July 15, 2011 - Auction Central News

Art on the slopes: An alpine gallery opens for downhill browsers

'Samsara' by Kiki Thompson Photo © Kerry-Jane Lowery : 3-D Foundation.

VERBIER, Switzerland (ACNI) – “Is it the altitude, or did I just pass a monumental sculpture?” Anyone skiing for the first time at the fabled Swiss resort of Verbier could be forgiven for wondering if the spectacular three-dimensional artworks that dot the mountainside in strategic locations are a mental illusion or the latest prank by Banksy. Actually, they’re neither. They’re site-specific artworks installed in what has been dubbed the “Museum without Walls” – an ambitious and permanent project developed by the 3-D Foundation.

Underwritten by government grants and corporate sponsorships – even the Swiss National Lottery stepped up to the plate – the Verbier 3-D Residency and Sculpture Park is the first-ever “platform for free public art in the Alps,” says founder Madeleine Paternot.

An accomplished artist in her own right, Paternot came up with the idea of an open-air mountainside sculpture gallery while completing a painting residency in New York. “I had always had an avid interest in public art, which is a massively growing sector, and after talking with other artists who were doing small residencies in other countries, I thought, ‘Why not express public, free art in Switzerland at a high altitude?’”

Paternot’s plan called for the establishment of fully sponsored 5-week residencies for artists whose works would then be installed as permanent displays in the sculpture park. The process of selecting artists annually for the honor of an all-expenses-paid residency began last July. “Most were artists with whom I already had contact and who were mid career, with a very good track record of shows and residencies. Paul Goodwin, a curator at the Tate, helped in selecting the British artists,” Paternot said.

But not just anyone can decide on a whim to erect statues on pristine Swiss mountain scapes. Paternot, who holds both Swiss and American citizenship, was already very well known and respected in the Verbier community, which gave her a decided advantage as she pursued her goal. “I have lived in Verbier for the past eight years fulltime, had done a lot of property development and also created a foundation to start an international school, so I was already a proven entity.”

During their residencies, artists do not have to worry about anything except being creative. In addition to having their transportation and living expenses covered, they’re given a budget for materials and studio space in the village of Verbier.

And on the subject of materials used by sculptors who work in large scale, getting those various, weighty materials up the mountainside has proved to be “an epic scramble,” Paternot admitted. “Next year we’ll get a truck sponsor.”

Local residents, students and tourists are given the opportunity to view the sculptures in progress, with the artists’ studio doors left open daily from 6 to 8 p.m. expressly for that purpose. Public access to the artists in their studios is an education aspect of the project and was critical to the foundation’s ability to secure funding.

After a sculpture is completed, it is cut to size so it can be fitted onto a base of natural stone, then airlifted by helicopter and permanently positioned. The park is in an environmentally sensitive area of the mountain, where high-altitude cows reside – farmers had to issue their approval of the project, as well. “The artworks must be installed in such a way that, if they were ever removed, there would be no trace that they had ever existed,” Paternot said.

Motor vehicles are not allowed to enter the area, but there are many other ways in which to arrive at the sculpture park. Because it is located at the midpoint of the mountain, the park can be accessed by trekking or downhill, off-piste or cross-country skiing. Another option is via dogsled.

A press launch was held on July 15, and the park is now officially open to the public. Artworks will remain in situ for an entire year so they can be viewed during all four seasons.

As for next year’s project, Paternot said there are already many applications from artists hoping to be chosen for a residency. Paternot, who is never short of a new idea, hopes to incorporate a VIP trip to next year’s Art Basel for the 2012 artists-in-residence. “That would provide a great networking opportunity for the artists, who would be able to meet the dealers who set up at Art Basel,” she said.

About Madeleine Paternot:

Nomadic by nature, Madeleine Paternot has lived all over the world, including New Zealand, Morocco, Andalusia, and the Swiss Alps. She received a B.A. in Anthropology from Vassar College in 1995 and in 1996 attended the prestigious Art Center School of Design (Vevey, Switzerland) with a focus on Product Design. Kensington & Chelsea College (London) awarded Paternot a Higher National Certificate (HNC) in Fine Art in 1998. She has studied at the Art Student League and in 2009 completed a residency in Painting at the School of Visual Arts in New York.

Paternot was selected for “Swiss Art in the UK 2001” and showed at the Swiss Embassy in London. Over the past 12 years she has participated in multiple group exhibitions and more than a dozen solo shows, the most prestigious of which was held at Espace L’Hommond, run by the Schlumberger family in Paris (2006). Her work has appeared in private and public collections in London, Paris, Milan, Lausanne, Verbier, Boston, Dubai, County Kerry, Ireland; and New York.

She serves on the Board of Directors of the Heinemann Foundation for research, educational, charitable and scientific purpose. She is co-founder and president of the Verbier 3-D Residency and Sculpture Park.

To learn more about the Museum without Walls in Verbier, Switzerland, visit www.3-dfoundation.com.

To learn more about Madeleine Paternot, visit www.mpaternot.com.

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ADDITIONAL IMAGES OF NOTE

'Fences', 2011, by Gregory Coates (USA) Photo©Kerry-Jane Lowery : 3-D Foundation. — ‘Fences’, 2011, by Gregory Coates (USA) Photo©Kerry-Jane Lowery : 3-D Foundation.

Madeleine Paternot, artist and founder of the Verbier 3-D Sculpture Park, relaxing in her Brooklyn studio. Image courtesy of Madeleine Paternot.

Specialists of the South to sell diverse Robertson collection July 30

One of a pair of carriage-style, electrified Johnnie Walker revolving bar lights to be auctioned by Specialists of the South on July 30, 2011. Image courtesy of Specialists of the South.

PANAMA CITY, Fla. – The estate of John and Jean Robertson, collectors who amassed a staggering number of items in a wide array of categories over the course of their rich lifetime together, will be sold in an on-site auction scheduled for Saturday, July 30, at the Robertsons’ residence at 6104 Harvey Street in Panama City. The sale will begin at 9 a.m. Central time, with Internet live bidding through LiveAuctioneers.com.

Categories represented in the sale include: soda collectibles, advertising signs and clocks, radio tubes, vintage table radios, a gumball machine, vintage fans and hats, Shirley Temple memorabilia, Matchbox cars, Tonka toys, cigar boxes, American Fostoria, composite roosters, elegant etched glassware and china, children’s books, Rhine wine (Hock) glasses, Hummel figures, Haviland china and Christmas decorations.

“To say that the Robertsons had some collections would be a gross understatement,” said Logan Adams of Specialists of the South. “I think it’s more accurate to say they lived and breathed their collections, which are now being offered to the public by their son and executor, Eddie. It is a rare opportunity indeed.”

An example of one item expected to generate strong bidder interest is a pair of electrified advertising bar lights, similar to carriage lamps, for Johnnie Walker Red, the well-known liquor. The two pieces show the familiar Johnnie Walker character standing on a compass that revolves and changes from red to green while in motion, alluding to the motto, “Turning Green to Red.” The set comes with mounting hardware.

Another highlight is a gorgeous Lester grand piano, a silverplated tea service, a 1¾-carat diamond solitaire with an appraised value of $9,400, a stunning opal ring with a replacement value of $12,000, many sterling silver rings, artwork, photographs, and an American Fostoria three-toed tri-corner centerpiece bowl with undulating form, 11¼ inches in diameter.

Beer signs include both neon and lighted types advertising Budweiser, Miller, Stroh’s, Old Milwaukee, Busch, Amstel, Pabst Blue Ribbon and Hamm’s. Clocks include an example advertising “Trico Windshield Wipers, Washers and Solvent, Since 1917” (16 inches by 19 inches), and a Canada Dry Ginger Ale clock manufactured by Duralite. Other advertising clocks promote Coca-Cola, Dr. Pepper, Welch, Texaco, Quaker State, Winston and Virginia Slims.

There will also be vintage table fans, quilts, advertising thermometers, Shirley Temple items, cigarette tins and memorabilia, retro radios, a GE salesman’s case with a large collection of radio tubes, vintage magazines, older locks and keys, vintage lunch boxes, stamps, buttons, marbles, vintage cameras and vintage banks.

An extensive selection of children’s toys and books will be offered, with a featured grouping of diecast toys by popular makers like Hot Wheels, Matchbox, Lesney, Corgi and TootsieToy.

For additional information on any lot in the sale, call 850-785-2577 or e-mail specialists@knology.net.

View the fully illustrated catalog and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.

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View the fully illustrated catalog and register to bid absentee or live via the Internet as the sale is taking place by logging on to www.LiveAuctioneers.com.

ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE:

Police raid NJ home of Picasso art theft suspect

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A man accused of stealing a valuable Picasso drawing from a San Francisco gallery had about $500,000 worth of other stolen artwork in his New Jersey apartment, including another Picasso, police said Thursday.

Authorities raided the Hoboken home of Mark Lugo on Wednesday after Lugo made a phone call Tuesday from the San Francisco jail to a female friend in Pennsylvania, Hoboken police Detective Sgt. Edwin Pantoja said.

Armed with a search warrant, authorities said they found a Picasso drawing worth $350,000 that had been reported stolen from a New York hotel, among six other pieces around Lugo’s apartment.

“The Picasso was hanging on his wall,” Pantoja said. “The others were displayed all over his apartment. He had a nice little gallery going on.”

Lugo’s attorney, Douglas Horngrad, said he was aware of the latest allegations but wouldn’t comment in further detail on the claims.

However, he said the crimes appear to be the work of someone in the midst of a compulsive episode, “rather than an art thief who is sophisticated enough to know how to a fence a Picasso.”

Lugo, 30, is scheduled for arraignment Friday in San Francisco. His lawyer previously said Lugo intends to plead not guilty.

He was being held on $5 million bail in connection with the July 5 theft of the 1965 Picasso drawing, Tete de Femme from the Weinstein Gallery.

After the drawing was snatched, police said, the thief hopped in a taxi to a nearby high-end hotel. Lugo was later traced to the hotel and later to Napa where he was arrested while visiting friends.

The Picasso — worth more than $200,000 — was found undamaged, unframed and prepped in Napa to be shipped to an undisclosed location.

Surveillance video from a San Francisco restaurant showed a man matching Lugo’s description walking by with a piece of framed artwork covered by a newspaper under his arm, police said.

After learning about the incident, authorities in New York determined that Lugo matched the description of a man seen in a video taken at the posh Carlyle hotel in New York, where a Picasso drawing worth $350,000 was stolen last month, Pantoja said.

“Once New York saw the news reports of that arrest, they contacted San Francisco police, got their video and sure enough it was the same guy,” Pantoja said.

Lugo, who has worked as a sommelier, also is charged with stealing $6,000 worth of wine from a New Jersey wine store in April. He missed his scheduled court date there on Thursday.

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Edison audio from 1888 may be first talking doll

Edison talking doll with internal cylinder, an example of which was featured on the cover of the April 26, 1890 issue of Scientific American. Tin torso with Simon & Halbig bisque head. Original retail price $10. Photo copyright Catherine Saunders-Watson.

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) – Scientists believe a 123-year-old recording made by Thomas Edison was the first attempt at a talking doll and possibly the oldest surviving commercial recording.

A woman’s voice can be heard singing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.

Edison hired the woman and made the recording in 1888 in West Orange, N.J., less than two years before he unsuccessfully put the doll on the market.

The recording showed up in Edison’s Menlo Park museum collection in 1967. But the small piece of ring-shaped tin was so bent and damaged that scientists couldn’t play.

A laboratory in California used advanced imaging technology in May to reproduce the audio on a computer.

Scientists believe it’s the first known instance of someone being hired to perform for a recording.

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ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE

Full-body view of Edison talking doll. Photo copyright Catherine Saunders-Watson.

Jane Austen manuscript fetches $1.6M at auction

1810 watercolor and pencil portrait of Jane Austen painted by Cassandra Austen. National Portrait Gallery, London.

LONDON (AP) _ An unfinished early Jane Austen manuscript sold at auction in London on Thursday for almost $1.6 million, triple its highest presale estimate.

The draft of The Watsons sold for $1.601 million. The price includes a buyer’s premium.

The auction house said the document sold to an anonymous buyer after extended four-way bidding in the salesroom.

The incomplete work is the earliest surviving manuscript for a novel by Austen, probably written in 1804 but not published in Austen’s lifetime. Austen died in 1817 at age 41.

It centers on a family of four sisters, the daughters of a widowed clergyman.

Sotheby’s books specialist Gabriel Heaton said the heavily corrected draft “has afforded an extremely broad audience an insight into the author’s writing process and reworkings.”

Sotheby’s says it is the only major manuscript by the author still in private hands.

Six Austen novels were published, including Pride and Prejudice, but none of the original manuscripts survives.

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Mystery of Alaska’s moon rocks solved; lawsuit filed

ANCHORAGE, AK (AP) – The mystery of Alaska’s missing moon rocks has been solved. Getting them back to a state museum likely will depend on a judge. Alaska officials are contesting a lawsuit filed by a former resident who claims he rescued the moon rocks from a garbage heap 38 years ago.

Coleman Anderson, who now lives in Texas, sued for formal title to the rocks in December. If he doesn’t receive title, he’s asking to be compensated for finding and returning the rocks, which are valued by collectors.

State officials, meanwhile, contend the moon rocks were stolen from a state museum following a fire. They have filed a counterclaim disputing Anderson’s story and seeking return of the rocks.

“Factually, that never happened,” said Assistant Attorney General Stephen Slotnick, of Anderson’s account.

The moon rocks reached Earth in July 1969 with the return of Apollo 11, the first manned lunar landing, when Neil Armstrong uttered, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” as the world watched in fascination.

President Richard Nixon presented each state and 136 countries with moon rocks celebrating the achievement. Gov. Keith Miller accepted Alaska’s. The small stones were encased in acrylic glass and mounted on a plaque of walnut. An Alaska flag that also went to the moon was part of the display.

The moon rocks were shown around Alaska and on display at the Alaska Transportation Museum in Anchorage when an arsonist torched the building Sept. 6, 1973.

According to Anderson’s lawsuit, filed by Seattle attorney Daniel P. Harris, recovery efforts concluded days after the fire and remaining debris was declared garbage.

The lawsuit claims Anderson, then 17, the stepson of museum curator Phil Redden, entered the “debris area” as crews removed garbage, discovered the moon rocks plaque covered by a layer of melted materials and took it home. The lawsuit claims Anderson became owner of the plaque because the state had abandoned it.

“The day Coleman left there, with the permission of his father and others there, he left with the moon rocks and a bunch of plastic model airplanes,” Harris said. “This is what was in the garbage. He didn’t pick these things up because he thought they would be valuable, he just thought that they were cool.”

Steve Henrikson, curator of collections at the Alaska State Museum in Juneau, heard about the missing moon rocks his first week on the job 21 years ago.

“I never imagined that someone would be suing us for ownership of something that admittedly, right in the lawsuit, it says he went onto our property and took our moon rock out of the ashes of our museum,” Henrikson said.

Anderson’s story, he said, “does not correspond with what our documentation shows.” The fire burned paper, cardboard and wood, but witnesses afterward saw the moon rocks plaque intact in its glass display case. Later, the display case was broken and the moon rocks and plaque removed, state officials said.

Henrikson said also that salvaging had not concluded within days of the fire.

“It took us a couple years for us to clear the site of all the aircraft and other artifacts that were on it,” he said. “The building was not totally destroyed. They continued to use it for storage and they, frankly, did not have any other place to take a lot of those things.”

Slotnick was more blunt in writing the state’s response. He accused Anderson of “unlawful conduct” that “has caused the state harm, forcing the state to expend time and money in conducting its investigation and search for the missing moon rocks and plaque, and depriving the state of the use of the moon rocks and plaque for over 37 years.”

Harris contends no one in 1973 thought the moon rocks were worth anything.

“The state never filed a police report, never filed an insurance claim,” he said. “They thought that they had no value, which everyone else thought back then, and that they were thrown out, that they knew they had thrown them out in the trash, but they thought they had been taken away to the dump.”

Anderson, a vessel captain who appeared in early episodes of the Discovery Channel’s “Deadliest Catch,” has the moon rocks outside the country, Harris said. In the last couple of years Anderson learned from news accounts that the rocks were valuable and decided he eventually would like to sell them. He didn’t want a dispute over ownership, Harris said, so he went to court. Ideally, Alaska would buy them back, Harris said. Anderson would even offer Alaska a discount.

One way to establish their value, Harris said, and to give the state a discount would be to conduct an auction and let Alaska pay 80 cents on the dollar versus other bidders.

Harris likes Anderson’s chances, in court, given that his client appears to be the only witness to how the moon rocks departed state custody.

“I would argue the state of Alaska is prohibiting themselves from getting the moon rocks back, because all they have to do is pay far less than they’re worth, and they would get them back.” Harris said.

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McQueen is king at Met’s extended Savage Beauty retrospective

Alexander McQueen (British, 1969-2010) Ensemble, Plato’s Atlantis, spring/summer 2010. Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Photograph © Sølve Sundsbø / Art + Commerce.

NEW YORK (ACNI) – Alexander McQueen (British, 1969-2010) has always been a true inspiration to me, but I never knew the extent of his talents or the stories behind each of his collections until I saw Savage Beauty, an exhibition currently on at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. It’s a must-see for all fashionistas and design aficionados.

Not only did this complelling exhibition change the way I look at fashion, it made me more confident as a person to express myself, through fashion and in other ways. Learning about such a rare individual through his life’s work was an experience to remember.

Savage Beauty opened to the public on May 4th and has attracted more than 450,000 visitors to date, according to a press release distributed by the Met. Its has been so popular that the Met has extended the exhibit to August 7th and also extended its viewing hours for the final four days of showing. To insure minimal lines and a shorter waiting time, I suggest buying your tickets online through the museum’s website (www.metmuseum.org) and visiting the museum on weekdays or early mornings. By midday you will see lines that could very well take you hours to get through! Well worth it, of course, but not recommended for the anxious type.

“Met Monday” is available for those who would like to have a more intimate and less-crowded viewing of the exhibit, as the Met is closed to the public on Mondays. The tickets for Met Monday will cost you $50, but they’re well worth it for a stress-free, non-rushed visit.

I went to the exhibit on a Saturday morning around 11. There was already a two-hour wait. Once inside, I pushed through the crowd as politely as possible to get a good view of each McQueen design, like all the other pushers who wanted to get their own close-up view.

The exhibition consists of six different collections from Alexander McQueen, all relating to the theme of Romanticism. Each room is carefully designed to take you on a visual journey of these collections and the intentions and history behind each romantic theme. The space felt like a giant dream closet decked out with flat screen TVs, projectors, low lighting and rotating mannequins, all with corresponding music to convey a particular mood. Some of the most fantastic designs I have ever seen lined the walls from floor to ceiling, along with some out-of-this-world hats, earrings, necklaces and shoes. You could literally see McQueen’s passions and inspirations oozing from each mannequin.

I was pleased to see a few of my favorite pieces included in the show and was thrilled to leave with a ton of new favorites locked in my memory. Among those that I particularly liked was McQueen’s “Jellyfish” Ensemble. This piece is unique and so visually stimulating. The head-to-toe iridescent enamel paillettes will stop you in your tracks. Paired with McQueen’s “armadillo” boots embroidered with the same material, it’s a knockout. What I love about this dress and so many others in his various collections is the accentuation of the female figure. This dress, in particular, was designed to emphasize the hips and legs, giving it the look of a jellyfish.

“I want to be the purveyor of a certain silhouette or a way of cutting, so that when I’m dead and gone people will know that the twenty-first century was started by Alexander McQueen.” -Alexander McQueen

It is clear that McQueen was consistently inspired by the human form and used the power of fashion to create his own altered forms. As an artist myself, I can appreciate his work and the craft that goes into each distinctive, original piece.

“Spine” Corset was another incredible work of art on view. Initially, I thought this corset was inspired by the Swiss surrealist painter and sculptor H.R. Giger, but after reading a statement by Shaun Leane, a jewelry designer who often collaborated with McQueen, I learned that this piece was a result of McQueen’s fascination with the spine and his desire to show the bone structure on the outside.

Whether you live in or are just visiting New York City, you must not miss this exhibition of original designs by Britain’s unconventional genius of modern couture, who called himself “the Edgar Allan Poe of fashion.” You will leave feeling inspired and grateful for the exposure of such an amazing artist. To get a man’s opinion, I asked Philip Moy, who works in post production for a fashion photography production company in New York City, what he thought of the exhibition. He said: “[It] had a haunting beauty about it. I had goosebumps the entire time.”

Alexander McQueen Savage Beauty is made possible by Alexander McQueen™ in partnership with American Express and Condé Nast. The exhibition is in the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Exhibition Hall on the second floor of the museum. The last day of the exhibition is Aug. 7, 2011.

For hours, admission prices, directions, to buy tickets online, and for extensive information about the Alexander McQueen exhibition, including a video, go to www.metmuseum.org.

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ADDITIONAL IMAGES OF NOTE

Gallery View - Title Gallery. Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. — Gallery View – Title Gallery. Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Gallery View – The Romantic Mind. Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Gallery View – Romantic Gothic. Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Gallery View – Cabinet of Curiosities. Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

U.S. breaks up antiquities smuggling ring

NEW YORK (AP) – Authorities say antiquities dealers and collectors from three U.S. states and the United Arab Emirates have been charged with a scheme to smuggle cultural property into the United States.

The announcement was made Thursday by Homeland Security and the U.S. attorney in Brooklyn.

They say agents have dismantled an organization that conspired to smuggle Middle Eastern and Asian antiquities into the United States. They’re also accused of conspiring to launder money.

Authorities say the antiquities they’ve seized include a Greco-Roman style Egyptian sarcophagus, dated around 664 to 552 B.C.

They say other Middle Eastern and Asian artifacts have been recovered, along with about 1,000 antique coins.

AP-WF-07-14-11 1454GMT

Paiute artisan ticketed for picking cattails

An early 1900s Paiute woven basket. Image courtesy of LiveAuctioneers Archive and Allard Auctions Inc.

RENO, Nev. (AP) – For more than 20 years, Wesley Dick of Fallon has harvested the native Nevada plants that his Paiute ancestors used to make baskets, duck decoys, medicine and other things.

In May, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officer on the Stillwater Wildlife Refuge issued Dick federal citations totaling $800 for collecting cattail stalks he planned to use in an elementary school duck-decoy weaving demonstration. He’s the first American Indian to be cited for gathering plants on the refuge, officials said.

That’s because Dick and other Nevada Indians who have been harvesting native plants for generations didn’t know there was a new sheriff in town. Collecting any plants on the wildlife refuge or any U.S. property has been against federal law for decades, but until a few weeks before Dick got his tickets the property didn’t have a full-time law enforcement officer.

It does now.

“It’s outrageous,” Dick said. “I was just leaving the area when (the officer) gave me the citations. Those of us, and there are very few left, who keep our culture alive do this (gathering) a lot.”

The case is scheduled July 21 in federal court in Reno. He said it’s ironic he was cited so close to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife sign informing visitors that the Paiutes—in particular the Fallon-area bands known as the toi-ticutta (cat-tail eaters)—have been using the marsh plants for generations.

“It’s a nice history lesson, but I’m not history, I’m a living person,” Dick said. “The things on their signs are still happening whether they admit it or not.”

Mike Goodard, refuge manager at Stillwater, said when he learned Dick had been cited, he called the Fallon Paiute Shoshone Tribe to let officials know members can collect plants on the refuge as long as they have a permit to do so. Special-use permits have been issued to researchers, he said, and although no Indian has applied for one there should be no problem in getting permission to harvest a few plants.

“It’s the law,” Goodard said. “No one can take plants without a permit. There are no separate treaty rights (for Indians) that I’m aware of. The special use permit system has been used in other places and there hasn’t been a problem. ”

Adam Fortunate Eagle, an Indian rights activist and artist who lives on the Fallon reservation, said the case “is not a matter of law; it’s a matter of justice.”

“What we’re seeing here is bureaucracy at its worst,” he said. “Going out to get a permit every time you want to pick wild asparagus is ridiculous. I think it will have a chilling effect on basket weavers, decoy makers and people who do other traditional things.”

He said Indians should just be able to show their identification as tribal members and that should serve as a permit.

Gene Hatori, curator of the Nevada State Museum in Carson City, said Dick has helped the museum with projects and outreach programs and has always been willing to demonstrate his skills for school children and others. He said Dick is a well-known and respected artist in buckskin, tules (cattail stalks) and other materials. Some of his work is on display at the museum.

“When we (at the museum) do research we ask to collect plants and usually there’s no problem,” he said. “Often on Nevada state land it’s an informal process. I understand that permits are available (at Stillwater), but I know Wesley has a problem with that.”

Dick said the need for certain plants often is unexpected. He said he will refuse to pay the fines and opposes the permit mandate.

“You don’t know in advance when someone is going to be sick or otherwise needs a ceremony,” he said. “I’m taking a stand not just for myself, but for my children and for the rights of generations unborn.

“My grandfather, my grandmother, my people going back forever have been collecting this stuff and making things,” he said. “I’ve run into game wardens before and they’ve always been courteous and respectful.”

He said once permits are used, their number can be limited or, eventually, eliminated. A crackdown on plant gathering at Stillwater, he said, is a continuation of the 500-year eradication of the American Indians’ culture and is out of line with the policies of other federal land agencies.

He said the Stillwater game warden, who wrote him a $625 ticket for taking the plants and a $175 ticket for his pickup being off the designated road, told him he should collect plants on Indian land. But Dick said because of controlled burning, there aren’t many areas left on the reservation where he can find suitable cattail shoots.

“I was praying, as I do when I harvest things, and I tried to explain to the game warden what I was doing,” Dick said. “(The officer) didn’t want to hear anything. He just wrote the citations. … I’m not a criminal or a vandal. I’m a toi-ticutta and I will not be punished for it.”

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Information from: Reno Gazette-Journal, http://www.rgj.com

AP-WF-07-13-11 2316GMT

ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE

Alabama artist turns native soapstone into art

The outer layers of Christ the Redeemer sculpture in Rio de Janeiro are made of soapstone. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

TALLADEGA, Ala. (AP) – It’s not easy. But each soapstone bowl, platter or vase Russell Everett turns out is all its own, in its inherent geologic traits, and in the way the artist works with it.

This is the driving force behind Everett’s efforts, taking something that’s created naturally over millions of years and turning it into a usable and distinctively beautiful piece of art.

“I started making these about 16 years ago,” Everett said, adding that it was a actually a disaster that turned his talents to soapstone.

“I am actually a painter,” he said.

“But my painting studio burned to the ground one Christmas Eve night, and I was looking for another way to create art.”

Once he got his hands on soapstone, Everett has kept at it, but he continues to paint and is an art professor for Troy University as well.

Everett is pretty well known in the Talladega area, he’s usually an instructor for Arts Camp and he’s had exhibits of his work at Heritage Hall Museum.

This month brings an exhibit and sale of his soapstone work to the front gallery at the museum.

Everett explains his way of working with the stone, “Which is extremely hard to harvest,” he said.

There are supplies of soapstone in Chambers County and in Tallapoosa County, also in the Dadeville and Alexander City areas, and that’s where Everett usually goes to find his materials.

“Harvesting the stone is usually much harder than actually making the vessel,” he said.

The tools for harvesting the stone and for shaping the vessels include hammers and chisels, grinders and electric drills, and an array of sanders used for various effects.

“It’s basically backbreaking carving,” he said.

His attitude in creating the three-dimensional art is one of enhancing the material and using it to exhibit the “abstract paintings” found within the stone, Everett said.

If not creating slabs for other uses such as countertops or wall backsplashes, why not simply turn them in to usable bows, platters and vases, he said.

“Also, ovals are one of the most friendly and non-obtrusive shapes,” Everett said. “They make you think of giving or offering.”

With his paintings, Everett says he tells stories.

But with his soapstone creations, Everett is offering archaic gifts that should be appreciated for their intrinsic beauty and aesthetics.

The colors of the soapstone he works with are varied, some tend more toward a grey-black and others have veins of blue or green breaking up the overriding color.

“The brown pieces contain sienna and iron, the soft bluish and greens contain manganese,” he said. “I have even found some stone that’s almost like turquoise and this stone contains copper and nickel.”

Soapstone is metamorphic rock, formed by heat and pressure, and had its beginnings when the Smokey Mountains emerged.

Native Americans also used the stone for usable pieces, making bowls and cookware.

Everett will have two Native American unfinished vessels on display in his exhibit along with his own pieces.

When he’s finished shaping a piece, Everett sprays it with clear enamel that enhances the color and grain of the stone.

Some bowls turn out with a rough rim and others have smoother or squared rims.

The shape of the chunk of soapstone leads Everett to its eventual carved shape.

People have turned Everett’s bowls into sinks and planters, even into bird feeders and birdbaths.

“They’re great for holding fruit or vegetables, for serving stew or shrimp, just about anything you can imagine,” he said.

A university in Florida used four very large vessels Everett carved to enhance a fountain pool and another buyer bought 10 vessels to create a fountain.

For care, Everett recommends being careful not to drop a soapstone piece, they are likely to break.

“Always move the vessels with both hands underneath it,” he said.

If there’s a scratch or scrape, it can be sanded with very light weight sandpaper, cleaned with a damp cloth and then sprayed with clear acrylic enamel, using one or two coats.

If a brighter luster is desired, Everett said cleaning the vessel with a damp cloth, then letting it dry, and adding one to three coats of enamel will do the trick.

He recommends testing the way it will turn out using the bottom of the piece.

Everett received his bachelor’s degree in fine arts from Auburn University and a master’s degree in fine arts from the University of Cincinnati.

He has taught art at Auburn University at Montgomery, the University of Cincinnati, DeKalb Community College in Georgia and at Georgia Community College in Milledgeville, Ga.

AP-WF-07-13-11 2017GMT

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