On The Move (Heroic Size)
Edition 8 5ftH x 16ft”L x 3ftD Call for Price
Whether traveling in deep snow or difficult terrain, the wolf freely strides out using the supple, open rhythm of the long trot. This aesthetic and efficient gait is designed for the conservation of energy for this far-ranging animal.
A Tribute to Old Friends
Edition of 35 15″H x 8″W x 8″D $3,400
I have had horses throughout my many years of riding since books like “My Friend Flicka” and “Thunderhead” took me on an adventure that lasted a lifetime. This portrait is a simple thank you to them for all they have taught me…friendship, patience and unconditional love. Horses names are: Auger Motor, Kolmira Drift, Hy & Riley, Yogo Blue and Siegfried and many, many others that are not forgotten.
Edition Size 35 14″H X 12″W X 6″D Retail $2400
Reservation Horses
Edition Size 35 21″H X 17″W X 15″D Retail: $5800
Living in the Flathead Valley places us between two reservations. On the eastern border of Glacier Park, across the Continental Divide, lays Browning on the Blackfoot Reservation. My husband Loren, practiced medicine there for several years making many, long lasting friendships. One such rancher by the name of “Mouse”, asked us to bring two of our best cow ponies to help him move cows and to plan on a full day’s ride. We covered ground mostly unreachable by truck taking us into open range where everyone’s cattle and horses shared the weather. The free rangers are a tough bunch of horses breeding and fouling on their own much as they have done for centuries. This mixing with neighboring stock till the lines of ownership are blurred, doesn’t seem to bother folks. They say, “if you can ride ‘em, you can use ‘em”. These two horses in my sculpture fit that description perfectly.
Awards:
Desert Caballeros Western Museum, Cowgirl Up? Art from the Other Half of the West Exhibition, Purchase Award, 2015.
A dissonant Descent
Edition 35 12.5″H X 8″W X 8″D $3200
“In music, dissonant may refer to notes close together causing tension. These two cats are making a descent simultaneously, but their climb downward is precarious and slightly off balance. However, a split second later in this scene, will find them landing with grace on a safer precipice”.
A Little Play
Edition 35 10″H X 9″W X 5″D $2,200
“Through the fields go a pair of foxes that frequent our property. Head held high, nose to the wind, threading daintily a line that takes the two through gopher town. However, they are not opposed to breaking stride to poke their noses in a hole or two. As the day warms, they will seek shade in which to rest. It now cools and finds the pair refreshed for a little play before they are once again on their way.”
A Mother Bear
Edition 35 19″H X 12″W X 12″D $4600
“There are few predators willing to defy reason and cross sabers with a grizzly bear. The exception may be a young male grizzly trying to make his mark in the genetic pool. This foolishness is rewarded with the ferocity of a mother bear protecting her cubs. She is a formidable opponent and rarely losses. This bachelor will meander off, licking his pride and wounds, duly warned….lesson learned.”
AWARD: The Pietro & Alfrieda Montana Memorial Award, Allied Artists of America 98th Annual Exhibition, New York City, 2011.
An Encounter in Sheep Country
Edition 35 19″H X 13″W X 9″D $4,500
“A catastrophic outbreak of pneumonia in several western states, affecting four herds in western Montana alone, has reduced populations of bighorn sheep in numbers up to ninety percent. With guarded optimism, wildlife officials are trying to reseed the hardest hit areas. The scene depicted in “An Encounter in Sheep Country” is a common sight for those of us who admire and study this animal. However, if we are not vigilant and do not strongly support funding of game relocation efforts, these scenes will only remain in our pictorial memory.”
AWARD:
Desert Cabellaros Western Museum, First Place 3-Dimensional Art
Society of Animal Artists, Ethology Award for the Best Depiction of Natural Behavior 3-D
Berries in the Snow
Edition 35 12″H X 12″W X 6″D $1,800
“Just beyond my studio window, grows a splendid Mountain Ash. It produces berries that tenaciously cling to its stems throughout the fierce winds of approaching winter. The fruit will remain long after the leaves have fallen and decayed under the snow. The deep red against a background of white creates a visual richness on a gray day attracting many. Turkeys wobble on the thinner branches trying to pick at berries beyond their reach. To the side, pheasants feast, while chickadees dart in and out. The chattering of squirrels completes the ensemble. Simply, a visual gift to me, but of immense importance to those needing energy to endure the cold months ahead.”
Awards & Collections:
- Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, Wisconsin, Purchase Award
On the Jump
Edition 35 15″H X 16″W X 12″D $3,400
We had a pretty little Springer called Buddy, who loved to take us for walks in our grain fields. With her nose to the ground, intersecting our straight path left to right and back again, she worked in the hope that there might be a flush to experience. After all those years I walked behind this tireless pet, I never failed to be thrilled when she sprung into action, and sent a beautiful pheasant in iridescent colors “On the Jump”.
One Bull’s Intrusion
Edition 35 12″H X 16″W X 9″D $4,800
These two bulls are exhibiting a fighting style called “hooking”. They may stand parallel from a distance of 15 to 20 feet, and if the intruder does not move off quickly enough, the mature bull will turn, rush his opponent ramming his forehead and horn against his body hooking him off the ground. Dust and bellowing complete this picture of power and dominance.”
Summer in the High Country
Edition 35 22″H X 15″W X 12″D $4,800
“This past summer, I took a pack trip with horses to the high country in the Bob Marshall Wilderness hoping to develop an idea for an elk sculpture. Our spring/summer was an uncommonly wet period finding us crossing snow fields as we rode. There was also evidence of a serious fire from several years ago on the steep hillsides leaving ghostly remnants of a once mature forest. These fires serve nature’s cycle of spreading the wealth by eliminating the non-profitable under-growth creating lush hillsides rich in nutrients for grazing and browsing elk. Especially when the feed is so plentiful, the big bulls will keep to the high country in small bands of bachelors well into late summer. Then, crisp, frosty mornings will signal the changing of seasons sending the elk to lower valley to begin mating rituals. I ended my trip with bragging stories of good fly fishing and with ideas to keep me busy all winter.”
Across the Pond
Edition 35 24″H X 48″W X 14″D $15,000
Stone to stone crosses the creek;
step and hand carry up the bank.
Through the moat of tall grasses with golden heads,
begins the forest from the west.
Darkened shadows recede, boughs extend their arms,
take you in welcome.
There, Corinthian trees with capitals of green
create home and safety
where animals go their way.
Ashen effigies, horizontal and vertical forms
remain from a past riparian time,
complete a compositional balance.
To the east, an ancient game trail begins
for those who seek a crossing to
a place of rest and refuge.
The path is studded with the smallest cones,
felled by the largest of trees.
Needles laid by old pines scatter
to quiet this passage in deference to its solemnity.
Aesthetics are noted
by the dabbling of burnt orange and dying yellow
dropped by deciduous foliage in small clearings.
To those who do not live in this place,
the woods seem to be of silent isolation.
But within, resides a society of
contradictions, sounds and shapes.
Thousands with articulated limbs, crunch, and scurry
forming cities and hideaways in the under-brush.
Huddled passively in the painting,
is a watcher by day, skyward strolling by night.
In the lower tenements, dwell those that
chatter a language of suspicion and agitation.
Above, the elitists with capes of white screech,
wings spread as they claim the treetops.
Deer tread haltingly, polished tip of horn,
sever the staccato rush of sunlight as they go.
Was that rustling a misstep?
Solace is still attainable.
My home is near, but I intrude
upon their privacy.
I travel with down-cast eyes;
I am respectful of the generosity given to a visitor.
Not now, but one day soon,
across the pond, in these spiritual woods,
I too, will call it my place of rest.
Sherry Salari Sander