The yellow ‘Meadow Lark’ is a Zen-like sculpture in basswood wood with oil paint that I purchased in my old friend Susan Kelley’s Kelley Roy Gallery in Wynwood, Miami on my last trip.
“Meadow Lark” sculpture by Henry Lautz, who has based this design on the ancient ‘mound builders’ of West Florida.
The American sculptor, Henry Lautz, has based his designs on the ancient ‘mound builders’ of West Florida.
The namesake cultural trait of the mound builders was the building of mounds and other earthworks. These burial and ceremonial structures were typically flat-topped pyramids or platform mounds, but also included rounded cones and a variety of other forms. The early earthworks built in Louisiana c. 3400 BCE are the only ones known to be built by a hunter-gatherer culture.
Lautz works with these shapes, reducing and abstracting their forms and adding colour that strengthens the connection.
So, what was once an object of a particular place and time becomes a combination of form, and colour and line that resonates in a new place and time . . . . in Michael’s apartment in Sydney Australia.
‘Meadow Lark’ gives forth from it’s own floating shelf at the entrance
Such a difficult choice as to which colour and size to choose – I also liked the taller ‘Miami Blue’ version but Edmundo cautioned against adding this colour to the existing palette of my apartment.
Michael and Susan with the machined aluminium,
To read Artist’s Statement, and his personal commentary on “Meadow Lark” in particular,
C
Click here
C
Dearest Michael,
We woke up this morning to see an early Easter Egg of giant proportions!!!
Enjoy,
Love,
June and Des xooxxoxoox
I love it Michael
I saw the one that Susan has in white here in Miami, but I like yours even more. mInimalistic and elegant!
nIce contrast with the wall.
I am looking forward to see your flat. Great pieces of art!
All the best
Isma
That’s really bright and beautiful, Michael!
Stunning!
I think you made the best colour choice.
T
Strangely, I quite like it. Looks better in the longer shot (in the blog) than the shot below. Pity the insert is brown and not orange…I love combos of orange and yellow…
John, Strangely, that ‘insert’ is actually a rectangular ‘hole’, and not a brown colour. My photography, or lighting, has to improve.
The whole thing is a series of small wooden blocks all glued together. That is the only way the sculptor could achieve a perfect straight-edged ‘hole’.
He then shaved the glued blocks of wood to achieve his desired spherical shape, and applied about twenty layers of oil paint.
I’ve been warned to use cotton gloves when handling. Regrettably, Quarantine or Customs inspectors used greasy paws and the surface has a couple of ugly black marks (no one we know!).
Susan instructs me to use Q tips and dab ‘mineral spirits’ around the wider area of the marks. It doesn’t ‘remove’ the marks but instead activates the paint and it covers the dirty parts.
I would like to enlist Hyunju to assist but he is scared of ruining the piece. Susan in turn advises absolutely do not use Windex, which seems like the usual first try.
There’s also the question of appropriate lighting in a space where access to the ceiling is already crowded by cables and the like.
Nothing is simple, is it?
Michael,
Meadow Lark looks as if it were expressly commissioned for your space. It’s fabulous and makes a statement! I was thinking about you last week when I was sipping a glass of Albarino at dinner.
Take care. Peggy
Dear Michael
I like your new piece of art and the colour is a bright happy colour. Thank you for emailing Sophie.
Love
Julie
Michael I Love it , but then I love all the art you are accumulating , re cleaning ,maybe try bicarb. of soda which is recommended as a Natural cleaner , try a little bit at the back of the SUBJECT to see if there is a reaction , as removing colour as well or even effect same reaction on the wood assembly. Lots of Love MA.
Great colour against the wall. How heavy is it? It just screams “look at me”! Google cleaning painted surfaces.
Love the yellow, I really liked the painting you donated (I think) to a gallery. It had a big splash of yellow from memory.
Meadow Lark is very……….. colourful. I like it. It should help to lift the room among all your dark wood panelling.
It is so wonderful that there are art lovers everywhere- congrats on magical yellow zen – – reminds me of a shivling….
(Shivling is a mountain in the Gangotri Group of peaks in the western Garhwal Himalaya, near the snout of the Gangotri Glacier. It lies in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand, 6 kilometres (4 mi) south of the Hindu holy site of Gaumukh (the source of the Bhagirathi River). Its name refers to its status as a sacred symbol of the God – Lord Shiva’s Shiva Linga.)