"I'm sure art is a God-given talent, and if you leave yourself open, the creative force comes through"—Susan Kliewer

I have always admired the monument of Sedona Schnebly standing at the entrance of the Sedona Public Library. The statue, a 10-foot-tall bronze, portrays Sedona walking forward with her left arm extended offering an apple from a basket while her face draws a gentle smile, as if welcoming you to her namesake, the City of Sedona. This offering gesture is symbolic of Sedona's reputation as a charming hostess. As a matter of fact, she and her husband grew apples and their home doubled as a bed & breakfast welcoming tired travelers. The statue's fine lines and contours are masterfully combined with a gracious soft motion that brings it to life. When I learned that Susan Kliewer was the artist, I wanted to meet the woman sculptor of the woman pioneer.

Susan Kliewer spends time sculpting at Mountain Trails Galleries in Tlaquepaque (www.mountaintrails.com). She invited me to join her at the art gallery for our interview. Upon my arrival, she was working on a small equestrian statue of the legendary Buffalo Bill.

Her friendly manner and cordial smile made me feel right at home. I also gained an appreciation for her in-depth knowledge and respect for the Navajo as well as the Hopi cultures, and her passion for Southwest American history in general.

Coupled with a life in the country-side and constant contact with Navajo culture, her works involve detailed research, something she has been doing for about 30 years. For this reason, her master pieces accurately reflect a traditional American historical background that she brings to life in her animated bronzes.

In addition to the statue of Sedona Schnebly, Kliewer has sculpted two life-size water fountains: one commemorates the Sinagua People and the other portrays a Hopi Water Maiden. Kliewer enjoys these monumental projects and expects to create more in the near future.

Susan Kliewer was born in Orange County, California. Her grandparents were ranchers there before it became overcrowded. Although Kliewer is a talented sculptor, her first artistic passion was painting. She began painting at the age of 10, and decided she wanted to be an artist. As an interesting note, her father, Elmer Osterman (a fire prevention coordinator for CA) was the creator of today's popular icon "Smokey the Bear" which was based on the true story of a bear stranded in a fire. It comes as no surprise then that her artistic talent runs in the family.

It was in 1968 when she and her former husband read about the town of Sedona in an article published in Arizona Highways and planned a camping trip there with their three children. They came to Sedona for the first time on Memorial Day, and immediately fell in love with the area. Kliewer and her family decided to move from California and bought Oak Creek Mobile Lodge and ran it as a mobile home for about four years.

One day a Californian neighbor proposed that she run another type of business, a trading post at Marble Canyon. It was a remote location near the Arizona-Utah border, and even though she hesitated at first, now Susan realizes it was a very important move in her life: "that was a big thing for me. I didn't want to leave Sedona that much, but I'm really glad we did, because of all the new experiences that otherwise I wouldn't have had."

During the next five years Kliewer learned how to run a restaurant, a motel, a gas station, a post office and, of course, a trading post. "It was like a little tiny kingdom. Neat place! We met all the people who went down the Canyon for white-water rafting… so we had very nice, very interesting guests all summer. There was no television or any electronic things, but lots of music and singing at night"--she remembers smiling.

In her spare time, Susan continued to paint and became quite proficient painting portraits. She was inspired by her love of and interest in Southwest cultures. In fact, her son married a Navajo girl and, ever since, her ties with the Navajos strengthened. Her Navajo friends and grandchildren have been the models for many of her bronze pieces.

After her unforgettable years at the trading post, Kliewer decided to move back to Sedona: "I wanted a more normal life for my kids. They had to go to school 40 miles each way… It was really hard for them, they had to take a one hour bus ride each way every day."

Back in Sedona, Kliewer worked as the manager of "Oaxaca Restaurant" in Uptown Sedona. But when the restaurant was sold out, the new owners managed the restaurant themselves and she worked as a waitress. She remembers it was a very tough time for her since she was going through a divorce and trying to make a living; then Kliewer applied for a job at the local foundry. Even though she was rejected at first because it was "a man's job," she persisted, and became the first woman in town to ever hold such a job: "if I wouldn't have done it, I wouldn't be sculpting today"--she asserted.

But let's let Susan tell us the rest of her story.

M.S-B: I understand that you began painting earlier than sculpting. How did you begin sculpting? Did you have a mentor?

S.K.: Sort of… at the foundry we worked with many popular artists. I worked there for about ten years, became friendly with many sculptors, and they taught me how to do things, and revealed little secrets.

Also, most of the guys who worked at the foundry were sculpture students from NAU in Flagstaff, and they were all really into art and sculpture. Being around them was a learning experience too. During coffee breaks we talked art.

The foundry owner was also very nice, and let us cast our things after work. So, little by little, I was sculpting. I worked closely with renowned sculptors such as John Hampton, Joe Beeler, and Buck McCain. They helped me a lot, especially Joe Beeler. He looked at my pieces and critiqued them for me. He was a friend and we worked on many pieces together. It was a great education even though I didn't even realize it at the time. I considered myself a painter. I always have painted. When I was living at the trading post I did a lot of Indian portraits. So little by little I was sculpting people's portraits. These different jobs I had came for a reason, I think. The trading post days, the foundry days, and all the other experiences I had, helped me to do what I do… and it's always been fun.

M.S-B: Do you still paint?

S.K.: I still paint on regular basis. At least once a week. For example, my husband, Jeff, and I just came back from a trip up the Coast of California where we were painting outdoors the entire time. We paint together and use oil on canvas. Jeff has been painting now for two years and he loves it. It's hard to paint outdoors because the light changes quickly. You have to work very fast. We were getting up, painting in the morning and also in the afternoon. It is exhausting because you have to work so fast, but it's really fun. I do have some paintings at the Sedona Arts Center gallery, if you would like to see them. The Sedona Arts Center is a great place, lots of workshops and exhibits. When I just moved here, I went to the art barn for water color classes, and met other artists and teachers that way. It's been a big help for me, in many ways.

When I worked at the foundry, I wanted to sculpt but I didn't know how to build the framework, the armature, and that was holding me back. When I became really serious about sculpting, the fellows that worked at the foundry encouraged me to take a classe at NAU. It was called "Anatomy for Sculptors." We had to make muscles out of clay. We did the whole body one semester, then, the head. It was a really good anatomy class, it helped me to get started. It was a really important step.

M.S-B: How did the project to sculpt the statue of Sedona come to you?

S.K.: That project was sponsored by the Red Rock Arts Council, the group that sponsored the Sedona Sculpture Walk. They organized a competition, with Sedona Schnebly as the subject for a bronze monument. People entered the contest and submitted maquettes (small hand crafted models) to show what their "Sedona" would look like. Then, at the Sculpture Walk, they had a jury, of course, people selected to vote for the best work. I was so excited when I won because it was a really big thing to me, and I was selected among eight finalists.

M.S-B: How did you get your sculpture of Sedona Schnebly's facial features to resemble her so accurately?

S.K.: Well… I borrowed some photographs of Sedona from her family. They were very happy about it, so that was good. It helped me a great deal to meet her great-granddaughter, Lisa Schnebly, who is a real nice person. She has written a children's book about Sedona. She modeled for me and everyone in her family thought that she looked like her great-grandmother. So it was sort of a group effort. I sculpted Sedona at the Sedona Arts Center in their main gallery for about eight months. During the summer many people came by to say hi and watch me work. The statue is 10 feet tall. I had to climb up a ladder to work on it. It was fun.

M.S-B: Can you explain to me what are the different stages in the process of sculpting a bronze?

S.K.: When you start a sculpture, you have to make the framework first, the armature. It's made of aluminum wire and galvanized plumbing pipe. It provides support for the clay. Then, you put clay on top of that and just work from the inside out. I use an oil-based clay that won't dry out. When you get the piece finished you take it to the foundry and they do the mold. Sometimes artists prefer to do their own at home, but I'd rather let them do it, so I can concentrate on my art work.

The clay original is painted with layers of silicon rubber to make the mold. Each coat of rubber must dry for 24 hours. The average mold takes two weeks to complete.

To make the bronze casting, the foundry paints hot wax inside the rubber mold. This is done in coats until the wax is nearly a quarter-inch thick. When the wax is cool, the mold is taken apart and the wax removed.

Next is the slurry, a silica based solution. The wax is dipped in slurry and dusted with silica sand, and allowed to dry. This process is repeated with a coat each day for eight days. The result is a ceramic shell coating the wax. It is placed in a furnace and heated to melt out the wax. Next is the bronze pouring. The shell is placed upside down in a box of sand, and molten bronze is poured into the shell. After it cools, the ceramic shell is chiseled away and sandblasted. Then you have to do the metal work, welding, and grinding so the bronze is retextured. Applying the colors is next, and that is called the patina. That's done by heating the bronze with a torch while oxidizing chemicals are applied. That's the last step and it's an important part that gives the bronze its coloration. It is complicated, really. It takes about six weeks to do all those steps. Each step must be done with care for the finished bronze to be perfect.

M.S-B: Thank you, Susan, for your time and for this extraordinary learning experience.

By Sedona.biz

http://www.Sedona.biz - Sedona Arizona's first daily news site. For full article visit: http://www.sedona.biz/susankliewer.htm