I love doing series.

There are a few themes I just can’t seem to stay away from: lizards, horses, guitar players, mama-and-children, and others I seem to gravitate towards over the years.

There’s something about doing them again and again the really pleases me. Not only do I get to hone my skills, but I also get to ‘see’ each one anew each time – is it a man or a woman?

I get to decide: are they bulky, skinny, bent with age? Are they quietly strumming or curved over, in thrall to their music? Or maybe they are young, straight-backed, in bliss as they sing.

I get to create a new emotional being each time! It’s like a miracle that my hands can take how I feel and express it in stone or paint.

I’ve heard some people say they’d get bored if they did a series. Not if their heart was in it! How many positions can a guitar player take?

You could spend your entire life carving guitar players and never get them all. To the left is the second one I did after the one at the top of this page. Both were done when I was a brand-new stone carver.

Same for horses – I’ve lost count of all the horses I’ve done. My latest one is such fun – a mystic woman as she emerges from trance. Is she pregnant with possibility, or just a fatty? (See it here)

So many questions to answer! So many ideas to convey, all of them provocative and exciting.

Then of course, there are other media in which to create. You can carve something in stone or wax or plaster and cast it in bronze. Or in cold bronze or liquid stone.

You could paint it, draw it, do it in color, black and white, in wire or sand on the beach!

Make prints, make limited or unlimited editions – how many choices do you need? They are all there right at your fingertips. Take ‘em! Get back into your studio and start playing again!

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Angela Treat Lyon • The Gateway to Angela: AngelaTreatLyon.com. You’re welcome to use this in your own newsletter or blog – please include the entire article and this resource box with the live link. Thanks! © Angela Treat Lyon 2009 • All Rights Reserved

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Top Image: Guitar Player: Brazilian Soapstone, 24″ x 12″ x 4″ © Angela Treat Lyon 1986 (sold)

Bottom Image: Guitar Player: California Soapstone, 14″ x 12″ x 3″ © Angela Treat Lyon 1987 (sold)