“The Tallest Team in the World is the BEST team in the World”- Walter Judge for the Denver Post, March 22, 1936

I’m amazed at how the Globe Refiners story has been forgotten for the last 80 plus years. When I was a kid playing basketball it seemed like anything before Dr. J or Magic Johnson was just the dark ages of basketball.

The Globe Refiners were being called the tallest team in the world and the best team in the world 5 months before they even won the first ever Olympic Gold in basketball! Only 12 days before this was the invention of the word “DUNK”, (it was first published in the New York Times on March 10, 1936 describing this team from Kansas)! They WERE giants back then and I wonder how basketball would have evolved without them. Maybe DUNK would be called something else like dipped or sunk or shimmied…Michael Jordan shimmied his way to the hoop and powerblasted it into the hoop, HA!! That doesn’t have the same ring to it.

 

The McPherson Globe Refiners history is unique and not very well known. I designed this monument to tell their story. 

In 1936, Jesse Owens dominated the track and field competition in the Berlin Olympics. Most of us know that story. However, what is not so well known is the team from central Kansas that won the first ever gold medal in basketball, the same year and location that Owens shined. It’s a part of our American history and this monument will shed light on their forgotten story.

At 11 feet wide and 8 feet tall the sculpture is a portrait of the Globe Refiners who were active from 1933-36. The finished monument will contain the curved bronze relief as well as 8 foot tall granite walls that tell a brief history of the team and their Olympic gold medal win in Hitler’s Olympics. The bronze mid-relief is curved to add interest and uniqueness to the work of art.

The sculpture will be permanently installed in September 2020 just outside of the community building where the team used to practice. Here is a link to read more about the Globe Refiners: McPherson Globe Refiners basketball

 

 

Philanthropy

Julie Penrose was a philanthropist from the early 1900’s in Colorado Springs, CO. She is credited along with her husband Spencer Penrose with building the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, funding the Pikes Peak highway, constructing the Penrose Hospital, Broadmoor Art Academy, the Carriage House Museum and Will Rogers Shrine of the Sun. They founded the El Pomar Foundation on December 17, 1937.

Julie and Spencer were the catalysts for a large number of projects in Colorado in the 1900’s. But her and her husband’s construction of The Broadmoor Hotel in 1918 is their most well-known creation. Julie was involved in endless details concerning the construction, design and decor of the hotel, including the artistic decorations, furnishings, china patterns, draperies, carpets and art objects.

“Nurturing Our Future”

The life size sculpture that Dan Glanz and I designed will honor the philanthropist Julie Penrose. “Nurturing Our Future” was commissioned by El Pomar Foundation in September 2019. Realistically modeled, the sculpture will be cast in bronze and later installed at the Penrose House in June 2020. She will be permanently installed on a concrete bench that will be recreated from one of the old benches on the property. Next to her will be bronze construction documents of The Broadmoor. The rolled up documentst will represent her involvement in building the famous hotel as well as represent her philanthropic nature. In her right hand she will hold a cross necklace, symbolizing her catholic faith.

Inspiration

My birthday was a few days ago and every year around this time I contemplate my direction and goals as an artist. One of the things that I enjoy doing is stay home, drink warm coffee and daydream. Yes, that’s right-daydream. Eventually I’ll think about what I’d like to sculpt next. Usually it’s a grandiose idea that gets scaled back to more of a realistic size.

The idea to sculpt a portrait bust of Babe Ruth came while I was sitting at the drawing table and looking out at the falling snow. During the weekend I had watched the Sandlot for the first time. Jessica recommended the movie and although I was at first reluctant soon I realized that it would be good. The movie was centered around baseball and had the Great Bambino as several talking points throughout.

Art

What I’ve learned about creating art is that the more one thinks about something the better it will turn out. A good example of this is my bust of Babe Ruth. The idea came to me on Monday (4 days ago). By Tuesday I was snowed in with 20 inches of fresh snow and couldn’t leave the house. I spent the day thinking about creating the clay bust and studying the subject. I gathered up several digital images on a thumb drive knowing that Wednesday I’d be able to bust out of the house for the studio (which is less than 2 miles from my home). On Wednesday I setup a digital camcorder to record the sculpting process. 10 hours later I had a finished portrait bust and the film to make a time-lapse video of it being created.

The portrait took me 10 hours to create. The reason that it went so well was that I took the time to study images and read about Babe Ruth. I also had thought about the sculpture and its various angles in my head. So that when I began working on it, I felt like I was sitting in a drag racing car.

The 15 inch tall bust will eventually be cast in plaster or bronze and added to the studio collection. Here is a youtube video I made of its creation, 10 hours squeezed into 2 1/2 minutes Babe Ruth portrait bust time-lapse

Since the end of December 2018 I’ve been working on this bareback bronc sculpture for a wonderful client out of Pueblo, Colorado. The initial plans were for this 1/2 life size sculpture to be placed at Roselawn Cemetery in Pueblo. But my client decided to instead have it placed in downtown Pueblo right next to a local business on a plot of land she purchased. Of course, to have any sculpture permanently installed anywhere is a great privilege, but having one installed in the heart of a downtown and part of their scene makes it so much more special. This 300 lb bronze sculpture will be mounted on top of two tons of sandstone which is quarried out of Masonville, a 10 minute drive from my studio. The project honors my clients husband from when he used to bareback bronc ride in the 1950’s and was inspired by a photograph from that time.

Since 2017 I have been filling my time between making small maquettes and large monuments by creating portrait plaques. This all started when I got an email from a woman in Southern California who lost her son and wanted to honor him with a bronze plaque. She had seen some of my reliefs on the internet and had decided to reach out to me. And so began my journey creating bronze portrait plaques.

Although I had been sculpting in relief for many years I had only started to really “get it” in 2011 when I began pushing the boundaries with what I thought possible with relief. Most of this new discovery was playing with techniques I’d learned from when I was learning painting in art school and applying them to relief sculpting.

When sculpting in relief you are dealing with such a flat surface that the differences between 1/16 of an inch or less can make or break a likeness. There needs to be a steady hand and a critical eye and for the 6-8 hours it takes me to sculpt a likeness I am fully focused on the task at hand. No phone calls, no internet time, very little interruptions and full throttle on the challenging task at hand.

There are many little tips that one day I will teach to those interested in learning. But, in short, good relief work is done from practice, practice, practice.