Sculptor of horses and other sporting animals - Announcing Race of the Wild –A collaboration with Dallas sculptor Angela Mia De La Vega

As seen in the Loveland Reporter Herald

I’m thrilled to introduce you to my newest work, Race of the Wild, a collaboration with Angela Mia De La Vega, an award-winning figurative sculptor from Dallas.

A young man approaches adulthood

Race of the Wild depicts a young boy joyfully running with youthful exuberance accompanied by a large male wolf who matches him step-for-step.

"Race of the Wild"

Foundry View 1

Foundry View 2

We wanted this work to be a metaphor for the independence and strength that begins to surface as a boy matures. Both Angela and I are mothers of sons, so we found that we were completely simpatico on the symbolic aspects of aspects of the piece.

Challenges of a new frontier

Although creating the theme of the piece came easily to us, the technical aspects turned out to be a bigger challenge.

Angela and I created our sculpture using a “virtual studio” of email and electronic photograph communications. Along the way, we had to learn to communicate, persuade, and collaborate without the benefit of face-to-face talks.

Though separated by 800 miles, Angela and I worked out our final decisions on pose, gait of the wolf, integrity of the piece and how it would be integrated together.

The most troublesome aspect was creating two pieces that were proportional when brought together. Although we had agreed at the onset that the finished work would be ½ life size, creating figures in separate locations turned out to be problematic.

I created the wolf, molded the clay, and shipped the wax to Angela in June for integration in the base. To our dismay, we realized the wolf was simply too large next to the boy, creating an unwanted surreal look to the work—and time was running out.

I scrambled to scale the wolf down 20%. We knew it truly would be a ‘race of the wild’ to have it completed in time for the Sculpture in the Park show—the venue where we wanted to unveil the work to the public.

Loveland sculpting community rallies to help us meet our goal

The success of Race of the Wild ultimately hinged not on modern conveniences like the Internet, but instead on good, old-fashioned neighborliness.

Loveland’s Page Wax and Art Castings worked in record time—during the rush of Sculpture in the Park season—to ensure that we would get the duo done. When Angela flew in on August 5, the cast bronze was ready for her to apply her signature patina. After a whirlwind trip the base maker, the bronze was ready for the show.

Foundry View 3

You can read more about this sculpture in the Loveland Reporter Herald article. If you are interested in adding Race of the Wild to your collection, please contact Vail Fine Art Gallery.