In the spirit of creativity and family celebrations, I wanted to share a personal and heartwarming story that unfolded during my mother’s 98th birthday party.
As we gathered to commemorate Mom’s extraordinary milestone, my sister-in-law, Suzy, graced the occasion with a treasured photo album, a reservoir of memories bridging generations. Amidst the array of snapshots, a singular photo seized my attention—an image of my father, Gene Szynskie, dating back to December 1971. Mom’s knack for infusing every photograph with lively anecdotes was evident, as I discovered upon flipping over the photo. The inscription unveiled that I had snapped this particular picture as a reference for a distinctive school art project—sculpting my father’s likeness.
Excitement filled the air as I recounted the story of my high school art project to Suzy. Intrigued, she suggested displaying the photo next to the sculpture, which proudly resides on a shelf in my living room. As I placed the two side by side, I was struck by the uncanny resemblance between the profile of the sculpture and my father’s actual features.
Flipping through my photo album, I rediscovered the second image I had used for the sculpting process, bringing back fond memories of my artistic journey. Reflecting on those early years, I recalled the frustration I felt in Mrs. Romolo’s sculpture and ceramics class at Cherry Creek High School. Little did I appreciate then that her insistence on creating a skeleton before shaping the head was imparting a profound lesson in understanding the underlying anatomy – a crucial foundation for any aspiring artist.
Though my initial passion for art led me to consider a career as an art teacher, life took me down a different path, and I graduated with a degree in electrical engineering. It wasn’t until after retiring from my engineering business that I revisited my love for sculpture. The turning point came when I discovered The Art Students League of Denver and Valentin Okorokov, a world-renowned figurative sculpture teacher. After just one class, I was hooked. Three years of study with Valentin culminated in my first solo sculpture, featuring my mom as the model. There was a 42-year gap between sculpting my dad and my mom.
This experience of creating a portrait sculpture independently helped me embrace my latent aptitude for sculpting. As my sculpting education continues, I look forward to sharing more of this artistic journey with you.
Stay tuned for the next chapter!
That a very interesting story
I’m glad you liked it.
What a wonderful story, Charlotte. You’ve come along way, baby!
Thanks. It has been a fun journey.
What a great story and I agree with Kathy, you’ve coma a long way. Keep up the great work!