brothers!   The six brothers credited with carving the Lincoln statue were named Ferruccio, Attilio, Furio, Getulio, Masaniello and Orazio. In the 19th and 20th centuries, sculptors would normally sculpt their ideas in clay followed by casting them in plaster.  Then the sculptor would hire skilled carvers to translate his vision into a stone sculpture.  Before the Piccirilli's set up shop (a repurposed horse stables) in the Bronx of the late 1800s, an American sculptor would send his plaster cast to Italy for the skilled craftsmen there to execute that vision into stone.  This could take up to a year to complete.   David Chester French, an American sculptor, created the plaster cast of Lincoln for the Memorial.  He learned of the Piccirilli brothers and the extraordinary stone carving work they were doing throughout New York especially in public installations.  Some of those works include the lions outside the New York Public Libr...

Recently, I was introduced to Rex Ray's work by Helen Wells, an Englsh artist who does intuitive abstract art using inspiration from nature and objects within and around her home.   Visit Helen Wells' website here Rex Ray was an illustrator and graphic artist who built a successful art business working out of his San Francisco design studio.  You may recall his vibrant images on the record album covers of David Bowie, U2, Rolling Stones, Bjork, Iggy Pop, etc.   After finding himself unfulfilled through his design business, Rex Ray began creating minimalist collages -- playing with line, color and shape in space -- after his days at work.  This practice evolved over a decade and led to an exhibition of those collages called the 'Wall of Sound'.  From there, he moved into the period of the brightest and most beautiful works of his collages that he is renown for and came to him in the later years of his life.   In these later works, there is balance, pleasingl...

This post's title is part of a larger quote by E.V. Lewis in which he comments on the value of being candid instead of deceptive.  I've taken a portion of his quote -- to literally mean 'show your hand'. Wendy MacNaughton is an artist, illustrator, visual columnist for the NYTimes, and an author.  She is also the Creator and Drawer-in-Chief of DrawTogether, a participatory drawing show for children, and Grown-Ups Table, lessons and a community for drawing-minded adults delivered via Substack subscription.  I've just recently signed up and have been able to access some older articles. In her Nov 5, 2022 piece about how to look at art as an artist, she profiles two inspiring artists one of which is Bisa Butler, an amazing fiber/quilt art designer and maker.   See Bisa Butler's Portfolio here     As part of the article, Wendy included a fun audio exercise of using torn paper to create a hand from your imagination (palm, fingers, fingernails).  I love fun ...