Wildlife Fine Art Sculpture of M C Shinnick

Saturday, July 27

Friday, December 26

Wednesday, April 30

Studio on Bois Blanc Island

Studio on Bois Blanc Island back in action
as I will be carving stone there
as soon as I adjust to the cooler temperature.
It doesn't take me long as I revert to my Spartan self very quickly
in the process of running the fires.

I was going up tomorrow but I have
too much to do here while I get the chance.
Tom says he's glad to have me on the premises.

Firing a second time on Friday as well as
presenting nine sculptures to the dealers in
Glen Arbor (Synchronicity Gallery)
and of course it's nice to have running water.

Looks like the weather is coming around next week
and my buddy says he wants to help so we'll see.

Love, M C Shinnick

Tuesday, March 18

Listening

Detail

Cast bronze

21" x 8" x 22"

Limited Edition

"Catherine's years spent raising horses shine through
in her close bond and continuing fascination with
their strength and grace. Several of her most significant
works in bronze and ceramic are horses, sometimes
with the additional allusion to her own connection to
them. The person usually appears preternaturally
small in comparison with the beast, accentuating the
concept of human vulnerability." Sam Heller Fine Art

right side

left side

The fun ... in portraying the horse is using...
negative space
to invite the viewer to look closer and within.

I am interested in texture and in allowing the clay ...
to express their own language.
I like to make the image float,
an echo of my memories
of the thrilling sensation of riding.

Minerva Gallery
Peter Bartlow Gallery

Sunday, March 16

Lying Down

Glazed clay with a bronze oxide wash

17"x 8"x 11"

Chisholm Gallery

Muse

Terra cotta dried clay with terra sigillata

18"x 12"x 15"

Catherine Shinnick: Nature’s Disciple by Julia R. Myers

"Using the horse as a metaphor, a sculptor depicts the relationship between the human
subconscious and nature.

Viewing the work of Catherine Shinnick, one can immediately observe a respect and affinity for horses. A thorough understanding of these animals obtained through years spent training them comes through in the sculptures that very accurately, though somewhat abstractly, mimic equine behavior. Yet the sculptures reveal more than a love for horses; they allude to a reverence for and a connection to the natural world as a whole." excerpt by Julia R. Myers

Ceramics Monthly; Oct2006, Vol. 54 Issue 8, p34-36, 3p, 4 color photographs

Chisholm Gallery

Galloping V

Ceramic sculpture - 20"x10"x18"

Celadon glaze on the base
and low fired glaze with copper oxide wash
on the horse and rider

Catherine Shinnick

Taught Ceramics at the Parsons Center in Lake Ann for Eastern Michigan University and continues to teach on Bois Blanc Island.

She graduated from the Cranbrook School and studied at the U. of Michigan. She studied stone carving with Minaru Nizuma at Columbia University. She has a BFA from the RI School of Design, and a MFA from E Michigan University. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She is available for commissions.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ TO CONTACT: Regular mail: HCR1 Box 315, Bois Blanc Island, MI 49775.
Phone: winter 2013: 231-634-7097

Spring & Summer::231.634.7376
Email: candybarrartist at gmail dot com. ~~~~

Artist's Statement

My work is about the human mind making a connection to wildlife. In my work the horse is a metaphor for the subconscious mind and its passion and intuition. In the depths of our subconscious, where myth and reality coincide, we are all connected.

Living as I do on a small island where nature rules creates a need to align myself with the elements. In my sculpture I am portraying an alignment to the elements and to elemental forces. Clay itself is an elemental force. It is earth and water that brings our relationship to nature directly to our fingertips. It harbors the winds of inspiration, and it is reborn through the fires of the kiln. Ceramics create a strong sense of connection to nature for me.

I would like my sculpture to have life, to excite the space around it, and to give joy. The joy for me, and what I communicate, is the connection between the subconscious mind and the world of nature. Most of us long for connection, and we find ourselves on a quest to reestablish our closeness to nature.

I began to explore the horse as a subject in 1996 while working towards my MFA in Ceramics from Eastern Michigan University. The horse embodies verve and fire, his movements are light as air, he is a powerful ally of the earth and earthbound, and he permeates the waters of our subconscious mind. Long a bridge between the mundane and the divine, the horse has energized and liberated the cultures of mankind since ancient history. The horse has become the symbol of my passionate devotion to the creative process.

For 30 years I have carved stone, and the experience influences greatly my work with clay. When I carve stone, the dust produced obscures the piece and instinct and the ability to visualize becomes my guides. When I look at stone, I see form rising to the surface from within. The trick is to recognize, actually intuit, when the chisel has made contact with the surface of that form. I am visualizing the positive.

In clay I also work from the inside out because the internal structure is clay. This armature is in the form of slabs and the outer edge of these slabs describes the surface of the piece. Once the armature is in place, it is wrapped with thinner slabs that act as skin. The power to visualize instructs me to actualize.

The fun of clay in portraying the horse is using layers and negative space to invite the viewer to look closer and within. I am interested in texture and in allowing the clay and glaze to express their own language. I like to make the image float, an echo of my memories of the thrilling sensation of riding.

Wildlife Fine Art Sculpture of M C Shinnick

Saturday, July 27

Sunday, January 10

Saturday, January 9

Sunday, June 7

Tuesday, February 24

Friday, February 13

Wednesday, February 11

Friday, December 26

Wednesday, April 30

Monday, April 28

Sunday, April 27

Friday, April 25

Tuesday, March 18

Monday, March 17

Sunday, March 16

Saturday, March 15

Catherine Shinnick

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