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 SCULPTOR CAMMIE LUNDEEN
An artist’s life in
three dimensions
By LOIS H. FEINSTEIN
Photography SUSAN ARMITAGE
Cammie Lundeen’s artistic inspirations
travel at gallop speed. The
Loveland sculptor admits she is
never at a loss for ideas, only the time
to complete them all.
World-renowned for her bronze animal
creations, especially those of horses,
Lundeen acknowledges that for her, conception
is the most exciting part of the
sculpting process. “I get an energy about
it that is almost overwhelming,” she
explains. “Sometimes I have to stop myself
from abandoning a work in progress when
an idea for a new piece hits.”
Lundeen’s horse sculptures somehow
transcend their static medium. Her
subjects are caught in the process of
doing something, whether it’s a mare
encouraging her foal to take those first
steps or two draft horses rubbing
heads to ease an itch. When she sees something that strikes an emotional
chord, the sculptor tries to remember it
and evoke that same emotion in the
piece. She works from photos, videos
and memories.
In her large, bright studio just off
Loveland’s downtown Fourth Avenue,
there are pieces in all stages of completion.
A small clay horse’s head sits on a
work table, while large finished pieces line
the walls of the studio. The dental drill-like
buzz from the metal chasing room provides
background noise, and the soft smell
of melted wax permeates the room. Every
phase of the sculpting process, other than
the actual pouring of the bronze, is
accomplished on the premises.
After settling on an idea for a new
piece, Lundeen literally takes a lump of
clay and begins to mold and shape it
into a miniature version of the finished
sculpture. This initial stage is critical —
she takes the time to make sure that
the hairs of the mane lie correctly and
that the musculature of the animal is
well defined, but not exaggerated.
Using sculpting tools and her hands
in equal measure, Lundeen transforms
the clay from a lifeless block into a
model that looks ready to walk, canter
or trot off the pedestal. However, the
road to being cast in bronze comprises
many steps.
Lundeen uses the centuries-old “lost
wax” method to progress from model
to finished sculpture. Once the clay
model is detailed to her satisfaction, a
rubbery mold is applied over it and left
to harden. Then melted wax is poured
into the mold, creating a wax replica of
the original model. When the wax has
hardened, a ceramic or plaster shell is
molded to its outer side. This is the
shell into which the molten bronze will
be poured after the wax has been melted
out. The pouring of the bronze is
the only step not done in her studio;
there are a number of foundries in
Loveland that handle that step.
Since many of Lundeen’s sculptures
are life-size, the bronze pouring is
often done in pieces. After the bronze
has been poured and hardened, the
pieces come back to the studio for“metal chasing,” which involves welding,
smoothing any seams and restoring
any details that may have been lost
during the welding process.
Once the piece is assembled, Lundeen
oversees the coloring or “patina” of the
sculpture. During her 22 years of sculpting,
she has assembled a palette of different
colors and effects, using a variety
of chemical processes to achieve the
desired look. When the sculpture is complete,
it is packed and shipped to one of
the many galleries showcasing her work
or to a specific client if it is a commissioned
piece. The entire process takes
from 12 to 14 weeks.
Lundeen’s life-size horse sculptures,
generally too large for the typical art
lover, have been commissioned by private
collectors and institutions throughout
the United States. Her work can also
be found as far away as Finland,
Venezuela and England, and her smaller
bronzes are featured in galleries in
Beaver Creek, Colo.; Scottsdale, Ariz.;
Jackson Hole, Wyo.; Carmel, Calif.; and
Harbor Springs, Mich.
Lundeen’s sculptures have received
many awards and honors, including those from the Pen and Brush Annual
Sculpture Exhibition and the Society of
Animal Artists.
Horses and art have been an integral
part of Lundeen’s life from her Iowa
girlhood through her summer job driving
draft horses on Mackinac Island
(where autos are prohibited) to her current
passion for working with reining
horses. She proudly shows a DVD of
herself riding one of her horses, Done It
in the Dirt, during a recent Denver
horse show reining competition.
Reining involves teaching the horse
intricate moves at relatively high speeds.
The process seems to be a metaphor for
Lundeen’s own artistic methodology —
creating exquisitely detailed bronzes as
quickly as the ideas spring into her head,
but always with an eye to perfecting the
finished sculpture.
Lundeen discovered her passion for
tactile art forms while majoring in special
education at the University of Iowa.“I squeezed every art class I could into
my schedule,” she recalls. “I liked
painting and pastels, but when I took
my first pottery class, I was hooked. I’m
definitely a three-dimensional thinker.”
Yielding to her enthusiasm, she
packed up and moved to Loveland,
enticed by the city’s reputation as a gathering
place for sculptors. Finding work in
sculptor Mark Lundeen’s studio (no relation
at the time), she learned every step
of the sculpting process and studied the
work of the many artists who used the
studio’s facilities. Soon she was creating
and selling her own sculptures — her
early success enabled her to establish her
own studio in Loveland.
While working for Mark, she
became good friends with his brother,
sculptor George Lundeen. The friendship
blossomed into a romance, and,
through marriage, she became part of
the Lundeen sculpting dynasty, which
also includes sister-in-law Bets Lundeen
and cousin Ann LaRose.
“We’re like the Flying Wallendas,
only we sculpt instead of working on
the trapeze,” jokes Lundeen.
Although George Lundeen’s work
focuses on people, not animals, the
two share a love of the art form and
exchange ideas about their work. “I
learned a lot about sculpting from
George, and still today I rely on him to
provide an expert eye and guidance,”
says Lundeen. The two have separate
but neighboring studios so that they
can easily communicate while maintaining
individual work spaces.
The two sculptors live on a 20-acre
spread near the Big Thompson River,
where, in addition to a daughter and
two sons, they provide a home for cats,
dogs, chickens, goats, eight horses, a
miniature donkey and some cows.“George teases me about having my
own petting zoo,” laughs Lundeen.“But I am the favorite aunt when it
comes time to visit.”
With that remark, the sculptor,
mother and horsewoman turns and
faces an untouched lump of clay,
preparing to bring it to life as yet
another work of art. |
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