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Shadow StoriesRevealing the Hidden World of NatureBy Terri Mason
Even a quick glance registers the stunning accuracy of his sculpture, but it is when studying the interplay of light across the bronze surface of Sam Terakedis’ work that the veiled story of the piece is revealed – and it’s all in the shadows. He spends every free minute with animals outdoors, studying them and learning their non-verbal communication. How they use their tails, ears and different postures to communicate is replicated in amazing detail. His bronzes exude life. This fascination with wildlife is traced back to his childhood when at three years old, he remembers looking at a white tail deer his uncle brought in.
&#xI studied that deer while all around the snow was falling like silver dollars,” said Terakedis. “I was out there in my pajamas on the tailgate looking at that deer for hours. Now I realize I had just an abnormal fascination with wildlife and it’s still that way today.” There aren’t many artists whose career, reputation and collectibility are soaring as quickly as Sam Terakedis. He has received numerous Best of Show and Best New Artist Awards, most recently at one of the world’s biggest juried arts shows, the Calgary Stampede, where in 2004 he was voted Best New Artist by his peers, and in 2005 Best of Show, 3-D artist. This self-taught, gifted artist lives and creates his sculptures from his home in Paradise Valley, Montana. His output is prodigious, employing twelve foundries in the western U.S. His art is exhibited in galleries across the Western United States, Canada and Europe and in impressive private collections around the world. The secret life of shadows is evident in Rob “Shoe” Glenesk’s unique work. Glenesk is a self-taught artist who, while pursuing a degree in education, worked summers in the Yukon and North West Territories.
Here he became fascinated with indigenous cultures and their connection to the earth. Following university, he became a recreation director in a First Nations community in northern Alberta. This provided the opportunity to study plants and animals as well as traditional crafts such as leather working, carving, and snowshoe and birch bark canoe construction from native elders. Glenesk’s adventure-seeking, outdoor enthusiast lifestyle is also reflected in his art. His flights of fancy and fascination with the interplay of shadows has created some very unique pieces, from horses spirits joined in shadow to a mountain revealing its face and thereby its soul. His reverence for the subject and astral travelling viewpoint leaves you with the impression he was there, somewhere, and he just painted what he saw.
His boots, canoe, skis and horses have covered a lot of western Canada and his favourite studio is in his self-made tipi. All this inspired his nickname “Running Shoe” which was shortened to “Shoe.” This symbol now accompanies his signature. After teaching children for twenty-two years, Rob became a full time artist in 1994. He has won three major awards in national art competitions. Art collectors seek his work for its distinctive aerial perspective and messages. With over one hundred and ten sold out editions, Andrew Kiss has emerged out of the mountain shadows as one of Canada’s most recognized nature artists for a style that captures both breathless images and a reverence for realism.
A lover of the outdoors, Kiss employs a multi-layered approach to his paintings. He often captures his subjects on film then creates sketches, using them as a catalyst for his imagination. It is the combination of the favourite elements of many photos, sketches and field studies that forms his final composition, creating a reality-based fantasy that vibrates with intensity. Born in Hungary in 1946, he and his family immigrated to Canada in 1957. A series of moves eventually found Kiss employed as a draftsman in the B.C. interior town of Mackenzie where more and more, his free time was spent in pursuit of his art and the wildlife that spawned its inspiration. Exhibitions have taken Andrew to Europe, the U.S. and of course, Canada. Today, Andrew and his wife Lynn reside in Armstrong, B.C. in the North Okanagan Valley.
His art and dedication to conservation has led to many prestigious awards including Ducks Unlimited Artist of the Year for 2002, the first two-time winner. Most recently, Andrew was awarded Best of Show, Flat Artist at the 2005 Calgary Exhibition and Stampede.
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