As the ninth largest tribe in the in the U.S., CPN has many acclaimed artists amongst its Tribal members, both past and present. From Sharon Hoogstraten’s breathtaking photographic portraits to Woody Crambo’s intricately detailed paintings, Tribal artists are represented in all mediums in the art world.
Closer to home is just one example of one of these artists’ talents. On permanent display at the Grand Casino Hotel and Resort is the work of renowned CPN artist and sculptor, Denny Haskew.
A member of the Pettifer family from Colorado, Haskew has been in the art scene since 1987. He has made hundreds of sculptures and is a part of the National Sculptor’s Guild. Many of his sculptures are on display at the Columbine Gallery in Loveland, Colo. as well as other galleries across the country. His latest display of work is a 76x46x96 inch bronze sculpture called “Courage to Lead,” and is on display at the main entrance of the Grand Casino Hotel and Resort.
The piece depicts a traditional Native American story of warriors shooting arrows into the night sky while standing amongst their falling arrows to show bravery and courage.
“The night before these warriors would go out to fight or scout, they would have a fire and would dance around it while the leaders of the warriors would shoot arrows into the sky,” explained Haskew. “This portrayal of courage would teach the warriors to conquer fears and show that what they were going to set out to achieve was the right thing.”
Making a statue of this size involved a significant investment in time for Haskew. It took him two years to sketch and develop the idea for this particular piece. Once he was satisfied, it took eight months to piece the entire sculpture together.
“The process begins with sketches, water color paintings and then small clay rendering so I can get an idea of what it will look like in 3-D,” said Haskew. “I then decide on the size I want it and make a mold for a smaller version of the final piece called a maquette. I will then take the maquette and use to scale for the final project.”
To create the sculpture, Haskew placed a mold over the clay rendering then took a mixture of rubber and plastic to create a new mold. From there he poured hot wax into the new mold to capture the fine details and textures of the final piece. He then took 20 to 30 pieces of bronze and welded them together around the mold before finally sandblasting the final product. The final step brought out the colors of the bronze which gives its current clean, finished look.
“This has always been a dream of mine to have one of my pieces be displayed for my Tribe on tribal grounds,” said Haskew. “Doing this work makes me think of my parents. My mother and father have passed on but I know they are looking down and would be proud of me for doing this for my Tribe. I am honored to have my work on display for CPN at their Tribal enterprise.”
The piece has been on display since the start of the year and the maquette is also on display inside the hotel. Haskew plans on bringing new pieces of work at the 2015 CPN Family Reunion and is also currently working on new sculptures.
For more information about the work of Denny Haskew please visit, www.nationalsculptorsguild.com/artist_haskew.html.