Eileen’s Sculpture in MiniMAX Show

Before there was pastel, there was clay. My first venture into the world of creating art was a clay sculpture class at the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop. It was a medium that I had always been drawn to, and I continued to pursue it in classes at CHAW and the Art League School in Alexandria, while also branching out into two-dimensional work in pastel. So it is that I recently had a clay sculpture accepted for the miniMAX exhibit, showing through December 7 at the Art League Gallery at the Torpedo Factory Art Center, 105 North Union Street, Alexandria, Virginia.

Entries to the show were limited to pieces that were either below or above specified sizes. These parameters make for a visually interesting show because of the striking contrast between very large and very small, with nothing between! A picture on the miniMax exhibit’s webpage, showing my 12” sculpture in front of a very large blue painting, depicts this contrast very well.

I created my piece, titled Go Figure, from a live model in a figure sculpture class taught for many years by the late and beloved Chuck Johnson at the Art League School. I think that this piece was my most successful at capturing the gesture of the pose, while also working more freely and loosely—two important lessons I learned from Chuck.

Having this piece accepted—and at this gallery—was especially meaningful to me because it’s the last piece I created in Chuck’s class before he retired from teaching at age 90. He was such an inspiration. He always encouraged students to express their individual artistic voice, and he was so devoted to passing on his love of creating art—especially in three dimensions. He was a great teacher and I’ll always be grateful to have had the chance to learn from him.

Eileen Leahy
Pastel and Sculpture Artist

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