Saint Michael Flies away to California Art Club Gold Annual

August 20 to October 26, 2024
Hilbert Museum of California Art at Chapman University
167 N. Atchison St., Orange, CA 92866
www.hilbertmuseum.org

Mardie Rees' piece, Saint Michael, Archangel, will be on exhibit and available for purchase at the California Art Club's Gold Annual Exhibition. The piece won the "Fine Art Connoisseur Award of Excellence for Sculpture." Don't miss an opportunity to see this piece in person because Saint Michael is a work you must see in person.

The recently expanded Hilbert Museum is located in the historic district of Old Towne Orange. It is the only museum in the world committed to tracing the history of the Golden State from the late 1800s to the present through works by leading California artists and Hollywood studio artists and animators.

As part of our opening celebration for this year's Gold Medal Exhibition this Saturday, noted art historian Jean Stern will present the lecture "Defining Excellence: Artwork by Historical Members of the California Art Club." The August 24 event will be at 2 p.m. and tickets sales will begin soon.


Hilbert Museum of California Art at Chapman University

Exhibition Hours: Tuesday through Saturday – 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. 
Admission: Admission is free
Parking:  Located one block east of the museum at 130 N. Lemon Street, the Old Towne West parking structure offers free all-day parking.

Video - Mardie Rees sharing about the creation of Saint Michael

Saint Michael, 23" x 15" x 18", Bronze & Glass Wings . Edition available for purchase

Mardie Rees in her studio shortly after completing Saint Michael. "The glass wings turned out better that I could have possibly imagined," says Rees.

Saint Elizabeth of Hungary in the Making

Rees working from the model in her Gig Harbor Studio.

Mardie Rees is hard at work on the clay monument of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary to be installed at Saint Elizabeth Hospital in Enumclaw. Saint Elizabeth was a young princess from the 1200s who had a heart for the poor. She would often sneak food from the castle kitchen, hide it in her cloak and carry it beyond the base of the castle to the foothills where the poor resided. She was once caught with her secret stash of food and asked to pull back her cloak, only to reveal hundreds of flowers, known as The Miracle of the Roses. A twenty-year-old Elizabeth later received the return of her dowry upon the death of her husband and decided to build a hospital where the poor would come for healing.

This piece is sculpted in honor of Sister Jude Connelly, OSF (May 8, 1940- March 28th, 2024) who served the Virginia Mason Franciscan Health System for over forty years.

Read Saint Elizabeth's full story on Wikipedia

The portrait is easier to finish down on a sculpture stand.

The cape is on! Next comes sculpting the roses within her cape.

Can you find me? Working along the bottom edge of the skirt is hard on the knees.

Left to right: Mardie Rees, Sister Jude, Michael Cox, Danielle Langvad, Ruth Fisher, Sister Anne McNamara. Sister Jude did see the maquette in her honor before she joined Jesus on March 28th, 2024.

Celebrating Mother’s Day (my son not pictured) - My oldest graduated 8th Grade! I can’t believe it.

Artististy in the Pacific Northwest

Hello Friends,

Some exciting things coming up this fall and I hope you will join me.

Coming up in two weeks I will be showing at Seldens (Tacoma, Washington) for their special event, "Artistry of the Pacific Northwest" on Saturday, October 7th from 12pm-4pm. I will have sculptures, paintings, and drawings on view placed in a beautiful home setting. The artwork will be up through the end of October if you aren't able to attend on Saturday.

Live sculpting of "Jeffrey," the 90-year-old horse is also part of the October 7th event! I spent the better part of August sculpting in the field and I'll bring the project inside for a few hours! Fun videos taken by my daughter here on Instagram.

June kicked off with transportation of the larger than life, Saint Anne, in clay to Reinmuth Foundry in Eugene, Oregon. (See how we did it here). She is being cast in bronze and will be placed in the healing garden of Saint Anne Hospital in Burien, Washington (Seatac area) sometime in early November. Details coming soon on The unveiling ceremony. I am SO excited!

I have a few Presentations about the process of my work scheduled for Oct. 20th, TRIPOD (Tacoma), Nov. 9th at Herrons Key(Gig Harbor) and January 17th (Tampa, FL). If you would like to join please email me and I can send you the details.

Workshop! I will be teaching a 3-day sculpting workshop in Tampa, Florida from January 18-20 and it would be so fun to see many of you there. Kerry Vosler Atelier is hosting us at her beautiful studio. Details here: https://www.mardierees.com/classes

Hope you are adjusting to the new fall schedule with grace!

Holy Smokes! She's a little Big!

Hello Friends,
 

Happy Spring! No one is ever as happy as I am to welcome spring with daylight savings time. I usually spend winter holed up in my studio working as much as possible in anticipation of a Northwest Summer! 

This winter I have been diligently working on a larger than life Saint Anne for Saint Anne Hospital in Burien, Washington State. We are hoping for a late summer/fall on-site unveiling (details in the months to come!). I have been putting many hours into the hands, feet, portrait and drapery. The time I spent in France last year viewing the many beautiful pieces of Art has guided my own hands and heart in creating the Saint Anne and I can't wait to show you the finished piece. 

Last week I opened up my teaching schedule, took on a few mentoring students, and even posted another summer (two weeks) of Art Camps at  Apprentice Academy. My kids would never forgive me if I skipped a summer of their much anticipated art camps after eight years, though this year I am pressed for studio space. I will soon be clearing the decks for another large sculpture for Virginia Mason Franciscan Health. 

In other news, I have a local show upcoming at Cole Gallery in Edmonds, Washington. Please join me for the reception on May 18th from 5:00-8:00 pm (Edmonds Art Walk Night). The show runs from May 3rd - 30th with 3 pieces: Up We Go, The Bell Cricket, and Cosmos.  I would love to see you there!

Sister Anne

Sculpting Sister Anne's portrait. She was selected as the model for this project because of her continued dedication to Franciscan Health. She has modeled countless hours. 

We listen to Irish music ☘️ and she tells me stories about her childhood growing up in Ireland. I never get tired of hearing stories.