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Sculptor of Wood Raw
Earth Carvings Vancouver Island Artist Makes History History was made, on April 24th, at the 40th Anniversary Ward Foundation World Carving Competition, when Vancouver Island artist, Lynn (Lindsay) Branson became the first woman, ever, to win a World Championship title. Since 1970 the Ward Foundation and Salisbury University have sponsored the International event in Ocean City, Maryland, welcoming artists from all over the Globe. This year the attendees included sculptors from the West Indies (Barbados), Japan, Russia, Australia, South Africa, Great Britain, Germany, and Canada.
In 2007 Lynn (Lindsay) was a Bronze medal winner, and in 2008 and 2009 she finished with the runner's up Silver Medals. The winning Interpretive Sculpture, entitled, "Phantom of the Forest" (Great Horned Owl), is on display at the prestigious Ward Foundation Museum of Wildfowl Art in Salisbury, Maryland, and will remain there for one year.
The Ward World Competition, is a three-day event, held annually, and is named for brothers, Lem, and Steve, Ward of Crisfield, Maryland, whose highly collectable decoys are considered some of the finest of the Chesapeake Bay style. In the 1930s Lem and Steve carved decoys for $1.25 each for local "market hunters" but by the 1940s wealthy private club hunters began to collect the brothers' work to display as art. In 2006 a Ward Brothers decoy sold at auction for US$109,250. For further information see the Ward Foundation website: www.wardmuseum.org Contact artist for info about carvings currently for sale and about commissioning sculptures. Lindsay (Lynn) Branson makes her home in British Columbia on Canada's Pacific Northwest Coast. Lindsay has a love for the wild edges of the natural worlds where the forces of nature produce the material for her work. Massive pieces of twisted driftwood, roots and burls, remnants of long-dead trees, now rest in the artist's studio providing her with creative inspiration. “I take great pride that my art is created from my love affair with wood. Whether found upon the forest floor or shoreline, finding the inspiring piece that I can carve is both challenging and rewarding. I have learned not to judge a piece of wood by its exterior appearance, for beneath the surface I can take it anywhere I want by using my imagination. What I try to achieve with my work is to touch the innermost of human emotions.” - Lindsay (Lynn) Branson
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