10 February 2015

Adding Color to My Art


Last year, in an effort to infuse my artwork with as much color as I could, I tested the waters of designing, fabricating and installing fused glass into my artwork. I converted a very small storage closet into an efficient, fully functioning glass studio.

Dale Rogers Glass Studio

Trust me….there were plenty of naysayers who told me that it couldn’t be done, "the space is too small"  they said. 
Dale Rogers Glass Studio
Sherri, who has worked with us at Dale Rogers Studio since 2011 assisting with all creative aspects (website, digital images, layout of catalogues and books) rolled up her sleeves and went to work with me experimenting with the glass and our newly purchased kiln. 
Here are the 6 steps:
 
 
Step 1: Design
Step 2: Sizing

Step 3: Color Layout

Step 4: Piecing Colors

Step 5: First Fire
Step 6: Final Fire - 4 Layers
 
Through continuing trial and error over the course of 2014, we have gained a depth of experience and knowledge.  I am happy to say that the glass has added the color and enrichment I was hoping for.   Watch the end result!


This video shows my booth from the Sarasota Craft Show and the artwork I had on display at this particular event really shows the diversity of the glass. We are excited to continue pushing forward with new designs, new techniques and new sculptures that combine metal and glass.

Stay tuned to see what is next!


30 January 2015


Happy New Year !


Dale with Superintendent of Schools and
School Committee Members at Haverill High School
Over the past few years we have worked with several academic and corporate campuses to weave art into the daily lives of students, staff, employees, and visitors including Haverhill High School, Pingree High School, Southern New Hampshire University, Northern MI College.


In addition we have provided pieces to Corporate Offices such as Idexx, NE Bio-Lab, and Bissell Corporation to name a few.      

Dale and his "American Dog" Sculpture in front of Bissell Corporation in Grand Rapids, MI.

Kristina Duracher, Curator
Early January we had the pleasure to meet with Kristina Duracher from UNH.   She is the curator of the Museum of Art @ UNH on the Durham campus and we will be collebarating with her to bring an exhibition to the grounds of this great campus.   
In addition to this project, we are also working closely with a couple of local high schools to bring a customized sculpture to their grounds that will be designed and built based on input and vision from the students.    This is an exciting concept and we look forward to completing both of these this coming year and adding even more schools to our portfolio in the future.

We also did quite a bit of brainstorming and planning this month with a young college student that I met last fall at an art show, GianCarlo. See Video: Creativity Final Cut

We will be working with him over the next few months to have him document and film some steps in our upcoming projects.   We look forward to using and sharing this footage with everyone to give you a fuller glimpse of how our large exhibitions flow from design, to planning phase, through to welding stage, and all the way to installation and removal. 

08 February 2010

Angel Sculpture

Heading down to Sarasota, Florida last December, my mind was wandering to ideas for a new sculpture. I sketched out a few designs for a new piece and I was pretty happy with the finished product. To me it represented a piece I felt could bring joy and peace to a lot of people.

While I was at the show, a couple approached me and after conversing with them for a short time, they inquired about an Angel sculpture. They liked the look of my work and the materials I used, but really wanted something in the shape of an Angel.


I couldn't believe my ears, and pulled out the sketch I had been working on that morning....it was an Angel that I had been thinking about for the last few days. I showed it to them and they felt it was almost exactly what they were hoping for. I'm returning to Florida in a few weeks and will be delivering the piece to them.


You can see the video of the finished piece here...



Something was aligned correctly to bring this couple into my booth at this art show.


Thanks for following....

Ciao,
Dale

01 December 2009

We Love that Corporations are Providing Public Art

We were honored to have Avon Marketplace in Connecticut turn to Dale Rogers Studio for inspiration when they decided to include some art into their already beautiful shopping plaza.

We were more than happy to work with them and as a result, made this 8 foot sculpture for their shopping center.

Public Art, such as sculptures can really help to define a community and set a tone for a creative surrounding. We applaud Avon Marketplace for giving back to their surrounding town in this way !

Dale feels strongly that "public displays of art inspire people of all ages to think about the world differently. Young people are influenced daily by their surroundings and art can be integral part of their creative development. Public Art evokes an emotional response from all who view it"


I think shopping (and most everything else) is always more fun when there is beauty, insspiration and craftmanship like this to appreciate.
-Allisa, Dale Rogers Studio















14 August 2009

Re-introduction of Dale Rogers Studio



Hi everyone,

Welcome to the blog of Dale Rogers Studio. Please accept our apologies for being negligent in our blogging ! It has been 1 month since our last blog !
Going forward, we hope to blog at least a couple of times a week, keeping everyone up to date on our events and happenings. We are very blessed to have a lot going on for the next few months and we are looking forward to sharing it with you.

So....let me catch you up to speed on Dale Rogers Studio and introduce ourselves to any new readers we have.

Dale Rogers (the captain of our ship) is an award winning metal sculptor from Massachusetts. He has been creating metal sculptures for many years, selling his pieces to private collectors as well as municipalities.

His most iconic and recognized work is the 16 foot tall American Dog Sculpture located at Exit 48 on 495 South in Massachusetts.

Working with Dale is Gregg, our CWO (Chief Welding Officer) and myself, Allisa. We also have the pleasure of working with James, a local high school student who has helped Dale over the summer.




15 July 2009

Snaps!

I was interested to find the following photos that appeared on the Eagle Snaps! section of the Eagle Tribune web-site.

The link below contains photos taken by Eagle Tribune photographer Tim Jean when he and Reporter Mike LaBella visited the studio last week. A couple are from the article (see previous blog below) and some are new. Enjoy!

(Click 'next' to see all photos.)

http://photos.northofboston.com/gallery/8757119_Z5hsC/1/585651612_DcpVj/Medium

The Big Dog Show... coming to a park near you... summer 2009. www.thebigdogshow.com.

Thanks for checking out the Dale Rogers Studio blog. Ciao!

10 July 2009

The Big Dog Show is Creating Some Buzz

It's less than a month until we launch The Big Dog Show in my hometown of Haverhill, MA. Each day that draws the event closer brings us more inquiries from those who can't wait to see it, are glad to finally know who's behind the dog on 495 as well as locations asking to become it's next stop.

It was a pleasure to host my local paper, The Eagle Tribune, this week and explain what the event is all about. I enjoyed sharing the history of the dog, my dream of creating New England's Largest Solo Sculpture Exhibition and my hope of where it will go from here.

A month from now I hope people of all ages are saying they found enjoyment from seeing my twenty large dogs and that they leave smiling.

The following link is from The Eagle Tribune, July 9, 2009. Or, read the story below.

http://www.eagletribune.com/punewshh/local_story_189223124.html/resources_etp_mobile_story

Haverhill artist to haul 10,000 pounds of works around region

A 10,000-pound dog pack



Published: July 9, 2009

HAVERHILL — When most artists take their works on the road for an exhibit, it involves little more than packing up paintings or pottery and loading the trunks of their cars.

But Haverhill sculptor Dale Rogers is preparing a traveling exhibit that will require him to use a 26-foot trailer capable of carrying 8,000 pounds, and a smaller trailer that can haul 2,000 pounds.

Rogers, 36, creates huge dogs and other contemporary sculptures out of costly long-lasting sheets of steel. You may have seen one of his most popular pieces along the highway.

His 16-foot-tall "American Dog" has been attracting attention ever since he placed it on his family's farmland near the off-ramp of Interstate 495 at the Ward Hill Connector three years ago.

The award-winning artist plans to take his popular American Dog sculptures on a traveling public art exhibit that will begin Aug. 6, with a weeklong show at Bradford Common in Haverhill, before moving on to Portsmouth, N.H.; Ogunquit, Maine; Newburyport; Beverly; and finally Lowell in September.

"It's kind of a big pack of dogs," Rogers joked while explaining his plans to display 20 smaller versions of his American Dog instead of a variety of different sculptures. "I think they make the best statement in groupings of single sculptures."

Rogers said he makes a good living at his craft, selling many of his pieces at high-end art exhibitions across the country as well as to private collectors, businesses and municipalities as private and public art. He will tell you that adding sculptures to the public landscape, such as the pieces he created for Newburyport, can inspire people of all ages to think differently about the world.

"It creates a response. It invokes a thought," he said of his art.

And that drove him to develop and plan "The Big Dog Show." The collection of 8-foot-tall and 10-foot-long dogs weighing 500 pounds each is intended to inspire and entertain all who see it.

"This is a free public art exhibition and the dogs will not be for sale," Rogers said. "But if someone wanted one they can contact my studio."

Calling it New England's largest sculpture exhibit by one artist, Rogers said it has taken two years of planning and creation and that he is solely funding the show with an investment of more than $200,000.

His hope is to attract the kind of national attention that could lead to partnering with a corporate sponsor for a national show.

"My vision is to present 100 dogs in a traveling exhibition in eight major U.S. cities," he said. "But to do an event like that, we'd need to partner with a nonprofit and a corporate sponsor."

He said he chose to feature his American Dog in his traveling exhibition after numerous encounters with strangers at juried art shows who told him they remember seeing the dog on the highway.

"No matter where I go people recognize the American Dog sculpture," he said. "Whether it is in Chicago, St. Louis or Nashville, they know they saw it in Massachusetts."

But for some strange reason, some of the people he's met at shows in Connecticut seem to remember seeing his big dog sculpture in Maine.

"It's where many people from Connecticut vacation," he said.

When Rogers ponders some of the greatest sculptures in history, those of Easter Island jump to the top of the list. They inspired him to create steel images of the huge, famous stone faces on the island.

As for his 16-foot-tall metal dog, he's planning to sell it for around $40,000.

"What we're hoping to do is replace it with a bigger dog," Rogers said.

Paul Prue, who is organizing the second annual Bradford Common Out-Door Music Series beginning July 17, called Rogers a "true artist" who wants to bring his work to the public and share the experience.

"It's not about money," said Prue, whose music series will be promoted by a giant sculpture of a guitar that will soon be on display on Bradford Common. "I think the big dog show will be a beautiful thing. You'll be able to go up to the dogs and pat them and no one will yell at you."

"The man is amazing," Prue, a local stained-glass artist and blues musician, said of Rogers. "He has found his niche, and every time I drive by that I-495 dog it puts a big smile on my face and I'm sure on everyone else that drives by it."

Taking the metal dogs on the road

20 metal sculptures of dogs, called "The American Dog''

Each weigh 500 pounds and are 8 or 10 feet tall

Will be hauled by a 26-foot trailer and a smaller trailer

The Big Dog Show

Aug. 6-11: Bradford Common

Aug. 13-18: Pierce Island, Portsmouth, N.H.

Aug. 20-25: Littlefield Park, Ogunquit, Maine

Aug. 27 to Sept. 1: Bartlett Mall, Newburyport

Sept. 3-8: Beverly Common, Beverly, Mass.

Sept. 10-15: Jack Kerouac Park, Lowell

Details: www.thebigdogshow.com

Photos

Tim Jean/Staff Photographer

Thanks for checking out the Dale Rogers Studio blog. Ciao!