Pat just posted a link where any art classmates want to display can be shown. It's under the icon 'Photo Galleries' on the Home page. We have allot of talented classmates and I know it would be fun to see any and all who wish to share theirs. Then if we want to comment, post them under this heading and they'll all be in one place.
Brent Mullen posted a 'skull' as the logo, that I wish we could enlarge. Any chance of that Brent? I'd like to see it in more detail.
Also Larry posted some paintings, that are really beautiful. Are they acrylic or water color? Do you ever sell them or are they just for your own enjoyment?
I have nothing to offer here, other than gazing at the creations. That is, unless we want to get into posting the grandchildren's stuff we have on the refrigerator...
Larry,
I am very impressed with your paintings. I especially like the 'Blue Bottle.' Thanks for sharing them. I am so in awe of those with artistic talent. It is so magical and wonderful.
I am not giving up hope of ever developing such talent because my father at the ripe age of 75 one day pick up a paintbrush and started painting amazing pictures. He only painted for a few years and then had some heart surgery. After the surgery he never painted again. He said he had forgotten how.
I agree with Gail. Nice blue bottle water color Larry. I also am amazed at Greg Campbell's wood turning art. I must acquire one! I can sew, but painting nunhuh.
Thanks for posting a larger picture of your skull creation. It's wonderful and creative, and looks like it holds a place of honor over the mantle. I'll bet you've found all kinds of treasures like that over the years with all the hunting you've done. Have your turned others into works of art too?
Kelly,
Thanks also for the great close-up pictures of Greg's bowls too. They really are beautiful. We have several (little ones) and have given some as gifts.
Didn't know if people knew Greg has made the base of the Phx. Open/FBR Trophy since about 2000. Jasper Parnevik won the tourny in 1998. When they handed him the old plaque, he remarked, 'This is great but where's the trophy'? Ed contacted Greg and the Waterford factory in Ireland and the new one was created. Ed's says it's insured for $25,000. Who knew OUR Greg had that kind of talent. Bet his Mom did.
P.S. If you already read about this in the 'Trivia' quiz, I aplogize. Just didn't think as many would see it there.
Here is an article that appeared in this years FBR Open program about Greg Campell's contribution to the FBR Open Trophy...regarded as one of the most beautiful and valuable on the PGA TOUR.
“That’s a nice plaque. But where’s my trophy?”
It’s funny you should ask.
For almost 75 years, the Thunderbirds have held one of the PGA Tour’s most prestigious, and probably the wildest, golf event of the tour. Annual turnout is staggering, the weather typically warm and sunny, and the purse worthy of a win. But, until 2002, the Phoenix Open, now the FBR Open, was an event marked by a very modest trophy – a plaque that, while many golfers were proud to have earned it, didn’t quite fit the image the Thunderbirds wanted to portray.
“Our motto is “always be the best,” said Ed Grant, former Big Chief and the Thunderbird tasked with designing a new trophy. “But, when I was the Tournament Chairman in 1996, the trophy I gave to winner Phil Mickelson was just a single plaque.”
Thunderbird legend has it that two years later Swedish golfer Jesper Parnevick, winner of the 1998 Phoenix Open, called the Thunderbirds on their choice of award. When presented with the traditional Phoenix Open plaque, Parnevick said: “That’s a nice plaque. But where’s my trophy?”
Taking Parnevick’s comment to heart, the Thunderbirds decided it was time to re-design their trophy into an icon worthy of their tournament and their organization; one that golfers would not only be proud to win but also proud to display.
And they succeeded.
In 2002, Phoenix Open winner Chris DiMarco proudly held the new Thunderbird trophy. Designed and created in a joint effort between local artist and wood-turner Greg Campbell and the world-renowned Waterford Crystal company in Waterford, Ireland, the Thunderbirds unveiled not just a trophy, but a unique work of art.
“It’s the centerpiece of my house,” DiMarco said. “It’s something I look at every day; I’m proud to have it.”
While the Thunderbirds decided it was time to commission a new trophy, it was Greg Campbell’s work that inspired the Southwestern spirit the trophy exemplifies.
At the time, Grant served as a member of the Thunderbirds’ advisory council. Having gone to high school with Campbell and kept in touch, Grant was already familiar with Campbell’s exquisitely carved bowls and vases.
Campbell, an Arizona native who became a full-time artist in 2000, carefully crafts his pieces from felled trees he finds locally, including mesquite, the indigenous tree that forms the base of the Thunderbird trophy. Campbell’s sought after bowls and vases of various sizes and shapes are the result of hours of work at the lathe where he carefully carves away the layers to reveal the wood’s natural beauties and imperfections. He fills narrow cracks with turquoise, malachite or lapis; and uses dried coffee grounds to provide texture and character to the wider cracks and holes. Once the piece is carved, he applies layers of natural oils to highlight the wood’s inherent hues – mesquite’s shades of light chocolate-brown, the deep red and rust tones of African sumac, and the cream shades of olive. Each piece is sanded and polished to the high gloss of porcelain.
“Greg’s work was emblematic of the Thunderbirds,” Grant said.
The combination of the indigenous Mesquite wood and the turquoise ingrained in its natural cracks and fissures clearly represented the Arizona-based Thunderbirds, and Grant soon introduced his vision to the rest of the council.
“We started talking about [the trophy] at a planning session at some hotel up in the mountains,” Grant said. “They had a piece of art similar to one of Greg’s bowls, and I grabbed it.”
Despite what hotel personnel thought, Grant was not stealing the artwork, but trying to share his vision of the new trophy with his fellow Thunderbirds. They embraced his idea.
While Campbell’s woodwork would provide the base of the trophy, the world-renowned trophy creator Waterford Crystal in Waterford, Ireland was a natural choice for the Thunderbird emblem – a 17-pound piece of crystal adorned with silver.
Having worked with them in the past, Grant approached Waterford representative, Mel Morgan, to ask if they could create the piece Grant had in mind. Despite the fact that the venture was a new one for Waterford, they welcomed the opportunity once they saw Campbell’s work. After 18 months spent collaborating with Campbell and Waterford, the trophy was ready. In 2002, Tournament Chairman Scott Henderson presented the new trophy to Phoenix Open winner, Chris DiMarco.
“I remember holding [the trophy] up,” said DiMarco, “and the Thunderbird who gave it to me saying, ‘be careful with that, that’s a $50,000 trophy’ and thinking, ‘oh, wow!”
The ‘new’ trophy, now in its sixth year, marries the elegance of Waterford crystal with the rustic beauty of Campbell’s Southwestern art – creating a memorable trophy any professional golfer would be proud to receive.
You'll see that a couple of the details in my artical are wrong. Ed and I found this above artical after we tried our best to recollect the details. The biggest error we made was the value... It's insured for $50,000 not a mere $25,000.
