Introducing the Artwork of Cathryn Jenkins

Introducing the Artwork of Cathryn Jenkins

by Pauline Boyle

Black Beauty, Stone Sculpture

1

About Black Beauty

Black Beauty was created as a representation of one of the strongest and most impressive bears in the Canadian wilderness.

My stylized form in stone is a dramatization of the Bear’s beauty and becomes a part of the living area. The smooth high gloss finish is there to be touched, affording an opportunity to explore the sculpture’s strength, and by extension, the majesty of the grizzly bear.

My intention and hope is for this sculpture to raise awareness of the value of our grizzly bear population in British Columbia. The sculpture serves to remind us of the wild creatures that roam in our natural landscape, and that we have a connection to them. Visual reminders such as Black Beauty connect us with our ability to coexist with wildlife and to treasure their important contribution to our environment.

There is a need for the larger public to connect to the iconic grizzly and to understand that we have an opportunity and responsibility to sustain its population; to honour the Bear’s connection to the land, First Peoples, and its vital impact and ecological contribution to British Columbia’s unique habitat.

- Cathryn

2

Black Beauty Revelstoke Argillite 43 x 63 x 36 inches 3

Cathryn Jenkins

Cathryn Jenkins (Canadian) (b. 1957) British Columbia http://www.jenkinssculptor.com Education: Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT), Edmonton, AB, Animal Studies 1978–1980; University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Bachelor of Arts, 1975-1977 Gallery Representation: • Mountain Galleries in British Columbia and Alberta for over 25 years.

• Gallery 8, Salt Spring Island, BC, Canada for over 10 years.

4

Cathryn Jenkins currently lives and works on Salt Spring Island, British Columbia.

A Canadian artist known for her large sculptures of Canadian Wildlife. Cathy works with stone, resin, fibreglass and bronze capturing the physical structure and essence of the animal.

When starting a sculpture in stone, Cathryn begins from the backbone and works downward to capture the sense of movement in the animal. Using hammers, chisels, and diamond blades, Jenkins has an innate ability to engage with the stone and create an animal with its own unique personality. Although Cathryn loves the process, she admits working in stone can be difficult. “Sculpting in stone is like sport, it involves using the entire body, and that can be hard work. Most sculptors come from the trades – I come from an arts background.” Jenkins is now working less in stone and more in bronze. She utilizes foam and clay for her models, creating strong initial lines, changing the work as it evolves. There is a design element to this style which is a welcome change from the reductive nature of carving stone.

About the Work The attention to physiological detail is what makes Jenkins’ sculptures distinctive.

There is a science to her art and a level of concentration and understanding which makes the stone come alive.

Some of Jenkins’ best- known sculptures are of grizzly bears. Growing up in Revelstoke, BC, she was aware of bears and the importance of showing them respect. Jenkins now works with clay as well as in a variety of stone such as serpentine, marble, and argillite. Cathryn can have as many as ten projects on the go at one time in her Salt Spring Island studio. As she says, “Leaving something and starting something new gives you time to have perspective.”

Artist’s Statement: “I believe sculpture, like all art forms, can reflect the essence of beauty. Art can transcend thought and be felt by almost everyone with a sense of wonderment, connecting ourselves, each other and the natural world.”

5

How it all Began

The story began in 1969 somewhere up on a logging road, just off the Big Bend Highway between Revelstoke and Mica Creek, BC. It was in the early 1970’s that I began studying wildlife anatomy, tools and techniques, while learning about the sculpting stone locally discovered just off the Big Bend Highway. I worked for Parks Canada at the time, spending long summer months in the forest, unknowingly, building an intangible relationship and attachment to the land that I feel deeply connected to still to this day.

I loved the feeling of working in stone and I carved in local materials like argillite, soapstone, and serpentine. The layers of rock strata tell its unique story of the past, its climate, its torment, and its triumph. In many ways, it is a spiritual experience to think of the geological process that created its layers and then hold it in your hands.

Each piece of stone is as profoundly unique as the sculpture’s individual self.

During my final high school years, I helped my mother with her sculptures - learning first to sand her pieces with methodical precision and care - careful not to over sand the parts of their physiology that made them distinctly their own species.

I continued training with her during summer breaks from university when I had completed my work at Parks Canada.

6

“The stone tells you where to go, and if you listen, it will take you on an amazing journey."

– Cathryn

7

8

In the High Country Osoyoos Serpentine 50 x 40 x 24 inches

9

Corporate Collections

Physical Activity and Wellness Centre (PAW), University of Alberta

10

Unveiling Alberta bear

11

w

Shaw Communications

Room with a View Room with a View intends to capture the essence of the young grizzly bear’s distinguishing characteristics - a pronounced muscular hump rising low on the shoulder, concave facial profile, and short, rounded ears in the appearance of depth, movement, expression and feeling. This piece reflects the fluidity and the presence strongly felt in the artist’s works that are carved from solid mass serpentinite rock quarried in central British Columbia.

By nature, the grizzly bear, (Ursus arctos ssp.) is a long-living terrestrial and considered to be at risk in Alberta and British Columbia. Conservation efforts and bear awareness programs have become vital investments over recent decades.

12

Room with a View Hand-carved serpentine 49 x 28 x 41 inches.

13

Ronald McDonald House

Creekside Creekside was created in 2011 from an 600 lb chunk of Canadian serpentine. “Creekside” is a powerful but non aggressive bear with a smooth top coat and a rough undercoat as is typical of the grizzlies fishing at the river banks of British Columbia. The sculpture was purchased by a private collector in Vancouver B.C. soon after it was created. The work was donated by this collector to the Ronald Mcdonald House, Vancouver in 2023.

Installed at the entrance lobby this sculpture of a bear became a familiar touch stone for the families who passed through the doors of the building. The kids love to hug the bear, run their hands over its smooth surface, and facial expression. The sculpture works as a greeting piece, and a physical presence the children really relate to and enjoy.

14

Creekside Canadian Serpentine stone 38 x 25 x 32 inches.

15

Elkay Developments

At the Top of Her Game At the Top of Her Game Eagle is a mosaic sculpture of a flying Eagle created in 2010.

I very much wanted to create a tall and elegant flying eagle in stone that would be slim and yet strong. I designed an inside fiber glass form that was reenforced with steel to support the stone mosaic that was created around the inner support system.

The stone is so naturally beautiful ,and when combined with a binding agent that includes brass filings, the work became a unique sculpture with natural broken stone to represent the wingtips of the flying raptor. This impressive sculpture was designed to swivel in its base. At The Top of Her Game was purchased by Elkay Developments to serve as a focal point in the lobby of the Grandview Business centre in South Surrey, BC.

16

At the Top of Her Game 106 x 55 x 26 inches Mixed Media; Serpentine, fibreglass, black pigment, and steel

17

Corporate & Private Collections

Angio Tech, Vancouver, BC Cana Construction, Calgary, AB Shaw Communications, Head Office, Calgary, AB Precision Drilling, Calgary, AB London Drugs, Sonora Lodge, BC FortisBC Ocean Park Developments, Surrey, BC Silver Standard, Vancouver, BC The Physical Education and Wellness Faculty, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB Elkay Developments, Grandview Business Center, Surrey, BC Erivan and Helga Haub Family Collection of Western Art, USA Angus Reid, Vancouver, BC Tom and Tina Blaney, Langley, BC The Aquilini Family, Whistler, BC Dr. Brad Krusky, Calgary, AB Mr. and Mrs. Spencer, Edmonton, AB Sidney and Joanne Belzberg, Vancouver, BC

18

Other Works

Lookout Osoyoos serpentine 90” x 50” x 36” inches

19

Checking Out The View Osoyoos Serpentine 53.5 x 25 x 28 inches

20

Owl in Flight Mixed Media; Osoyoos Serpentine, fibreglass, brass filings, and steel 101.5 x 22 x 48 inches

21

At the Water’s Edge Serpentine 34 x 32 x 20 inches

22

Exhibited at The Estate of Roslyn Ritchie Private Collection Syd and Joanne Belzberg Langley, BC

23

"There is no hidden message in my work for the essence of beauty is the message of connectedness - to ourselves, to each other, and to the natural world. It is with knowledge of the medium, of the subject matter, and of my tools, that I hope to portray the essence of beauty."

– Cathryn

24

On High Eagle Revelstoke Argillite 44 x 19 x 33 inches

25

The Eagle The master of skies soaring to great heights, traveling between the physical and the spiritual world, signifying strength, honour, courage and wisdom.

It was when I was out walking in our beautiful parks, I became aware of the movement and beauty of the Maple leaves. I found myself captivated by all living things, plant and animal.

It was then I envisioned using Maple leaves to create the wingtips or feathers giving birth to a full wingspan eagle flying through its natural world.

The creation of the bronze leaves as the eagle’s wingtips began with choosing the most suitable leaves. Many of the leaves came from the Bigleaf Maple tree. After selecting dozens of leaves, I layed out the leaves to see how many I needed in the design. I developed a technique where I could thicken the leaves with wax for casting, without losing the exquisite detail. Forty-two cast leaves are individually welded so “The master of the skies” can have a double row of feathers implying more “flutter” in the finished work.

26

27

In the Media

CBC Art Minute You have to be respectful of their power.

Click to launch video

28

“...It wasn’t until after I got to know her [Cathryn] that it occurred to me that it is in her humility that so much of her art is created. The fundamentals were there from an early age: a mother who included her daughter in all aspects of her own development and career as a sculptor; an environment that nurtured curiosity and love of art and beauty; and a medium, the stone, that begged to be explored.

She speaks of ‘working from the backbone down’ when beginning an animal to sculpt.

time takes its toll on her own physical structure. Referencing her mother’s gift to her of the stones is a metaphor itself; the passing of a legacy from one generation to the next. The mountains of Osoyoos provided the medium from which the mother carved the path her daughter would follow.

Looking at her subject matter, clearly the grizzly holds her attention. It is important to note that these grizzlies are not entirely aggressive, but nurturing, and Academic studies of anatomy, with direct strong. Taking this observation further observation while working in Glacier and examining Room with a View (eagle, National Park in the late seventies, all 2010), Testing the Wind Creekside River Otter (2010), and Owl in Flight In looking at Cathryn’s career spanning more (2011), we see an than forty years, I recognize a foundation of elegance which discipline and a work ethic which enabled her to exposes a delicate hand. Glorious and embrace a very difficult, unforgiving medium.

Free (eagle, 2016) follows this theme contributed to honing her skills. The with a deft rendering of Cathryn’s long photographs of Cathryn at work in her held nostalgia for the symbolic Canadian studio reveal a common denominator, maple leaf. true grit. In her words, she emphasizes that ‘the potter becomes the pot,’ and The fact that she has expanded into other those images of her bent over her work in media (fibreglass, resin, bronze) shows total concentration, dust enveloping them her fearless nature, a true definition of both, is poetry itself. the creative spirit. I would suggest that the title of this book could be Cathryn In her straightforward style, Cathryn Jenkins, Artist..[..].” fascinates when she explains the physical process of cuts, and undercuts, and the choice of tool for the stage of the sculpture.

She is honest in her acknowledgment that - Diana Reuter-Twining President of the Board American Women Artists (AWA)

29

Contact Information

Submitted by: Pauline Boyle, Canadian Fine Art Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada T: 604-325-9252 E: boyle.pauline@gmail.com

Cathryn Jenkins, Canadian Sculptor Studio address: 121 Chock Road Salt Spring Island, BC, Canada V8K 2J5 T: 604-880-0462 E: cathryn@jenkinssculptor.com W: jenkinssculptor.com

30