Greater Kudu

[jennaboo88]

Hi everyone,

It's been a very busy fall, but I'm finally back to a more ordinary routine, and am back here to catch up a bit. I'm sharing one of my recent wire sculptures. This is an African Greater Kudu. I first got the idea for this sculpture with a set of curving earrings I had, but in the end, I didn't like how they looked on this, so I tried something a little different and created the spiraling horns in wire.

This piece is made with all types of wire - steel fencing wire, paddle wire, dark annealed wire, and copper wire. The white stripes of the live animals are very unique, as is the interesting body shape and the ridge of hair that runs down the neck and follows the spine. It made for a playground of textures and forms to explore and work at! I learned so much in the creation of this piece.

Embellishments are quite minimal on this guy, limited to silver wing-shaped embellishments for the ears and copper/brown colored chain for the neck and spine. He measures 5.75 inches tall by 2.5 inches wide by 6.5 inches long. C&C welcome. Thanks for looking!

 

[snoball]

Fabulous work!

 

[E.J.H.]

Beautiful. I love the origin story, how this magnificent beast grew from a idea to use a couple of curved earrrings!

 

[Artyczar]

OMG! Wow!!! This is so cool! Do you exhibit these? You are so amazing at them. I love this one in particular more than the last one. I love all the loop-de-loops on the chest. It's brilliant!!!

 

[Joy]

Absolutely brilliant, as usual. Your creativity never ceases to astound me.

 

[ColorEnthusiast]

Amazing. I love especially the horns and stripes.

 

[Triduana]

Fantastic! I love those curly horns and the stripes.

 

[pcj]

Fantastic ! Especially his nose and those feet !

 

[Queen Bee]

WOW! How awesome.

 

[Christel]

Superb!

 

[Jo Castillo]

Jenna, so very beautiful. I love the story. You are amazing.

 

[musket]

Way cool.

 

[Reddyman]

Wow...this is just gorgeous work. It looks like alot of painstaking and precise wrapping and the results speak for themselves. Great job!

John

 

[jennaboo88]

You are all so very kind!

Snoball, thank you so much for your nice comment!

E.J.H., thank you. I usually like to incorporate more found items into my sculptures, but sometimes, the wire speaks for itself. I'm glad you enjoyed hearing a bit about how this piece came to be.

Artyczar, thank you so very much! I do bring them with me to art shows. I would so enjoy sharing them with a wider audience, but I'm not sure where they fit in the art world. I've tried entering them in some art competitions, but in regards to sculpture, they don't really mingle with those magnificent bronze sculptures. I do believe these have to be seen in person to really be appreciated, which is usually not possible with online competitions. I wish there were more competitions and channels for outside-the-box sculpture like this. I would adore sharing my work more, but my sculptures don't seem to be able to find their market yet. They're not quite traditional sculpture, not quite assemblage, and not quite Steampunk...so I'm not sure where to market them. I hope I can find a venue for them, because I love to make them!

Thank you, Joy. Much appreciated!

Thank you, Esther! Those horns were a trick to make! First, to have them spiral evenly, but also in opposite directions. They took quite a while to get right.

Thank you so much, Kay! The stripes were fun, and I've learned a lot in making this piece. I've since made a zebra in wire, so it has opened up new ideas for me.

Pcj, thank you so much! Cloven hooves are fun to sculpt. I have been making them this way for a few years, and it's always fun to see how they take form.

Oh, thank you so much. Queen Bee!

Christel, thank you very much.

Hi Jo. Thank you for your wonderful comments!

Musket, thanks very much.

John, thank you for your very nice comments! This one did take a lot of planning and mental visualizing before I just began wrapping wire, so I can appreciate that you noticed that about this sculpture. Thanks again!

 

[Artyczar]

If I were you, I would not care about how they "fit" into the art world, and just take great pictures and show them to all types of contemporary galleries, maybe not super "traditional" ones that carry bronzes and that kind of stuff. You never know who would be open to something that they don't yet carry. They might not want more of the same kind of thing. They can be seen as contemporary/whimsical, even have that self-taught vibe. There are many galleries that might like these. You have to do a lot of research looking for places where they could work, yes, but I can see them in a gallery setting most definitely.

 

[jennaboo88]

If I were you, I would not care about how they "fit" into the art world, and just take great pictures and show them to all types of contemporary galleries, maybe not super "traditional" ones that carry bronzes and that kind of stuff. You never know who would be open to something that they don't yet carry. They might not want more of the same kind of thing. They can be seen as contemporary/whimsical, even have that self-taught vibe. There are many galleries that might like these. You have to do a lot of research looking for places where they could work, yes, but I can see them in a gallery setting most definitely.

Thank you so much for these words of advice. Contemporary galleries are an option I hadn't really considered. I live a very rural area, so it hadn't occurred to me. The local galleries I'm familiar with are more along the lines of gift shops/craft shops, or very traditional. I'll consider your thoughts and do some exploring. Thank you.

 

[Triduana]

Thank you so much, Kay! The stripes were fun, and I've learned a lot in making this piece. I've since made a zebra in wire, so it has opened up new ideas for me.

Hope we get to see your zebra!

 

[jennaboo88]

Thank you, Kay. I'll be sure to post him soon.

 

[joe1It]

it is wonderful and very elegant

 

[jennaboo88]

it is wonderful and very elegant

Thank you so much! I really appreciate that.