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An article from the Martin Gallery
LIBERTY GARDENS
Pinewood Preparatory School
Summerville, SC
Martin Gallery is honored to procure the artwork for Liberty Gardens at Pinewood
Preparatory School of Summerville, SC. Liberty Gardens is a sculptural tribute
to those who have shown political and social courage, focusing on world leaders
in the constant struggles for peace and freedom. The gardens will be dedicated
to local hero, Frances Suddeth Josephson, who showed courage when she defied
gender stereotypes to become a WWII code breaker. Her work helped end the war
and save thousands of lives. Liberty Gardens celebrates the local and the
distant, the domestic and the international, all the while showing our future
leaders that the choices we make matter, and that we can matter, too.
Oregon artist, Kris Parmele, is working to sculpt a series of six busts, and
also a portrait of Frances Suddeth Josephson, all to be installed in Liberty
Gardens. To date she has completed the renderings of Mother Teresa and Winston
Churchill. Nelson Mandela, the Dalai Lama, Gandhi and Albert Einstein are all
planned to be a part of the final installation. Each sculpture will be cast in
bronze in a limited edition of 12.
For information on how to sponsor a sculpture, or to purchase one for your own
collection, please contact the gallery.
martingallery@mindspring.com
Winston Churchill Bronze Sculpture |
The Blessing - Mother Teresa |
Winston Churchill Bronze Sculpture &
The Blessing - Mother Teresa |
An article from the Yoshida Fine Art Gallery
|
PRESS RELEASE
Media contact: Kristina McMorris
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
503-872-8485
kristina.mcmorris@yoshida.com
CLICK HERE for a Printer Friendly version!
BRONZE
SCULPTURE BY PORTLAND ARTIST TO BE PERMANENTLY PLACED IN AMERICA’S
OLDEST CATHEDRAL
Art buyer
donates “The Blessing” in memory of her late father
Portland, Ore.
(April 18, 2006) –
When Boring,
Oregon artist Kris Parmele completed the casting of her sculpture
featuring Mother Teresa with a child entitled, “The Blessing,” she
had envisioned her artwork providing inspiration by gracing the
interior of a local church or hospital. Far from the realm of her
imagination was the sculpture’s ultimate placement in such a
prestigious facility as the Basilica of the National Shrine of the
Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The neoclassical
Minor Basilica, now designated a National Shrine and National
Historic Landmark, is located on a hill above Baltimore Harbor in
Maryland. This first great metropolitan cathedral constructed in
America following the adoption of the Constitution will celebrate
its 200th anniversary and grand reopening on November 4,
2006, after undergoing an extensive two-year restoration. In honor
of the rededication, Maryland Governor Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. has
proclaimed 2006 “The Year of the Baltimore Basilica.”
On May 29, 1996,
Mother Teresa of Calcutta graced the Basilica with her presence by
receiving the renewal of vows of 35 of her Missionaries of Charity.
Thus, when Antoinette Amato of Tacoma, Washington spotted the
sculpture at Yoshida’s Fine Art Gallery (206 NW 10th,
Portland, Ore.) in early April, the thought of donating the art
piece to the Basilica in her late father’s name seemed a perfectly
fitting gesture. “The Blessing” is currently in transit to its new
home, where Parmele hopes it will touch the hearts of viewers as
greatly as the real-life subject, Mother Teresa, touched those of
millions of people around the globe, crossing over racial and
religious barriers.
To view an image
of "The Blessing," visit
http://www.yoshidasfineartgallery.com/index/artists/2/22/
Artist Kris Parmele
Kris Parmele, an
Oregon native, has been honing her artistic craft for more than 30
years. In all of her pieces Parmele strives to be technically
accurate, believing attention to detail is fundamental for
penetrating into and drawing out the essence of the humanity she
desires to capture. Her development of facial expressions and
physical movement in both clay and bronze results in delightful,
contemporary personalities with stories to tell. It is Parmele's
vision that individuals viewing her sculptures will be mentally
stimulated and emotionally impacted. "The Blessing," a spiritual
masterpiece, will undoubtedly accomplish both for future visitors of
the Basilica.
Cathedral History
The Basilica’s
cornerstone was laid in July 1806, after which it has become a
symbol of the religious freedom upon which this country was created.
In a newfound nation, Bishop Carroll appealed to his parishioners
and the population of all religions for their support and
generosity, resulting in an outpouring of gifts from around the
world.
As the country’s
first archdiocese, two-thirds of U.S. Catholic dioceses can trace
their heritage to this location. Under its auspices also came a
series of other firsts, including the first order of
African-American nuns. Since 1976, the Basilica has seen visits by
Pope John Paul II, Mother Teresa, and Ecumenical Patriarch
Bartholomew of Constantinople, as well as hosted the ordainment of
Father Michael J. McGivney, founder of the Knights of Columbus.
Two Americans
guided the Basilica’s original design and architecture: John
Carroll, the country’s first bishop, later Archbishop of Baltimore,
and cousin of Charles Carroll, who signed the Declaration of
Independence; and Benjamin Henry Latrobe, an architect of the U.S.
Capitol and father of American architecture, who was inspired by
President Thomas Jefferson. Carroll, founder of Georgetown
University, is buried in the Basilica crypt along with James
Cardinal Gibbons and other Baltimore archbishops.
About the Gallery
Yoshida's Fine Art
Gallery features more than 5,000 square feet of original artwork by
more than 40 premier artists. Accenting the artwork are antique
Chinese collectibles ranging from 80 to 300 years in age, each
personally selected by Linda Yoshida, Gallery Director, during her
annual visits to Shanghai. Yoshida’s gallery has been named "The
Best of the West" in national publication Southwest Art Magazine
in three consecutive issues and continues to claim exclusive art
décor rights to several designer homes at the annual Street of
Dreams and Parade of Homes.
Yoshida’s Wine Bar & Bistro
A unique feature
of the Yoshida Gallery is Yoshida’s Wine Bar & Bistro, offering much
sought after wines, assorted beers and live jazz music. A diverse
retail section includes both imported and domestic wines, and
special requests are encouraged. Indoor and outdoor seating
available. Call for private bookings. For more information and an
updated calendar of events, visit
www.yoshidawinebar.com.
Located at
206 NW 10th Avenue in Portland, Ore., Yoshida’s Fine Art
Gallery, Wine Bar & Bistro is part of the Yoshida Group, a
conglomeration of 18 diverse companies headquartered in Portland,
Ore. Products range from Jones Golf bags to Prison Blues® garments.
Open 7 days a week, gallery hours are 10am-6pm Monday through
Saturday and 12pm-5pm on Sunday. For more information, visit our
website at www.yoshidagallery.com. |
An article from the
"Time-Release Talent"
|
Thursday, May 12, 2005
ERIC MORTENSON
 er art
comes from within, where it lay quietly for years, gathering a life
force of its own. As Kris Parmele reclaims it now, drawing it out of
herself to form the bronze sculptures that are winning her acclaim,
it is with the urgency of a woman who knows how time slips away.
"Your life gets caught up, or you allow it to get caught up,"
Parmele says. "It takes focus to get back to what you feel your
life's calling is." But there's no desperation in her approach now,
no sense of years wasted as she evolved from childhood artist to
teenage rebel, garden worker, secretary, wife, mother, home-school
teacher and, finally, artist again.
And at 50, with her daughter and son grown, and
with a new studio overlooking downtown Gresham's Main Avenue,
Parmele is at peace with her creativity. Despite limited formal
training, her pieces are at two galleries, including Yoshida's Fine
Art Gallery in Portland's Pearl District. Her work ranges from an
emotional rendering of wrinkled Mother Teresa blessing a child, to
playful Japanese figures, to a commissioned ocean-themed medallion
and tiles that will be installed in a marble bathroom floor.
Gallery owners say visitors are impressed by the range, depth and
quality of Parmele's work.
"She's an incredibly talented artist, a really strong figurative
sculptor," says Linda Yoshida, an early backer and friend. "She's
one of the true Oregon artists who remains undiscovered."
"She's a very prolific artist who can do everything from very small
Asian pieces to life-size children; she's just amazing," says Otho
Wing, co-owner of Rhodes Stringfellow Gallery in Cannon Beach.
Parmele is gratified by the response, happy to make a connection.
Being an artist is a roller coaster of highs and lows, she says,
because part of who Kris Parmele is inevitably flows into her
sculptures. The figures may be feudal Japanese, but the joy or
wariness or self-satisfaction they express is hers.
When you expose yourself like that, you become vulnerable to the
fickle decisions of buyers and critics who may never understand
where the emotion comes from, and will never know the life
experiences from which the art is drawn.
What's pouring out of Parmele now is the answer
to all those people who asked her during those missing years, "What
are you doing with that talent of yours?"
ContinueÞ |
But she didn't pursue it
after high school, despite the urgings of an art teacher. Instead,
she graduated early, and kicked loose of ties and expectations. She
worked five years as a gardener for a prominent restaurant family,
learning as much about how to proceed in life as about how to care
for orchids. Later, in what she describes as a total flip, she spent
18 months doing secretarial work for the Port of Portland.
Marriage and children followed. Her art was always there, within
her, but she kept its demands at bay. She kept a hand in, for sure,
occasionally taking classes, sculpting something or encouraging her
children, but she was hesitant to pursue it. It wasn't until 1998
that she decided to make the jump.
Part of the delay was "just life," she says.
"When you're younger, you feel like you have an unlimited amount of
time," she says. "You get busy with life; it's so easy for
everything else to crowd it out. You think, I'll have time for that,
it's just around the corner, but I've got to do this first."
But she also was fearful of exposing herself through her art, and
still is.
"Once you move forward, you're out there," she says. "I try to step
out of that and push myself."
Yoshida, the gallery owner, shakes her head at
Parmele's trepidation.
"As an artist, she's not aware of how good she is. She has to be
kind of reminded all the time that she has this wonderful gift."
Frowning in concentration, Parmele trims away some of the mask
maker's lower back. It didn't look right.
The old man has no shirt yet. Although a buyer
will never see it, Parmele sculpts her figures' bodies first, then
"dresses" them with another layer of clay. If she did otherwise, the
clothing would not hang naturally, she says.
Art deserves such respect for detail, she says. It is a theme that
runs through her work. While working on a samurai who held a sword
behind his robe, she got the pose right by photographing her
husband, Daniel, clenching one hand behind his back.
She resculpted the Mother Teresa figure several times because she
was disappointed in the eye contact between the nun and the child
whose face she cradles in her wrinkled hands. Finally she realized
that people staring at one another close up are somewhat cross-eyed.
That change solved the problem.
Mother Teresa, which took nine months to make and
sells for $9,500, remains Parmele's favorite piece.
ContinueÞ
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The clay figure taking shape
in Parmele's studio is a Japanese mask maker, a master craftsman
bent over his work. She experiments with him, suddenly deciding to
give him a beard, cap and ponytail. "I like the thought of him
looking older; his personality emerges," she says. "I love it when
what I see in my mind starts to take form."
It's another case of art imitating life: Her bronzes emerge from a
multistep process. A silicone mold is made of the sculpture, and
sculpturing wax is poured into the mold. After fine-tuning, the wax
model is dipped in a slurry of plaster and sand, building up a
quarter-inch shell. The wax is melted out, and bronze is poured into
the shell. Afterward, the plaster shell is chipped away, and the
bronze piece is ready for tooling and a patina finish.
Parmele is blonde with light blue eyes, with an
easy smile and laugh. She stays slender from a regimen of
competitive tennis, gym workouts and, she half-jokes, life stresses
that include seeing to the care of her aging parents. She lives in
Boring, but her Gresham studio is her "Bat Cave," she says, a spot
of her own to work, read and study.
ContinueÜÝ |
She grew up Kris La Ford in Portland's
Eastmoreland neighborhood, the youngest of three children in an
intense, emotionally driven family. She discovered a gift for
sculpture in high school, where she enjoyed stunning and delighting
people with bizarre, flowing creations. It was her intent, she says,
to capture the love and compassion that flowed through Mother Teresa
from God.
"Her hands show the wear and tear of a life of service -- loving the
unloved," Parmele writes in a note. "She believed that loneliness
and feeling unwanted was one of life's greatest abuses."
If someone now approaches the sculpture and feels that character,
that emotion, Parmele feels she has succeeded.
"I enjoy drawing that out," she says.
"When I started in 1998, I wanted to prove I was a great artist,"
she says. "Now I'm letting the creativity flow through me; I'm not
so uptight about being perfect. I'm more loose, more open to what
comes my way."
"It's a journey; some are faster than others," Parmele says with a
laugh. "I've always been the queen of the last minute." |
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An article from the Yoshida Fine Art Gallery
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Kris
Parmele of Boring, Oregon has discovered that working with bronze
gives her imagination free reign for creativity. “The possibilities
of form are limitless given the strength and malleability of this
medium, while the variations of patina are inviting. It’s classic
beauty brings pleasure and ignites inspiration, for generations….as
its’ value increases.” Works of art made in bronze will truly
survive into the future providing a window of understanding for the
viewer about a particular place in time and culture….as an artist,
these qualities stimulate her.
Kris strives to be technically accurate, believing attention to
detail is fundamental for penetrating into and drawing out the
essence of the humanity she desires to capture. Her attention to
detail in regard to developing facial expressions and physical
movement results in turning clay and bronze into delightful,
contemporary personalities with extensive stories to tell.
It is her vision
that individuals viewing her sculptures will be mentally stimulated,
emotionally impacted and pleasantly surprised.
ContinueÜÝ |
Recently, Kris
trained in patina application and is now putting the finishing
touches on her own creations. A new addition to her figurative
bronzes, which include “Left Behind” and “The Blessing,” includes
the “Kazoku (Japanese family) Collection.”
Each clay piece is a
hand-made original, which has been repeatedly fired at 275F as
separate components are incorporated into the work.
Each member of the
series represents a segment of the Japanese community, includes
historical reference as well as artistic license, and may involve
Raku techniques.
However, due to the
fact that each piece is delicately constructed, careful handling is
recommended as would be taken with a porcelain figure.
Furthering a genuine
interest in relationships within the Kazoku, Kris Parmele expanded
her sculpture medium to include bronze relief artwork, which is
being featured for the first time at Yoshida’s Fine Art Gallery. |
News Update
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MAY 2006 UPDATE |
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To Honor Her Dad, Tacoma, WA Woman
Donates Mother Teresa Sculpture
When Antoinette Amato of Tacoma, Washington, spotted a bronze
sculpture of Mother Teresa with a child titled, “The Blessing,” the
idea of donating the art piece to the Baltimore Basilica in memory
of her late father seemed a perfectly fitting gesture. Amato
recently had read of the historic cathedral’s upcoming 200th
anniversary celebration and the 1996 visit by Mother Teresa of
Calcutta. The Portland, Oregon artist, Kris Parmele, and Amato are
hopeful the sculpture will touch the hearts of worshippers as
greatly as its real-life subject touched those of millions of people
around the globe.
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EXPRESSION |
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