Dancing with Sea Lions
The Dancing With Sea Lions project began as a fundraiser for the 20th Anniversary of the Florence Events Center. The volunteers of the Florence Arts, Culture, and Entertainment nonprofit group (previously known as the Friends of the FEC) headed up this project in conjunction with the Florence Events Center Staff. Twenty life size sea lion sculptures were each painted by a different artist. All of them were displayed with their sponsors along the Oregon Coast till October of 2016, when they were then purchased by businesses and individuals. Fifteen of them are still publicly displayed in Florence and near by coastal locations. See our 'Where are they now' map for their current locations, and check our blog for updates. Share your Dancing Sea Lion pics with us and we'll add them to our Gallery of images.
Matt Hawk
Project Name: Green-Eyed Sue
Sponsor and Owner: The Siuslaw News
Willamette Valley artist, Matt Hawk was inspired by the Wendy Trilogy songs by musician, S.J.Tucker. The trio of lyrics is focused on girls being strong and becoming pirates. They become leaders of the Faerie Fleets of Titania and Oberon. As parents of two girls, Matt and his wife believe it is important to give their daughters great, strong female role models. And Green-Eyed Sue in the songs is just that! Ergo, Hawk found it quite fitting to model his Sea Lion after her!
As an artist and art teacher, Hawk’s vision for both creating and helping others to create their own art is to make sure that the true vision of a piece comes through in the final product. Sometimes, the final vision is lost through the complexity of an artist's original thought process about a piece. Hawk says he tries to keep the process simple. A piece does not always have to include complex artifacts to become a beautiful piece. Without the intimidating pressure of having to create a masterpiece, perhaps more people would be inclined to create their own art with their own visions. Sometimes, simple is the way to go. The world needs more art and artists! Inspiration is found in many ways and forms. His goal is for more people to step out of their comfort zones and become inspired through art in all of its forms to then inspire the world around them through their own creations. Keep the inspiration going! Everyone has the capability to be an artist in their own unique way!
