CONTACT
Get in touch with me
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Email
george@agenation.com
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Phone
+1 602-339-3777
As a sculptor, I seek to rediscover the purity and
honesty of art carved and modeled by hand.
And while I am grateful when my work receives
attention and is deemed to have value,
what is of paramount importance to me, is that
I listen to the call of my heart and remain true to
the promptings of my soul.
For in this way, I occasionally have the privilege
of touching beauty, easing back the curtain a
little on the human mystery, and when I am
particularly fortunate, catching a glimpse of
the sacred.
I believe this is my birthright and yours and also
our responsibility. For creativity and our capacity
to love, from my perspective, constitute the best
and highest use of our gifts and time here on
this physical plane.
George
For best visual experience in each tour, click start arrow, then the full screen logo (the square) lower right on navigation bar. To return to main page and next tour, click arrow above right corner of the slide show.
ABOUT MY WORK
Although I now work more in stone and wood, than in clay, wax and plaster, I continue to enjoy and celebrate all forms of sculpting. Indeed, each time a new image begins to emerge through my dialogue with the materials that graciously surrender to my hands, I re-experience a sense of wonder and gratitude for the gift of creative expression. For this reason I believe creativity is a form of alchemy. One that each of us can practice and, in this way, transform our personal experiences – our pains and joys, confusions and questions, stumbles and breakthroughs – into a personal mythology that not only records, but ennobles our journey and helps us to contribute our unique notes to the Song of Life.
The form of sculpting I practice is called Direct Carving. I was introduced to it by Jose DeCreeft, my first teacher to whom I will always be grateful. For ‘Direct Carving’ has enriched my life more than I can say. Among its most important lessons- avoid imposing a preconceived image or concept on the material I’m working with and instead seek to establish rapport with the stone, wood, clay, wax and plaster. This alone has allowed me to uncover the best and highest result my current skills allow. And without equivocation, this is a gift of inestimable value.
Jose DeCreeft also invited me to consider avoiding the use of pneumatics and other power tools, and instead to carve by hand. He reminded me that power tools vibrate at frequencies greater than my own natural physical rate and even greater still than the natural rate of vibration of wood and certainly of stone. As a result, while these power tools might allow me to shape, texture and finish a piece sooner, they do not help me to ‘touch the heart’ of the material I work with. To do this requires a slowing down my rate of vibration, an investment in patience and active listening, and a willingness to conduct what Socrates called an elenchus, a genuine inquiry in pursuit of understanding and truth.
BIO / CV
I did not discover my love of sculpting until I was in my mid-thirties. Before that I believed I had no skill whatsoever in this art form. Nor did I believe I could draw or paint. Instead, words were my medium – both prose and poetry- and I also was privileged to produce and direct film, television and some theatrical events for which I received 2 Regional Emmy Awards and numerous International Film and Television Awards.
Through a gift of grace, however, I was introduced to sculpting and in a relatively short time it became my primary focus and thankfully it has remained an important part of my life ever since.
After first discovering my love and affinity for sculpting in my 30's, I worked for a year and a half or so on my own until it became clear that my inability to draw the human form was limiting me in my work. I became a member of the Arts Students League in New York. There I met Gustav Rehberger, who helped me to learn to draw, and Jose DeCreeft, who introduced me to direct carving.
Some early prizes, grants and commissions followed and encouraged my commitment to sculpting. Over the years, my work has been intermittently shown in galleries in New York, Los Angeles and, more recently, here in Santa Fe. My work is also included in a number of private as well as public collections.
The summer of 2021 marks my return to showing some of my work in a new gallery – artisgallerysantafe.com. I will also be participating in Santa Fe Artists Studio Tour in October - https://www.santafestudiotour.org/sfst-artists/c/0.
Also visit www.facebook.com/ArtbyGeorgeCappannelli. My private studio is open by appointment. See contact information.
Over the years, I have also returned to my love of words and to my work in film and television. I have co-authored 5 books with my wife, Sedena. Do Not Quietly is the most successful of these, having received 9 national book awards, including a Gold Nautilus Award. And I have also written the Old Stones & Promises trilogy, another novel entitled Life After Life After…, The Merlin Manuscript, and several non-fiction books; A Man Is, The Power of One, It’s About Time and Timelessness, and I am currently working on a new book, The Art of Living At the End of Time.
In 2019/2020, I co-produced the Telly Award Winning Ageless Living Television Series with my wife, Sedena. The series is now airing on 60 PBS stations across the country. www.AgelessLivingSeries.com/authors. In January 2021, we co-produced a 2 hour pre-inaugural special, Touching The Heart and Healing The Soul of America Special that aired in 60 countries. I received a Telly Award for directing that program. (www.AgelesslivingSeries.com/TouchingTheHeart).
We do these productions as well as produce conferences, digital courses and master classes and other special events in support of our mission of informing and inspiring people in the second half of life and younger people who are now inheriting the future under the their banners of AgeNation. Ageless Living Series and Empower New Mexico.
CREATIVITY
A blog about art, artists and the creative process.
The Cure to The Most Dangerous Virus of All Time
If asked to name the virus that is most dangerous to our world at this time, most of us would, of course, say Covid. For this current pandemic is reported to have resulted in the loss of millions of lives, imposed severe economic hardships and disrupted the lives of millions more all around the globe. It has also restructured many aspects of our daily lives. Terms like lockdown, social distancing and mask mandates have become the rule of the day and continue to create serious levels of anxiety, confusion, despair and division.
If Luck Is With You…
The title of this blog comes from an old Afghan adage. Here’s how the whole thing reads –
“If luck is with you, why worry? If luck is not with you, why worry?”
Makes sense, doesn’t it? And yet if it does, why do we agree to keep living in a world that seems to have forgotten this piece of valuable, common sense wisdom?
How Long Did It Take To Get To You?
About a year and half after discovering that I had a deep love for sculpting and that my hands appeared to have an intuitive level of skill that greatly surprised me, I finally admitted that my lack of knowledge of human anatomy and my inability to draw were preventing me from doing a number of things I wanted to do.So I decided to enroll in a drawing class at the Art Students League on West 57th Street in New York.
© 2021 Art By George Cappannelli. All rights reserved