Harry Kalas Monument

Please help support this unprecedented undertaking!!

A petition to create a memorial statue on Facebook caught the eye of big time Phillies fan and renowned realist sculptor, Lawrence Nowlan.

The original petition now numbering nearly 20,000 signatures, was started by Antonio José who says, "Philadelphia has a Rocky Statue. Don’t you think Harry has done more for this city than Rocky did?" Since garnering so many followers thepetition has been reported on in the Philadelphia Daily News and philly.com.

Harry Kalas Monument

Vintner's Hall of Fame

Wine Tube TV: The Culinary Institute of America in Napa Valley from StarkSilverCreek.com on Vimeo.

More to come on this story...

Honoring Harry

POSTED: November 16, 2009

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ON APRIL 14, the day after Harry Kalas died, avid Phillies fan Antonio Jose started a petition on Facebook seeking support for a statue of Harry to be erected outside Citizens Bank Park.

A few weeks later he had a couple hundred "signatures," which were almost always accompanied by positive comments.

Kalas

Lingerie Football Home Opener

Eagles vs. Chargers

Bulls 94, Sixers 88

Then he forgot all about it.

Until last week, when he checked in and saw that more than 17,000 were on board. As of last night, the number had surpassed 18,000.

"It really did blow my mind that so many people are adamant about having a statue of Harry Kalas," said Jose, a 20-year-old junior at Community College of Philadelphia majoring in graphic design.

One of those people is Lawrence Nowlan, an acclaimed sculptor and former Philadelphian, who is so excited about the idea that he contacted Jose and is already working on a model of the statue.

Nowlan grew up in Philly and attended Archbishop Carroll High. Like Jose, he is a huge Phillies fan and feels Harry deserves to be immortalized.

Granted, the Phillies have already put a billboard in left-centerfield and have Harry the K's restaurant inside the Bank.

Apparently, 18,000-plus people want more.

Nowlan, who now lives in Vermont, said the statue would serve two purposes.

The first would be to immortalize Harry, who will always hold a special place in the hearts of Phillies fans. The second would be to change the national perception of Philadelphia fans.

"As you well know, Philadelphia fans always take a hit," Nowlan, 44, said. If we can do this, we'll forever be able to turn around and say, 'Have you ever gotten off your butts and done anything for your team?'

"It would be great."

To view the petition go to www.facebook.com/

group.php? gid=71492908978.

- Tom Mahon

Send e-mail to highandinside@phillynews.com

Wedding reliefs

I recently completed this relief for a client who did it for her daughter and Son-in-Law. It was a big hit!

The successful person makes a habit of doing what the
failing person doesn't like to do.
::: Thomas Edison :::

Emeril at the Vintner's Hall of Fame

My Brother-in-Law was watching Emeril Green recently, and he was doing a show from Greystone in Napa Valley! A scene was filmed in the Vinters Hall of Fame so he grabbed the D90 to document it.

This years Induction Dinner will be held on March 13, see you there!

Discipline in art is a fundamental struggle to understand
oneself, as much as to understand what one is drawing.
::: Henry Moore :::

Oakland Raiders - Hall of Famer Fred Biletnikoff

This bas relief is heading out to Oakland to be presented to one of the minority owners of the Oakland Raiders by a old friend who will be watching the Eagles v. Raiders in the President's box next Sunday.

Biletnikoff was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1988 and was voted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1991. The Fred Biletnikoff Award, awarded annually to the best wide receiver in college football since 1994, was named in his honor. In 1999, Biletnikoff was ranked number 94 on The Sporting News' list of the "100 Greatest Football Players".

Always one of my favorites!

"Imagination is more important than knowledge."
Albert Einstein

2x Pulitzer Prize Winner David Gaub McCullough

Mr. David McCullough stopped by the studio yesterday while on a research trip for his new book which includes some history on American Sculptors. He was thrilled to have the opportunity to ask many questions and study a contemporary studio which is not at all different from the studio's of the sculptors he is writing about (outside of the cd's, iphone and computer). It was quite an honor to have such an incredible talent in the studio and he enjoy himself so much he is planning a second trip back to pick up the piece he commissioned and perhaps get his hands into the clay a bit!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Mccullough

"To me history ought to be a source of pleasure. It isn't just part of our civic responsibility. To me it's an enlargement of the experience of being alive, just the way literature or art or music is."— David McCullough

Clip from Saint Gaudens Film

Today I received an email from the creator of the film “Augustus Saint-Gaudens: Master of American Sculpture” regarding the latest showing. A quote from the note: "The latest was a screening on the WNET the PBS station in New York City. They also put a clip on their website (see link: http://www.thirteen.org/sundayarts/the-sherman-monument-and-saint-gauden/352 ). You're quote is still the best in the whole film and continues to get a wonderful response from the crowd."

The film is over an hour long and PBS chose this clip to advertise it.........funny.

Enjoy the clip

"Practice what you know and it will help you understand what you don't know"
Van Gogh

LJN + Rachael Ray

I was recently invited to a private dinner at the Juniper Hill Inn who was hosting Rachael Ray. It was a wonderful evening complete with a bas Relief presentation.

It's not enough to have lived. We should be determined
to live for something.
::: Leo Buscaglia :::

Childrens portraits

Under: People you may know...

911 Dedication

The collaborators; Myself, Miranda Shackleton (Miranda Shackleton Pottery) and Jack Wilson (of Dartmouth)

Dartmouth College project

This summer I collaborated with Jack Wilson (of Dartmouth College) and Miranda Shackleton (Famed potter) to create a tribute plaque for those in the Dartmouth College FAmily who perished in the tragic events of September 11, 2001. It was a very rewarding experience in many ways, including collaborating with two such generous artists and of course playing a part in such a tribute.

The dedication of this plaque will be held at Dartmouth College this Friday, June 19 at 3pm. The plaque has been installed between The Hanover Inn and the Hood Museum.

• An artist chooses his subjects.. that is the way he praises.
Plato

Bas Relief in progress

Busy time here in and out of the studio with the spring/summer upon us in New England. Several of the pieces I am working on are private commissions so I cannot post photos of them but here is a shot of a relief I have been working on with some nice natural light falling on it.

Every beauty which is seen here by persons of perception resembles more than anything else that celestial source from which we all are come.
Michelangelo

Volk's Lincoln mask

In 1881, sculptor Leonard Volk explained how he made the first Lincoln mask. He met Lincoln in 1858 during Lincoln's campaign for the U.S. Senate, and invited him to sit for a bust. Lincoln agreed, but it took Volk's insistance two years later before Lincoln came to his studio. By this time it was the spring of 1860, shortly before Lincoln received the Republican nomination for president.

Volk said, "My studio was in the fifth story, and there were no elevators in those days, and I soon learned to distinguish his steps on the stairs, and am sure he frequently came up two, if not three, steps at a stride." Volk took measurements of his head and shoulders and made a plaster cast of his face to reduce the number of sittings.

Of the plaster casting process, Volk said, "It was about an hour before the mold was ready to be removed, and being all in one piece, with both ears perfectly taken, it clung pretty hard, as the cheek-bones were higher than the jaws at the lobe of the ear. He bent his head low and took hold of the mold, and gradually worked it off without breaking or injury; it hurt a little, as a few hairs of the tender temples pulled out with the plaster and made his eyes water." Lincoln said he found the process "anything but agreeable."

Volk said that during the sittings, "he would talk almost unceasingly, telling some of the funniest and most laughable of stories, but he talked little of politics or religion during those sittings. He said: 'I am bored nearly every time I sit down to a public dining-table by some one pitching into me, on politics.'"

Volk left a priceless legacy for future sculptors, as attested by Avard Fairbanks, who said, "Virtually every sculptor and artist uses the Volk mask for Lincoln ... it is the most reliable document of the Lincoln face, and far more valuable than photographs, for it is the actual form."

The Lincoln bicentennial (1809-2009) is being celebrated this year and for a short time I will be producing reenforced plaster casts of this Leonard Volk Lincoln mask for for $150.00 plus shipping.

If you are interested please email: ljnsculpture@aol.com

Successful trip out west

The Annual Induction Dinner was held at Greystone last weekend and as always it was a wonderful affair with interesting people and delicious food. 

Here is a shot with Chef Michael Chiarello of Napa Style fame and Chiarello Family Vineyards.

"Uncle Pete" heading back for another plate of hor'doeuvres

For those of you....

who had trouble deciphering the stone...




Art is never finished, only abandoned.
Leonardo da Vinci

Not quite monumental....

I was recently asked to create the artwork for the NH Dot Snow Plow Rally Official Belt Buckle. I guess this is a tradition which has been going on for a very long time and each year the create a new belt buckle for the event. This artwork is 2" x 3" and computerized text will be added to it. These guys earn their money up here!

A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream
together is reality.
::: John Lennon :::

My "first" Stone Sculpture

This can be considered my first completed stone sculpture. I recently created this piece as a homage to nursing mothers. What is interesting is that while I have been working on the piece the visual of what it is becomes incredibly clear to me though when I have showed it to people for the first time they do not immediately "see" it.....can you? 

“What art offers is space - a certain breathing room for the spirit.”

John Updike

Bas Relief Portrait

“I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do.”
Leonardo da Vinci