Kitty Cantrell
Collection
Award-winning artist and environmentalist
Kitty Cantrell is known for her striking sculptures of North American
wildlife. Intricately designed and detailed, her Mixed Media sculptures
capture expressions of animals that have never known human touch.
When asked what inspired her to start sculpting, Kitty replied,
Ive done it since I was little. Its the only thing Im good at-its
what Ive done ever since I can remember." Wolves, eagles
and humpback whales are a few of the subjects this native Californian
has chosen to sculpt since beginning her professional career.
Kitty is one of the few American
artists today who has a natural talent for capturing the animals
she chooses to sculpt as only nature knows them. Cantrell begins
the sculpting process with only a general idea of what she is
about to create. When asked where her ideas come from, Kitty confessed
that "some of my best ideas come from my collectors."
To ensure the authenticity and accuracy of her sculptures, Kitty
spends numerous hours researching the animals paying close attention
to subtle details such as the wing span or shape of a tail. "I
like working on subjects with which I am fairly unfamiliar,"
she says. "That makes me study up on them and that keeps
it interesting. The busier I am, the happier I am."
Kitty produces a rough sculpture
out of soft clay to check for composition and form. She then painstakingly
forms a master sculpture that is to scale and anatomically correct.
This second sculpture is sent to the Legends/Genesis foundry in
Los Angeles, California, where a resin cast is made and the manufacturing
process begins.
Cantrell believes that her
sculptures are a way for people to better understand the earths
wild creatures. "A lot of stuff that happens to wildlife
is so unintentional. If my sculptures can make people think about
wildlife and appreciate the importance of it, then maybe they
will feel compelled to help." When asked where she would
like to see herself in the distant future, Kittys love for wildlife
and, in particular, wildlife rehabilitation, is at the forefront
of her thoughts as she tells us that she plans to be "sitting
on a mountain top with broken and battered animals around that
Im trying to put back together." Demonstrating her commitment
to animals and wildlife, Kitty donates a portion of the proceeds
from her art to the Nature Conservancy, the World Wildlife Fund
and the Grounded Eagle Foundation.