FAMED ARTIST TO SHOW WORK.Byline: Stacy Brown Daily News Staff Writer It's not often an artist of the caliber of James C. Christensen appears locally. The man who said he likes being able to determine his world will display his work today at a Canyon Country gallery. ``It's a real treat for us to have him. He came out once before in 1995 and drew a big crowd,'' said B & R Gallery spokeswoman Tania McMasters. More than just an award-winning painter, Christensen is known as a teacher, lecturer and a raconteur who McMasters said created a unique vision of his own, in which human emotions can manifest themselves as fish. ``I was always interested in real people, real plants, real birds and the like,'' Christensen said. ``But I usually added something else, so if a fish happens to drift between us and the door, it changes everything. We have to re-examine where we are.'' A professor of art at Brigham Young University, Christensen is noted for such creations as a poster of an island inhabited by more than a dozen Shakespearean characters, and a three-panel print filled with 72 Mother Goose Mother Goose, name associated with nursery rhymes. Most English nursery rhymes have been ascribed to Mother Goose. The origin of the name is still a matter of dispute. Some trace it to a French collection of tales by Charles Perrault (1697) that had the subtitle Contes de ma mère L'Oye [tales of mother goose]. This name has in turn been traced to Queen Goosefoot, Charlemagne's mother (see Bertrada), who was a patron of children. characters. During the 1991 World Science-Fiction Convention, Christensen's ``Once Upon a Time'' was chosen ``Best in Show'' by more than 5,000 convention participants. Also, his bronze sculpture bronze sculpture. Bronze is ideal for casting art works; it flows into all crevices of a mold, thus perfectly reproducing every detail of the most delicately modeled sculpture. It is malleable beneath the graver's tool and admirable for repoussé work. The Egyptians used bronze, cast and hammered, for utensils, armor, and statuary far in advance of the Bronze Age in Europe. The Greeks were unexcelled in bronze sculpture. ``The Fish Walker'' was given the Association of Science-Fiction and Fantasy Artists' Chesley Award for ``Best Three Dimensional Art of 1990.'' ``The thing about him is that he's so down to earth. He thinks of everyone as inherently good and he loves kids,'' McMasters said. B & R opened in 1971 as a sort of mom and pop operation. The gallery later expanded, adding an additional 4,000 square feet and began hosting about four shows a year. Gallery owner Dave Joseph said the idea is to do a show each quarter. Christensen, Joseph said, is worth coming to see. ``You'll get a chance to meet this most amazing artist and experience his fantastic art. You may never see fish or bears in the same way, or in the same places again,'' Joseph said. The exhibit will begin at 6 p.m. at the gallery, 17720 Sierra Highway. For additional information, call (805) 255-6498. |
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