Jonathan Clowes
Growing up in a family who loved sailing, Jonathan Clowes's early aesthetic influences grew from nature, the graceful curves of sea-faring vessels, sails and the ocean. As a young boy Jonathan was always making things. When he was six, a Japanese friend of his father's was visiting and taught him to make origami swans. "So I proceeded to fold a great big swan, about four feet across," Clowes remembered. "I've always been one to take things to a bit of an extreme. Well, what do you do with something like that? Obviously, you hang it up. So my brother Tom and I made a mobile out of it and we folded a whole flock of other little swans - 15 or 20 little ones, out of paper of all different colors - and suspended them by threads from the outspread wings of the big swan." The resulting mobile was his first, foretelling of what has become a life's work.
Jon's pursuit of sculpture making took him from the halls of M.I.T, Boston's Museum School and the Portland School of Art to the boat yards of New England, places, "where one really learns to appreciate craftmanship," like Concordia Boatyard in South Dartmouth, Massachusetts and Paul Luke Yachts in East Boothbay, Maine. His recent work has been the result of collaboration with his wife, Evelyn, who is his artistic, as well as his life, partner.
In a recent interview Jonathan reflected on his intent as an artist. "A fine piece of sculpture communicates the artist's love of spirit, form and material to the viewer. As the work evolves aesthetic concerns interact with the requirements of the materials to create a uniquely balanced whole. The success of a piece depends on the artist's skill and attention to both demands. Good work elicits an appreciative knowing or wondering from others. Practically, the work must reflect a consistent and visible level of intention and care in its crafting. Beyond that, I believe that each piece must engage the viewer's spirit, encouraging it to move beyond the bounds of daily existence. As an artist, I seek to attain such integrity."
Selected Commissions:
American Lawyer Media, New York, NY
Antioch New England Graduate School,
Keene, NH
Children’s Hospital Boston, Boston, MA
Hilton Hotel International,
Tokyo, Japan
Hope Hospice, FT. Myers, FL
Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, IN
Lodge at Woodloch, Hawley,
PA
Manchester District Courthouse, Manchester, NH
Massasoit Community College,
Canton, MA
Memorial Hermann Hospital, Houston, TX
Monadnock Paper Inc., Bennington,
NH
Mosan Art Museum, Boryeong, South Korea
New Hampshire State Council on the
Arts, Concord District Courthouse, Concord, NH
New Hampshire Oncology & Hematology
Treatment Center, Hooksett, NH
Peterborough Savings Bank, Peterborough,
NH
Phelps Dunbar, Jackson, MS
Pfizer Drug Safety Technology Center, Groton,
CT
Retrovest Corp. Burlington, VT
Royal Caribbean International, Oslo, Norway
Royal Caribbean International,
Miami, FL
St. Vincent’s Hospital, Birmingham, AL
Visalia Convention Center,
Visalia, CA
Wells Fargo Home Loan, Des Moines, IA
White County Medical Center, Searcy,
AR
Selected Liturgical Commissions:
First Church, Jaffrey, NH: Communion Table, & Lectern
Trinity Lutheran
Church, Keene, NH: Liturgical Furnishings
St. Dunstan’s Church, Dover, MA: Pulpit, Altar, Altar Rail, Lectern, & Baptismal
Font
Church of the Messiah, Woods Hole, MA: Meditation Garden Gate
Selected Private Collections:
Atkinson, NH: D. McMillen & P. Lepovsky
Cambridge, MA: K. Brown
Cincinnati, OH: J. Griffin
Dallas, TX: J.M. Piampiano
Dallas, TX: D. Walp
Falmouth, ME: J. & N. Lightbody
Manchester, NH: A. & K. Zachos
Rockport, ME: N. Talbot
Seattle, WA: A. Clowes
Simsbury, CT: J. Powell
Springdale, ME: M. Baker & B. Wilson
Walpole, NH: S. Butler
West Hartford, CT: G. & D. Weiss
West Hartford, CT: H. & L. Fonteyne
West Rockport, ME: V. Baker & F.
Manzoni
Selected Exhibitions & Awards:
2006 Music of the Spheres Rhythms of the Earth:
Brattleboro Museum and Arts Center, Brattleboro, VT
2006 Birds: Flinn Gallery, Greenwich, CT
2005 Boryeong International Stone Sculpture Symposium, Boryeong,
South Korea,
St. Paul’s School & Mill Brook
Gallery Invitational Sculpture Show: Hargate Gallery, Concord,
NH.
Gateway
to Sculpture, The Fells, Lake Sunapee, New Hampshire
Thorne Sagendorph
Art Gallery, Keene, NH:
2002-2005 Annual Outdoor Invitational Sculpture Exhibit: Mill Brook Gallery & Sculpture Garden. Concord, N.H.
1999 New England College, Henniker , NH: Ways of Wind; 25 Years of Sculpture
1995 Currier Gallery, Manchester, NH: Masterworks;
a juried exhibit
Colby College Museum of Art, Waterville, ME: Makers ‘95
New
England Sculpture Association, Manchester, NH: Governor’s
Choice Show
Thorne Sagendorph Art Gallery, Keene, NH: People’s Choice
Award
1994 Federal Reserve Bank, Boston, MA: New England
Sculpture Triennial Exhibit
League of NH Craftsmen Gallery, Hanover, NH:
Guild of NH Woodworkers
Sharon Art Center, Sharon, NH
1993 New England Sculptors Association, Newburyport,
MA: Cutting
The Edge
Brattleboro Museum and Art Center, Brattleboro, VT: A Lasting
Heritage
League of NH Craftsmen, Sunapee, NH: Living With Crafts
Shaw
Gallery, Keene, NH: In Our Element: a two artist show
1992 New England Sculptors Association, Attleboro,
MA: Grove Street Gallery Show
The Putney School, Putney, VT: Five
Sculptors
Silvermine Guild of Artists, New Canaan, CT: Art of the
NorthEast USA
Sharon Art Center, Sharon, NH: Killian Gallery, annual juried
show
1991 Barn Gallery, Ogunquit, ME: Barn Gallery Invitational
Show,
New England Sculptors Association, Boston, MA: Sculpture: An
Eclectic View
NH chapter AIA, Craftsmanship Award for Liturgical
Furnishings
1990 Barn Gallery, Ogunquit, ME: Barn Gallery Invitational Show,
1989 Arlene McDaniel Galleries, West Hartford, CT:
7th National Invitational Sculpture Show
North Carolina State University,
Raleigh, NC: New Art/New Material
Tempe Arts Center, Tempe, AZ: Art
In Motion
1988 Bauline’s Craftsmen Guild,
Sausalito, CA
Laudholm Crafts Festival, Wells, ME: Featured Artist
1987 The Guild Society of Arts and Crafts, Boston, MA: American Crafts Merit Award Winner
Education:
Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, NH
Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
Cambridge, MA
The Museum School, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
The Portland School of
Art, Portland, ME
Related Professional Background:
Independent designer and sculptor since l974
Cabinetmaking Apprenticeship:
Walker Coleman, Charleston, SC
Boatbuilding and yacht repair:
Concordia Boatyard, South Dartmouth, MA
Damariscotta Boatbuilders, Rockland,
ME
Paul Luke, East Boothbay, ME
Marine construction: Dan W. Clark, Inc., Woods
Hole, MA
Maine Woodworkers Association, founder, 1982
League of NH Craftsmen: juror