Art at the Retreat
My mother was an artist and art teacher. Mom received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Illinois. She meet my father at school and were married in 1952. I am not an artist but have an appreciation for art. I grew up in a house filled with my Mother's art work. Mom worked in oil an painted still life. I have one of her pieces.
I started collection art shortly after I had spare cash. It started with street art and progressed to fine art. I began to seriously collect when we lived in Singapore. I added to our collection with pieces from China, Australia, Thailand and Vietnam. I ran out of walls in the house so I recently began adding art outside the house. Given the symetrical constants of the size of the property and the house, I looked for pieces in the 6 to 8 foot height range.
Focus by Dale Evers
Focus is a monumental bronze sculpture by Dale Evers. It is located in the center of the approach to the Retreat at Sona Estate. The sculpture represents one of the strategic views of Sona Estate. I was immediately struck by this piece when I first saw it. Dale has Focus casts in various sizes, we decided on the 8 foot Focus. It was on display in downtown Paso Robles.
The Artist
Dale Evers works at Dale Evers Studio located at 1000 Park Street in Paso Robles, CA. Dale Evers Studio is a mixed media, mix technique art and design atelier. Dale is very pasionate about his work. He picked the location and took part in the installation to insure it was positioned for maxium impact.
Dale Evers is an established American artist, whose work includes center piece sculptures, table designs, and water features. He fuses glass bronze and steel into inspired creative pieces. A number of his marine life works are located in San Luis Obispo County, Hawaii and the Caribbean.
Dale was trained at Cuesta Community College and San Diego State University in Industrial Arts.
C'est La Vie by Robin Wight
During the summer at Sona Estate, the winds pick up in the afternoons. C’est Le Vie is a stainless steel sculpture of a fairy leaping into the wind. The pose shows her leaping though flying leaves. Life can change in an instant, just like the wind. Hence the name C’est la vie which means “Thats life”. I have always believed career life is a combination of luck and skill. Not matter how skillful you are if you are given the opportunity (luck) to demonstrate your skills you may not be successful. These life opportunities can come and go like the wind and be as whimsical as a fairy.
Our sculpture C’est Le Vie is fairy. Fairies are woodland creatures. I needed to create an enviroment for C’est Le Vie to seem natural. Candy, my wife wanted a water feature in the courtyard area at the front of our house. A waterfall and plant palette was selected to fit the woodland theme.
The Artist
Robin Wight is an English artist and sculptor from Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. He is known for creating stainless steel wire sculptures which depict fairies.
Robin has been creative and first mastered pencil drawing at school which he continue to enjoy, but switched to iPad as a medium in recent years. Art and engineering have meant that throughout my life he hav created all manner of things in all sorts of materials.
His interest in 3D / sculpture developed when our children were very small and I used to build elaborate sand sculptures on beach holidays. In 2009 we moved to the middle of a nature reserve where fairies ought to exist and things changed.
Back in the 16th century, it was very common for people to believe in fairies, but they didn’t think they were eight inches tall, necessarily good or even sporting wings. In was in the early 1900s, probably as a result of the Peter Pan story, that the pretty little friendly female magic became the common image of a fairy. Disney released the animated film of Peter Pan in 1953, Tinkerbell cemented that image as the de-facto description of a fairy into the worlds psyche. Robin promotes a new, more contemporary image of a fairy. Fairies can be delicate, feminine with whimsical character traits who collect dandelion seeds and grant wishes for humans.
Buzz by Anthony Howe
Buzz Prototype is kinetic wind sculpture in 304 stainless. The sculpture is a prototype sculpture for the sculpture Buzz. Given our limits to size Anthony recommeded a prototype piece. The Buzz Prototype is 94"H while Buzz is 173"H. As stated In C'est La Vie, during the summer at Sona Estate, the winds pick up in the afternoons. Buzz is built to start moving in 3 mph winds. It can withstand wind gusts in excess of 30 mph.
The Artist
Anthony Howe is an American kinetic sculptor who creates wind-driven sculptures resembling pulsing, alien creatures and vortices. He makes use of computer-aided design, shaping the metal components with a plasma cutter, and completing his work by use of traditional metalworking techniques.
Anthony now lives in Bow, Washington, with his business partner wife, Lynne. His work has sold works to hundreds of private collections from the Middle East to California, and many places in between. It has been showcased in palaces, sculpture parks, and the Barneys Christmas window in Manhattan. He designed the cauldrons for the Brazil Rio Olympics; one for the opening ceremonies and another, permanent, outdoor version that resides in the downtown section of Rio. Recently the work "Lucea" provided a backdrop to Auli'i Cravalho singing "How Far I'll Go" in the 49th Academy Awards Ceremony.
Stone Relief of an Apsara by Artisans Angkor
The Browns lived in Southeast Asia just under 20 years. They acquired this stone relief during a visit to Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, Cambodia.
Artisans Angkor is a Cambodian social business established in 1992 with the aim of providing employment opportunities for rural youth while preserving traditional Khmer craftsmanship. Artisans Angkor is located in Siem Reap, Cambodia.
A Khmer Apsara is a celestial dancer from Khmer mythology, central to the sacred, classical Khmer dance, symbolizing beauty, prosperity, and the divine connection to the Angkorian past, depicted in temple carvings and performed today in traditional silk costumes with intricate gestures and serene expressions, representing the soul of Cambodian culture and heritage. Khmer refers to the dominant ethnic group, their language, and culture of Cambodia, part of the larger Austroasiatic family, with significant populations in Vietnam and Thailand.
Blown Glass Flowers by Andrew Holmberg
The Artist
A native of the Pacific Northwest, Andrew Holmberg spent much of his childhood outdoors and playing in the garden. As the son of two professional crafts people he began working with his hands at a very early age. He began blowing glass fifteen years ago while attending university to earn his Bachelor’s degree in sculpture.
In glass, Andrew found a way to work with color and form that drew on his sculptural training. He began creating glass forms and vessels specifically for outdoor display which opened up a wealth of possibility that suited his vision of creating highly accessible art.
Andrew strives to create art that enables people to add something of themselves to their environment. He creates each piece individually by hand. His garden glass is collected throughout the country and has been featured in the Seattle Times, the Oregonian, the Portland Tribune, Pacific Magazine, Better Homes and Gardens Magazine, as well as on the television show “Your Northwest Garden”.
Andrew now works out of his own studio in Portland, Oregon and is happily complimenting nature’s beauty with his glass, one garden at a time.