Deborah Butterfield

1. Deborah Butterfield Horse Sculptures

2. Horse Sculptures – Deborah Butterfield Today we will: • Learn about American female artist Deborah Butterfield • Look at several of her amazing horse sculptures • Create a horse using the “bas-relief” technique with a mix of natural and recycled materials • Become art critics and discuss our art using art vocabulary

3. Horse Sculptures – Deborah Butterfield • Deborah Butterfield was born on Kentucky Derby Day in 1949 (she believes this is why she has such an affection for horses) • Unlike many of the artists we study, Butterfield is alive and working in California and Montana – she is 64 years old • Before Butterfield’s work with horses, most artists portrayed horses as a weapon of war or technology (like a work horse on a farm) Japanese art work 1293 French Painting 1891

4. Horse Sculptures – Deborah Butterfield • Deborah Butterfield was born on Kentucky Derby Day in 1949 (she believes this is why she has such an affection for horses) • Unlike many of the artists we study, Butterfield is alive and working in California and Montana – she is 64 years old • Before Butterfield’s work with horses, most artists portrayed horses as a weapon of war or technology (like a work horse on a farm) • Butterfield saw some of herself in the horses and aimed to capture their mood – sad, quiet, powerful, gentle, curious, caged, etc.

5. Horse Sculptures – Deborah Butterfield • What type of mood do you think this horse portrays? • We see that it’s head and neck are out and tilted sideways – whatdo you think that means? • Butterfield typically works in recycled materials; woodscrap metal, branches, twigs, and other items that have texture (something bumpy, slimy, rough, soft) From the Deborah Butterfield: New Sculpture traveling gallery show, Chicago, 2010

6. Horse Sculptures – Deborah Butterfield • What type of mood do you think this horse portrays? • How does it compare to the last piece? (turn to a partner and discuss quietly…now raise your hand to share) • We might say this one looks more sad with it’s tail and head lower while the original piece looks interested or curious From the Deborah Butterfield: New Sculpture traveling gallery show, Chicago, 2010

7. Horse Sculptures – Deborah Butterfield • Now let’s look at this “Untitled” sculpture… • What does the texture look like? • Scratchy, rusted, hard? It’s made of metal - • Discuss with your partner which piece you like the most and why – use words like texture, mood, talk about the materials used, what kind of materials you might like to work with, etc. Untitled, 1980s

8. Horse Sculptures – Deborah Butterfield Now it’s your turn…you are going to create a horse sculpture using a technique called bas-relief. • Bas-reliefmeans your art work is mostly flat, but we are building it up with our natural and recyclable materials and creating a variety of levels so that it is no longer completely 2-D or flat • We will also be creating a background or environment for our horse and concentrating on setting a mood with the different colors and textures we choose • Let’s get started!

9. Horse Sculptures – Deborah Butterfield First you are going to watch while I demonstrate how to: • Quickly sketch a horse onto my corrugated cardboard piece using the horse photos given as a guide for my drawing • Cut my horse out of the cardboard and use that to trace my horse on another piece of scrap cardboard • Place items like string, raffia, leaves, etc. in between the two layers of cardboard for the mane, tails, etc. • Create a environment for my horse to live in using our natural and recyclable materials and paint

10. Horse Sculptures – Deborah Butterfield • First we are going to sketch onto the corrugated cardboard for about 5 minutes. Use the pictures of horses on your desks and choose one you want to make a sketch of based on the mood you want to create in your art piece • Next you will cut out your horse and trace it onto your other piece of cardboard to create your “horse sandwich” • Now it’s time to be creative and place any items you want in between the horses to make a mane or tail, or saddle • Now set your horse aside and begin working on the background

11. Horse Sculptures – Deborah Butterfield • First make sure your name is on the back of your background paper • When creating your background please remember to focus on your mood and use texture to help create that mood • When you are ready for paint, take your paper over to the paint table and use the paint to help create your background • Once you are done painting, return to your desk and glue your horse onto your background • Lay your project in a place to dry and help clean-up! • While cleaning up be sure to think of a name for your project

12. Horse Sculptures – Deborah Butterfield Let’s review the art vocabulary we learned today – • Mood – the feelings a piece of art work generates • Texture – how something feels to the touch • Bas-relief – art work that is mostly flat, but built up with materials creating a variety of levels so that it is no longer completely 2-D or flat • Art Criticism – discussing and giving opinions about artwork using knowledge of art and art vocabulary

13. Horse Sculptures – Deborah Butterfield • Let’s be art critics! • This piece is made of mud and straw on armature (framework around which a sculpture is built) • Raise your hand if you have one word for the texture of this piece Horse - 1976 • This horse looks more realistic than the others but is it as interesting? Discuss this with your partner and defend your answer with at least one art word • Congratulations you are now an art critic as you just discussed an art piece and gave your opinion based on your knowledge of art!

14. Horse Sculptures – Deborah Butterfield Discussion Questions - • What’s the name of your bas-relief art piece? • What mood were you trying to portray in your piece? • What different textures did you choose to work with? • Do you like this method of creating art? • What was your favorite part of this process? • If you could have chosen a different animal, what would you have picked as your subject?