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An Insider ... Lady Bountiful Fills the Bill

2/16/2014

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     In my blog of  9/28/13 I wrote about the difficulty of selecting artwork that could fit the requirements of art shows that have themes. I recently found myself trying to select a sculpture that might be a suitable entry for the upcoming "Innerscape" themed exhibit at the River Arts Gallery in Damariscotta. I was feeling that a juror might interpret "Innerscape'" as some sort of interior landscape, as opposed to a broader interpretation, such as inner self. I emailed Linda Morkeski, River Arts' Executive Director, and she agreed that I should think of "inner" in the broader sense... that "inside" might be a direction I could go in for sculpture. This expanded interpretation of the theme led me to select one of my small bronze sculptures, 'Lady Bountiful', as an entry for the show.
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'Lady Bountiful' ... bronze, glass, tin ... 7 1/4" h
    A reference to 'Lady B' appeared in my blog entry for 8/27/12 as part of a piece about the various bronze reincarnations of a small stone sculpture I had made. 'Lady B' was created as an entry for 'The Jar Project' exhibition co-ordinated by Alex Sax at the Whitney Art Works in Portland in 2011. The concept for the show was based on the historical uses of the jar as a storage vessel for food for the body as well as the soul, be it pickles, pennies, marbles, mittens or mementos. Why not a container for art? My jar was an old poultry watering device that was  just big enough to contain my small bronze sculpture of a female torso. 
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_____ Jar Project poster hung in "The Root Cellar" _____ (photograph by Michael Heiko)
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Artist Jar projects displayed at the Whitney Art Works in Portland, Maine
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'Lady Bountiful' cartoon book by Gene Carr (c.1917)
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George Farquhar (1677-1707)
    The name of this piece evolved from my interest in cartoon art. I am a longtime collector of art and books related to cartooning, and I was aware of a turn of the century newspaper comic strip drawn by cartoonist Gene Carr that was titled 'Lady Bountiful'. Just as I felt the poultry waterer and the buxom bronze torso had a kinship as dispensers of essential liquid sustenance, Carr's Lady Bountiful character was woman of means who dispensed care and support to poor street urchins. I knew that the term 'Lady Bountiful' had been used prior to the publishing of Carr's comic strip and in my research of the strip I found that 'Lady Bountiful' had been one of the major characters in writer George Farquhar's 1707 comedy titled "The Beaux Stratagem". Farquhar's 'Lady B' also had been a wealthy woman who devoted much her life to doing good works for the less fortunate. I felt my piece was in good company.
    As for the connection of my piece to the theme of "innerscape" -
the bronze torso is a symbolic dispenser contained within an actual dispenser, which is in turn an actual container. The bronze is therefore in the 'innerscape" of the container. *Rest my case.

    *Note: Additionally I could point out that the apparent pensive attitude of Lady B perhaps reflects her "inner" feelings about being viewed as a "dispenser"...and how being trapped "in" a dispenser symbolizes these feelings.
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    Author

    Cynthia Smith, Maine artist, originally from Connecticut. Taught art at secondary level for 35 years, retired in 2004. Sculpts in bronze, wood, stone, clay & plaster. Her work can be seen at several mid-coast Maine galleries and shows.

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