Free Sculpture-related Events on Historic Lyme St., Including Bronze Casting at Bee & Thistle at 2 p.m.
Have you ever wondered how a bronze sculpture is created? Does the sculptor simply chip away at a hunk of metal or is some other process involved?
 The answer to these and many more questions about the art of sculpting in bronze will be supplied on Saturday, Nov. 1, at the Bee and Thistle Inn in Old Lyme, Conn.
Internationally renowned Master Sculptor Andrew DeVries, pictured left, will not only talk extensively about his life and work, but also will actually cast a sculpture “live” at 2 p.m. (weather permitting.)
The reception featuring DeVries runs from 1 to 5 p.m. and is open at no charge to the public.DeVries, whose studio and foundry are located in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts, explained in a telephone interview with LymeLine that he is, “One of the few sculptors who finish their own work.” He has been casting his own sculptures for 30 years because, he says, “It’s just too personal,” to allow anyone else do it for him.
At the Bee and Thistle, DeVries’ demonstration will involve heating 65 lbs of metal in a small furnace for 45 minutes to an hour until molten. Then he and a student from the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts will do a, “Two-man pour,” together pouring the bronze into a prepared mold. DeVries stresses the demonstration is, “Not pretend, not a theatrical performance. There’ll be dangerous temperatures and hot metals,” since he is creating a real sculpture.
 DeVries will also offer visitors a brief autobiography and then, “Go through the whole process, trying to give a clear insight into how a sculpture is made.” He notes the process is very, “Labor-intensive with lots of technical aspects,” continuing, “This is a way to give people a taste [of how sculpture is made.] Hopefully, they go away with a better understanding – a better acknowledgement – of, not only the craft side, but also the artistic side.”
He adds with laughter, “But they always go away saying,” (of the details of the process), “I never knew that!”Training to be a sculptor has followed a far from traditional route for DeVries.
He left school at 15, worked on his parents farm in Rochester, N.Y., then traveled extensively throughout the US ending up in Denver, Colo., where for two years, he received what he describes as, “His real training … at a ballet studio.” DeVries comments that it was there he learned, “What dance says, what art means in our lives, which is the basic foundation of my work … and my life.”
According to his website (www.andrewdevries.com), DeVries’ self-styled training, “Took on even more focus,” from that point. He determined that for, “Economic and artistic reasons he needed to master the craft of mold making and bronze foundry. For the next four years while he sculpted, he learned mold making and apprenticed in two different foundries.” The only formal training DeVries has ever received was six months at a small arts academy in Paris.
DeVries is now a sought-after artist, with a resumé full of awards, whose work, which is found all over the world, features dance, figurative, symbolic, portrait and bas relief sculpture. His bronzes - "Allegro," pictured above right, is one of his best-known works - are sited in private homes, public spaces and corporations; many are installed as outdoor garden sculptures.
Fourteen of his sculptures, which span a period from the early days of his career to the present, are currently on display at the Bee and Thistle, whose owner, Linnea Rufo, has known DeVries for more than 20 years. More of DeVries’ sculptures will also be found on display at EF Watermelon a little further down Lyme Street.
This event is part of the, “From Clay to Cast: Sculpture Day,” being held throughout Old Lyme on Nov. 1. Both the Florence Griswold Museum and the Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts are celebrating by offering free admission, special exhibitions, artist demonstrations, and hands-on activities. The event is funded by a grant from the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism.
 The Nov. 1 happenings at the Florence Griswold Museum are being held in conjunction with the Museum's special exhibition, "Bessie Potter Vonnoh: Sculptor of Women." The Museum is the first venue for the exhibition, organized by the Cincinnati Art Museum to honor this pioneering female artist.
Vonnoh's sculptures, an example of which, "Madonna," is pictured left, made a significant contribution to late 19th and early 20th century American art. Vonnoh and her husband Robert were prominent members of the Lyme Art Colony and lived in Lyme for many years.The museum, including the special exhibition, will be open free of charge. Visitors can tour the exhibition and the historic boardinghouse for artists, where Bessie and Robert stayed before moving to the area.
From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. participants can watch Sculptor-in-Residence Sue Chism and her model demonstrate the sculpting process in the Museum galleries and then try their hand at sculpting using clay in a drop-in workshop in the Hartman Education Center.
Meanwhile, from noon to 4 p.m. at the Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts, experience, “Face to Face with Sculpture,” with Lyme Academy College instructor, Jeremy Davis. Davis will demonstrate the various stages of sculpture - from clay to wax pattern, sprueing and venting, investment, rough bronze, chased bronze and finally patina. Davis works with students at the College teaching mold-making and casting.
"Lyme [Academy College] is unique in that we teach students the entire process of sculpture through to a finished bronze. In most schools it is common for students to learn to work with clay only, but not how to bring their work to completion professionally. They never see the piece finished as a permanent cast. We feel it's imperative that a student graduates with a complete skill set to accomplish whatever they set out to do artistically." said Davis.
The college Open House will be held from 12 to 4 p.m. Tours of the built-for-artists studio facilities will be given. Students will be painting and drawing in the studios, working from a live model. Those interested in applying to Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts are invited to bring their portfolios. Faculty and admissions representatives will be on hand to answer questions.
The college galleries will be open for viewing of the fall exhibitions, “A Slice of America: Selections from the New Britain Museum of American Art,” in the Chauncey Stillman Gallery and, in the Sill House Gallery, a selection of work by award-winning alums from the Class of 2006, Samantha Weber and David Krevolin.
 Elsewhere on Lyme Street, the Cooley Gallery (at 25 Lyme Street) has the work of a variety of artists on view, including a sound sculpture by Harry Bertoia and a new work by Michael McLaughlin. E.F. Watermelon is featuring three artists - the exquisite gem Intarsia of Nicolai Medvedev, whose work is on display at the Smithsonian, Susan Allen, who carves intricate designs within pieces of quartz, and Michael Christie, who creates ingenious essence bottles that can be separated into individual items of jewelry.There are also open houses at Studio 80, the studio (see photo at right) and sculpture garden of contemporary sculptor Gil Boro at 80 Lyme Street (located next to the Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts,) and the Lyme Art Association at 90 Lyme Street (located next to the Florence Griswold Museum), which is featuring the sculptures of female elected artists and hosting a demonstration by Sue Chism’s Figure/Portrait Sculpture class.
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