Currieworks Fine Art http://johncurriefineart.com Just another WordPress site Wed, 03 Jun 2015 13:40:42 +0000 en-US hourly 1 Equine Waltz http://johncurriefineart.com/sculptures/equine-dream/ Wed, 03 Jun 2015 02:44:33 +0000 http://johncurriefineart.com/?p=468 ...

View the Full Post]]> This was my first horse sculpture, inspired by a beautiful reproduction of a Chinese Gansu horse that I have had for more than thirty years. I love the form of that Chinese piece, the perfect balance of the majestic animal running–perhaps flying, if you follow Chinese mythology–on one hoof.

When I started this piece, I had actually planned on making a zebra, using this body but cutting the stripes out of the wax original so that they would actually be negative spaces in the finished bronze body. Once I had built the original in wax, however, I was worried that in cutting out the stripes, I might ruin the shape, so I made a second one. So perhaps we should call this the Insurance Horse…

But the Zebra worked beautifully, and I still had this horse, so I completed it in a rich, verdigris patina, mounting it on an onyx sphere, as if flying over the clouds, reconfiguring the idea that the Gansu horse flew as fast as a sparrow. The base below is varigated green marble, suggesting the Earth below.

 

780p-2014_ Equine Dream_Currie_013_TWEAKED_DARKER

It stands 18″ H x 12″ W x 8″ D.

]]> Flying Like the Wind http://johncurriefineart.com/sculptures/flying-like-the-wind/ Tue, 02 Jun 2015 21:19:14 +0000 http://johncurriefineart.com/?p=413 ...

View the Full Post]]> Completed in May, 2015, this cast bronze horse was inspired by a small reproduction of a famous Chinese flying horse in my collection. The Gansu Horse rode astride the back of a swallow, for it was as swift as the wind. My horse shares the same pose, balanced upon one hoof, but no swallow is present. Ever since I became a sculptor, I wanted to create a piece in homage to this great Chinese mythological treasure and to reinterpret the lovely horse that has flown in my home for over 40 years.

cropped-horse-newI first created it half this size, entitled Equine Waltz, and then created a version as a zebra, titled–very creatively–– Zebra. This newest one stands approx. 20″ H x 24″ W x 8″ D, and with its marble base, weighs approx. 90 lbs. The multi-layer patina is rich transparent browns, plus black, with some of the bronze peeking through.

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