The inspiration for this sculpture came from an astonishing pictograph that I was shown on the Laguna Reservation West of Albuquerque.  A Laguna resident shepherd, who had been grazing his sheep deep in the heart of the reservation lands for many decades, had become familiar with the ancient site where this huge drawing graced the rock amphitheater wall.  He was kind enough to take us back to it on foot, which was a 2 hour walk from the dirt road we took after entering the reservation from US 40. 

I had been made aware of this site because of my fascination with the drawings and petroglyphs of the ancients.  When I showed the photos of this to Polly Schasma,  resident rock art expert at the Laboratory of Anthropology in Santa Fe, she estimated it’s origin at over 900 years past.

I was so taken by this image that I felt compelled to give it new life thru 3 dimensions, and started sculpting my version as soon as I had arrived home from the trip to see it.

 “Ancient Echo” became the first sculpture of my series of “Rock Art” interpretations in bronze, consisting of over 100 sculptures of horses, caribou, bison, wooly mammoths, and more from ancient cave sites on our continent and around the world.

I believe there is a timelessness in ancient rock art. Some of the oldest found in France are dated 32,000.00 years ago, and yet they display acute observations as well as aesthetic appreciation of the creatures that shared the environment.  In their economy and simplicity they often have a look that is modern as well as primitive . . .and seem to emit an echo that resounds in our subconscious.