My European Art Experience by Bonnie Tritel

When Jeff and I were first together, I had us out doing shows 2 weeks after we met.  Our first year was a learning experience but by Christmas we had it wired and that year we made a lot of money at our Christmas show.  When we were trying to decide what to do with it, Jeff mentioned that he had never been to Europe.  I thought it would be a good idea to check out art and sculpture in Europe so five minutes later, I was on the phone with a travel agent and booked us round trip tickets to Dusseldorf (Dusseldorf because it was the best deal).

I received an art education in those three months that has served me ever since.  I was very fortunate to be traveling with Jeff because Jeff has three degrees in art one of which is in Art History.  He had studied slides, books, movies and photos of all the great masterpieces and great artists throughout history and he knew his stuff.  He had just never seen most of the things he studied in person.

We spent the three months looking at every sculpture, painting, cathedral, fountain, garden and castles that we could get to.  I learned about Picasso while looking at all of Picasso’s great works and understanding the progression of his genius.  I learned about Rodin, Renoir, Van Gogh, Rembrandt and on and on and on all while looking at the work they had done and all during the entire time I had Jeff sharing stories, anecdotes, history, comparison and art fundamentals.

I had thousands of wonderful experiences but two things really stand out in my mind.  First was learning about Picasso.  I thought I knew a bit about Picasso.  I owned a print of “Hands with Flowers” which was my favorite (and still is).  But I learned the story of this incredible talent who was so good that as a child he was able to paint and at the age of 13 was admitted to the Barcelona School of Fine Art.  I remember a portrait of his mother that was painted at the age of 8 that really impressed me.

The other significant experience that I had was seeing Michelangelo’s “David.”  When Jeff and I walked into the Academia and I saw this magnificent sculpture for the first time, I was unable to stop the tears that started cascading down my face.  It was such a powerful and moving experience!  The 16 foot tall marble looked so lifelike that I thought I could see it breathing!  Jeff and I both had such a dramatic experience that a year later, when our son was born, we named him David.

It was such a wonderful education.  I wish all of you could have the same advantage of seeing art through the eyes of an artist who loves art.  Art is the history of emotion, of discovery, of new ways of looking at the world.  It is not always pretty but all good art is emotionally moving.  I’m so grateful that Jeff gave me the gift of understanding art and the artists who create it.

Creativity to the Max by Jeff Tritel

Do you know what these five works of art have in common?  They were all done by one man – Pablo Picasso.

Most artists become identified with a recognizable approach to their work.  Van Gogh, Renoir, Seurat and Cezanne are all generally classified as impressionists, but you would never mistake the work of one as the work of another.  Rodin’s sculpture is fluid and heroic, Roy Lichtenstein’s comic-book style is unmistakable and Alberto Giacometti’s attenuated and highly textured figures are uniquely his own.

Picasso is an entirely different animal.  He experimented with everything and mastered it all.  Realism, no problem.  Abstraction, piece of cake.  He was equally at home with scathing satire as well as joyful celebration of life.  His work went from matchbooks to monuments.  His good friend Georges Braque once stated that he hated to show new work to Picasso because he would immediately absorb the new idea and then turn around and do a new and better version of it.

Picasso, like Da Vinci, was one of the great creative minds of the world and any show of Picasso’s work is an event not to be missed.

On occasion, I have been criticized for not developing a single style like a “mature” artist.  I just remember Picasso and smile.

Connecting with our Clients by Bonnie Tritel

I had an idea.  Well, actually, Jeff had the idea.  We miss our clients and friends.  Well, actually, most of our clients are friends.  And, we are contemplating ways to connect.  Art shows have just become not the best venue for us and I know that it is really hard for most of your to come to Grass Valley for our spring or fall open house and we wish we had a way to bring it closer and then Jeff said, “What about a sculpture picnic?”

A sculpture picnic!  I thought what a good idea!  We could bring food, sculpture (new and old), a badminton net, music, mosquito repellant and us and you could bring food, a ball and bat, sunscreen and you and maybe a friend or two.  We can visit , talk about sculpture, play a few games and relax while we renew old acquaintances.

I need to know if you think this is a good idea.  Our first one would be in Contra Costa county in the beautiful park on Center Ave. in Martinez.  (This is the first location because my sister, Barb, lives across the street from the park and we can stage from her house.)  The park is friendly, has special areas that we can reserve, easy to get to and has lots of parking.  I am contemplating early May.

What do you think?  Please let me know if you like the idea, would like to come to the picnic in Martinez, have an idea for a park in your area (just Northern California for now), want to suggest a different venue to get together or any other topics pertaining to Jeff and I getting together with you.  If you want you can call me at 530-268-1048 or email me at tritel@tritelstudios.com or leave a comment here.

What’s the Big Deal? by Jeff Tritel

Two weeks ago it was a naked female snow sculpture making the neighbors cringe in New Jersey and this week an eight foot snow penis has mortified the city fathers of Truckee, California.  Being a man I’m in the male 50% of all mammals on planet earth that have a penis.  And no, I don’t run shrieking in horror when I see myself naked in the mirror.  In fact, I like the way I look.

I remember the man in Bakersfield, California who, observing one of my male nudes, asked, “Why don’t you at least put a loin cloth on him?”  “Loin cloth?!?!  Well, I would if I was sculpting Tarzan of the Apes.

In truth, penises were not my idea.  I do think that they were a good idea but I didn’t think of them.  I am simply affirming that this is what people look like.  We’re beautiful.  And we are what we are.  I remember the old Wendy’s commercial; “Parts is parts!”

“Industrial Looting” or Bronze Sculpture Theft on the Rise

As the value of copper rises, the theft of items that contain copper increases.  Copper wiring is ripped out of unfinished buildings, bronze urns created to hold flowers in a cemetery are stolen and irreplaceable bronze masterworks are stolen, cut up and melted down to be sold as scrap metal.

In December, 2005 a two ton bronze sculpture by renowned sculptor Henry Moore was stolen from the 72 acre Henry Moore Foundation in Much Hadham, Hertfordshire, England.  The sculpture, valued at over 3M£, was melted down and sold as scrap metal probably for around 1,500£.  The Foundation issued a reward for the return of the sculpture of 10,000£!

Reclining Figure by Henry Moore stolen from Henry Moore Foundation and sold for scrap

Art theft is on the rise.  Up over 500% in the last three years, not all sculpture is taken to be melted for scrap.  Occasionally art is “stolen to order” which means that a rare or unable to be purchased artwork is stolen by thieves in the employ of a wealthy art collector who will go to criminal acts to own a particular work of art.  These artworks are seldom recovered because the new “owner” is very careful to keep his new prize a secret.

When an artwork is stolen to order, I can understand wanting to own something so beautiful that you can’t live without it.  Art is a very valuable commodity.  You can have almost anything custom made.  You can order cars, home theatre systems, houses even a furless cat but it is almost impossible to commission a masterpiece.

Masterpieces happen from the passion of the artist.  Often the artist was commissioned by his patron but masterpieces are a serendipitous blend of timing, inspiration and skill.  And, when an artist is deceased, we have no chance of ever having more creations from that particular artist.  So, my astonishment that so many sculptures are being stolen for just the value of the metal is overwhelming and raises a number of questions.

What has happened to our society that the arts are being valued less and less?  To have so little regard for an artistic masterpiece that thieves could actually cut it to pieces to sell it for salvage causes the same outrage that I feel when I contemplate British soldiers using the face of the Sphinx for target practice.

The Sphinx showing damage caused by British soldiers using face for target practice

Is this a by-product of the elimination of the arts being taught in schools?  Is our faster, newer, more technologically advanced society losing its connection with the things that give life its color and its flavor?  One of my favorite quotes is “if you have two loaves of bread, sell one and buy a lily.”  In Europe the arts are so valued that families plan the purchase of a beautiful ceramic or sculpture the way American families plan the purchase of a big screen television or other bigger, faster, newer, soon to be obsolete item.

Do I have an answer?  I don’t even have a suggestion.  When the economy tanks the first thing to go is support for the arts.  Fortunately, I know that the pendulum always swings back the other way.  I’ve seen it so often over the last few decades.  When the economy is bad, the arts suffer.  When the economy is good, support for the arts returns.  But never quite the way it had been.  Artists will always create.  They are driven by the passion inside them.  The question that is uppermost in my mind is whether our society will continue to protect and revere the creations of our generation’s artists.  Only time will tell.

How I learned to “go the distance” by Jeff Tritel

My junior year in high school was a break out year for me.  At the beginning of that year I tried to avoid physical education class by managing the cross country team after school.  I don’t remember much of what that job entailed other than handing out towels after practice.  I got to watch the runners run 10 mile workouts, I got to watch them cramp, I got to watch them vomit from exertion.  I couldn’t stand myself standing with a stopwatch while the team sweated their hearts out.  This lasted maybe a week until I asked the coach if I could join the team.  I was asthmatic and slow.  The truth was that as a long distance runner I was terrible.  I literally ate everyone else’s dust.  But I learned.  I learned to finish what I started.  I learned that it’s far more satisfying to be a participant that to be an observer.  I learned about the satisfaction of doing something that you thought you couldn’t and I learned the importance of “going the distance.”

Going the Distance
Bronze, Height 17″

What does “limited edition” really mean?

Historically, limited editions began when printmakers started making prints.  A print was created on a stone or a plate and as the prints were made, the stone or plate would start to degrade.  Therefore, the quality of the first print would usually be higher than the 100^th print.  So as each print was made, it was numbered to show the order in which it was printed.  1/100 would be more valuable than 100/100 because it should be of higher quality.

“Artist’s proofs” were the first tests done with the stone or plate and were used by the artist to try out the stone or plate before he started his actual print run.  Sometimes colors or techniques would be tested so that the Artist’s Proofs were not necessarily identical to the rest of the run.

A “limited edition” bronze means something completely different.  The original of a bronze sculpture is made in wax or clay.  Molds are then made from the original and the wax patterns of the original are made from those molds.  The wax pattern is what is used to create the bronze casting.  Often the original is destroyed in the mold making process.  So, there is never an original when we are talking about a bronze sculpture.  A bronze sculpture that is a unique casting means that there is only one sculpture made from the mold but it is still not the original.

30s by Jeff Tritel, edition limited to 10

Most bronze sculptors choose to make multiples of their original wax pattern for many reasons.  A sculpture usually takes much longer to create than a painting or print so more reproductions from an original means that the artist can manage his time/income more effectively.  And, there is never any degradation in subsequent waxes made from the molds so each sculpture in the edition has the same quality as every other one.  Each wax does have a certain amount of hand cleanup which needs to be done and no two bronzes are ever exactly alike unless they are machine produced which is extremely costly.

A limited edition bronze is signed and numbered.  The signature is actually in the metal so if an artist personally signs each sculpture, he used a drill bit to etch his name into the bronze.  Bronzes can also be signed in the wax and then the signature is cast into the sculpture.  The numbering is always done x/yyy.  The yyy represents the total number that will be produced.  A bronze sculpture edition does not have to be produced all at the same time.  Molds can be saved and bronzes produced one at a time.  The total number in the edition must be determined when the first casting is finished.  The artist makes a commitment to not create more of that particular image than yyy which can be 3 or 3,000 or any other number.  It is a commitment to keep the edition size limited to that number.  The x indicates the number of the sculpture in the edition.  Since there is no degradation in the quality of the first bronze cast and the last, the significance of the number is only that it is one of the entire edition.  Owning the first casting, or 1/yyy, is significant to many people because it shows they are the first one to buy a particular sculpture.

Biker Goddess by Jeff Tritel, edition limited to 3000

Historically, limited editions have been considered less valuable than an original one-of-a-kind artwork.  But since a bronze casting could never be the original, limited edition bronzes were given sort of a raw deal.  The recent purchase of a limited edition Giacometti bronze sculpture for the record $104M USD for an artwork sold at auction established the value of limited edition bronze sculpture on a par with one-of-a-kind paintings or other sculpture.  This important event has elevated limited bronze sculpture to a new status which will ultimately serve the artist as well as the collector.