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Delinda VanneBrightyn

Fine Art Sculpture in Glass and Bronze

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THE ARTIST'S BIOGRAPHY

"Art is a passionate dance
of vision and skill,
surrender and control,
innate wisdom and abandoned whimsy,
and compels that which is within
to exist without."
Delinda VanneBrightyn, 2004

Sculptor, Delinda VanneBrightyn (pronounced, "van bri ten"), works primarily in kiln-formed glass and bronze to create contemporary figurative and abstract works which speak of life, growth and revelation. However, you may also find silver, steel, ceramic, paint or fiber amoung the sway in order for VanneBrightyn to acheive just the perfect texture, color and effect for each of her visionary works. Each and every medium she works herself: from the complex mold-making which begins the process for glass and bronze down to the cold-working/chasing of the materials, the sewing of the fibers, and lastly the patinas which render the final depth and expression to the works.

VanneBrightyn lives and works in Taos, New Mexico, "place of my heart and soul", she states. Her glass studio is located next to the National Forest in the foothills overlooking Taos and her mold-making studio is located in Taos at Artifex. Her partner, Michael Walker, is also a sculptor and is currently the most collectable art-knife maker in the world.

About her life: Born in Dallas, Texas, VanneBrightyn began at age 14 with a career in the performing arts. She has graced the stage with such extraordinary talents as Gene Kelly, Bob Hope, and Ginger Rogers. Although VanneBrightyn has acted, modeled, and served as a spokesperson on a weekly television show, her primary love, focus and mastery was in dance. In 1977 she was the Artistic Director of Sundance Professional Dance Artists, a company working in both concert and commercial performance venues. Her resume in dance performance and choreography is extensive.

Since 1976, VanneBrightyn also worked in fiber arts as an aside to the intense, fast pace of performance art. She owned and operated a gift manufacturing business where her designs were hand-sewn by 32 women and sold across the country through the Los Angeles and New York Trade Marts. She was offered a show of her original fiber art-works by a New York gallery in 1979, but turned it down due a packed performing and manufacturing schedule.

In 1984, she suddenly found herself in Taos. She was vacationing for a week and never left. This unexpected move thrust her into a new world which intensified her knowledge and passion for the visual arts. She became the Director of the Rod Goebel Gallery, applying her expertise of directing and marketing performing artists to visual art. However, VanneBrightyn missed dance and moved back to Los Angeles at the beginning of 1990. Coming home from a rehearsal late one evening, she was hit by a drunk driver, ending the possibility of continuing her career in dance. Her rehabilitation took several years. She taught as much as she could physically manage, her students winning the ballet competition at "Youth at the Greek", a Los Angeles city-wide theater dance competition in 1997 and choreographed "The Nutcracker Ballet" for the City of Los Angeles in 1998.

During her rehabilitation, VanneBrightyn turned her main focus to visual arts, as dance was physically difficult and painful. For 5 years she chaired an annual art event for a large California non-profit. She taught art weekly in several different media (including fiber, beads, sculpture, and fused glass) and took the opportunity for extensive self-exploration and learning. She designed a line of jewelry and her designs were featured in Women's Wear Daily, Accent, and Accessory magazines. She began to be invited to teach across the country in fiber art and was invited to teach nationally at acclaimed art schools and conferences such as the Medicino Art Center, the Taos Institute of the Arts, Embellishment, Convergence (National Handweaver's Guild), and Bead Expo. She wrote and published a book on weaving with beads. Her art was purchased by private collectors and the Smithsonian.

About her current artwork: At the end of 1999, Delinda moved back to Taos and stopped teaching so she could focus solely on her own art. In 2003, she decided to change her primary medium to glass and bronze. She was most interested in kiln-formed glass, particularly pate de verre techniques. In 2005, Delinda traveled to Switzerland to study with master glass artist Linda Ethier. She has attended the Bullseye Glass Learning Center in Portland, Oregon, studied with Alicia Lome in pate de verre techniques and again with Linda Ethier in kiln-casting. During this time she experimented and perfected the techniques necessary in order to realize what she envisions in glass.

Today she works in the rigorous processes necessary to render her work in sculptural kiln-formed glass, utilizing a combination of pate de verre and solid glass casting techniques. Her work is clearly influenced by her past career in dance, as the work has been called 'graceful', 'moving', 'powerful' and 'deeply rooted with meaning and intention'.
"The change to sculpture was natural for me," states VanneBrightyn. "Although dance is a performance art, it is wholly visual. Dance is about creating lines through space and their relationship to each other in a way which evokes the observer to feel or think about the relationship. To me, sculpture is a similar expression, only fixed in time, and therefore, timeless."

VanneBrightyn is also inspired by fellow artists living and working in Taos. Maurice Lowe, who was an apprentice to Henry Moore and was professor of sculpture at Penn Graduate School of Fine Arts, is a complete inspiration, mentor, and friend for VanneBrightyn. Peter Chinni, a sculptor and painter who is in museums and private collectoions throughout North America and Europe, is also a friend and mentor, providing valuable critique and encouragement. Jack Smith, a nationally renowed portrait and still life painter, has recently encouraged VanneBrightyn to paint in his style of oil on copper which, Vanne Brightyn says, "has given me a fresh look at color and perspective in my work. I am infinitely fortunate to know and collaborate with each of these incredible artists."

About her life in Taos: Besides her art, VanneBrightyn is very active in the community of Taos. She currently serves on the board of directors for Taos Search and Rescue. VanneBrightyn is a certified search-dog team with her K-9 white shepherd "Zatoichi" and also serves as K-9 Unit Leader and Training Officer for Taos Search and Rescue. "People, animals, the wilderness, the arts...these are my passions", she responds when asked about her volunteer work, "And service is a part of me. As I must breathe to live, giving back to community is an intrinsic relationship to living and my life." Sundance Performing Arts Center in Taos is a community space owned by VanneBrightyn and is available at low cost to performing and visual artists for classes, shows and events.

VanneBrightyn is a member of Glass Alliance - New Mexico, a guild comprised of artists, galleries, and collectors of contemporary studio art glass whose mission is to further the development and appreciation of contemporary studio art glass. This year, with 3 other artists working in glass, she rented the studio and purchased equipment left in Taos by Chihully. Together they have founded and opened the Taos Institute for Glass Arts to further the knowedge of studio art glass. Delinda has served on the board of directors for The Taos Center for the Arts for the last seven years, thus promoting both visual and performing arts in Taos.

VanneBrightyn has exhibited at LewAllen Contemporary (Santa Fe, NM), Hawthorne Gallery (Springfield, MO), Winterowd Gallery (Santa Fe, NM), Artifex (Taos, NM), Henningsen Fine Art (Taos, NM), Salon MarGraff (Santa Fe, NM) and The Smithsonian Museum (Washington, DC). She is currently represented by The Edge (Santa Fe) and Hawthorne Gallery (Springfield, MO) and is in private collections throughout the United States.

	Delinda VanneBrightyn Fine Art Sculpture in Glass and Bronze





	HOME BIO PROCESS SCULPTURE WALL WORKS ARCHITECTURAL UPCOMING SHOWS GALLERIES











	THE ARTIST'S BIOGRAPHY





	"Art is a passionate dance of vision and skill, surrender and control, innate wisdom and abandoned whimsy, and compels that which is within *to exist without."* *Delinda VanneBrightyn, 2004*





	Sculptor, Delinda VanneBrightyn (pronounced, "van bri ten"), works primarily in kiln-formed glass and bronze to create contemporary figurative and abstract works which speak of life, growth and revelation. However, you may also find silver, steel, ceramic, paint or fiber amoung the sway in order for VanneBrightyn to acheive just the perfect texture, color and effect for each of her visionary works. Each and every medium she works herself: from the complex mold-making which begins the process for glass and bronze down to the cold-working/chasing of the materials, the sewing of the fibers, and lastly the patinas which render the final depth and expression to the works. VanneBrightyn lives and works in Taos, New Mexico, "place of my heart and soul", she states. Her glass studio is located next to the National Forest in the foothills overlooking Taos and her mold-making studio is located in Taos at Artifex. Her partner, Michael Walker, is also a sculptor and is currently the most collectable art-knife maker in the world. About her life: Born in Dallas, Texas, VanneBrightyn began at age 14 with a career in the performing arts. She has graced the stage with such extraordinary talents as Gene Kelly, Bob Hope, and Ginger Rogers. Although VanneBrightyn has acted, modeled, and served as a spokesperson on a weekly television show, her primary love, focus and mastery was in dance. In 1977 she was the Artistic Director of Sundance Professional Dance Artists, a company working in both concert and commercial performance venues. Her resume in dance performance and choreography is extensive. Since 1976, VanneBrightyn also worked in fiber arts as an aside to the intense, fast pace of performance art. She owned and operated a gift manufacturing business where her designs were hand-sewn by 32 women and sold across the country through the Los Angeles and New York Trade Marts. She was offered a show of her original fiber art-works by a New York gallery in 1979, but turned it down due a packed performing and manufacturing schedule. In 1984, she suddenly found herself in Taos. She was vacationing for a week and never left. This unexpected move thrust her into a new world which intensified her knowledge and passion for the visual arts. She became the Director of the Rod Goebel Gallery, applying her expertise of directing and marketing performing artists to visual art. However, VanneBrightyn missed dance and moved back to Los Angeles at the beginning of 1990. Coming home from a rehearsal late one evening, she was hit by a drunk driver, ending the possibility of continuing her career in dance. Her rehabilitation took several years. She taught as much as she could physically manage, her students winning the ballet competition at "Youth at the Greek", a Los Angeles city-wide theater dance competition in 1997 and choreographed "The Nutcracker Ballet" for the City of Los Angeles in 1998. During her rehabilitation, VanneBrightyn turned her main focus to visual arts, as dance was physically difficult and painful. For 5 years she chaired an annual art event for a large California non-profit. She taught art weekly in several different media (including fiber, beads, sculpture, and fused glass) and took the opportunity for extensive self-exploration and learning. She designed a line of jewelry and her designs were featured in Women's Wear Daily, Accent, and Accessory magazines. She began to be invited to teach across the country in fiber art and was invited to teach nationally at acclaimed art schools and conferences such as the Medicino Art Center, the Taos Institute of the Arts, Embellishment, Convergence (National Handweaver's Guild), and Bead Expo. She wrote and published a book on weaving with beads. Her art was purchased by private collectors and the Smithsonian. About her current artwork: At the end of 1999, Delinda moved back to Taos and stopped teaching so she could focus solely on her own art. In 2003, she decided to change her primary medium to glass and bronze. She was most interested in kiln-formed glass, particularly pate de verre techniques. In 2005, Delinda traveled to Switzerland to study with master glass artist Linda Ethier. She has attended the Bullseye Glass Learning Center in Portland, Oregon, studied with Alicia Lome in pate de verre techniques and again with Linda Ethier in kiln-casting. During this time she experimented and perfected the techniques necessary in order to realize what she envisions in glass. Today she works in the rigorous processes necessary to render her work in sculptural kiln-formed glass, utilizing a combination of pate de verre and solid glass casting techniques. Her work is clearly influenced by her past career in dance, as the work has been called 'graceful', 'moving', 'powerful' and 'deeply rooted with meaning and intention'. "The change to sculpture was natural for me," states VanneBrightyn. "Although dance is a performance art, it is wholly visual. Dance is about creating lines through space and their relationship to each other in a way which evokes the observer to feel or think about the relationship. To me, sculpture is a similar expression, only fixed in time, and therefore, timeless." VanneBrightyn is also inspired by fellow artists living and working in Taos. Maurice Lowe, who was an apprentice to Henry Moore and was professor of sculpture at Penn Graduate School of Fine Arts, is a complete inspiration, mentor, and friend for VanneBrightyn. Peter Chinni, a sculptor and painter who is in museums and private collectoions throughout North America and Europe, is also a friend and mentor, providing valuable critique and encouragement. Jack Smith, a nationally renowed portrait and still life painter, has recently encouraged VanneBrightyn to paint in his style of oil on copper which, Vanne Brightyn says, "has given me a fresh look at color and perspective in my work. I am infinitely fortunate to know and collaborate with each of these incredible artists." About her life in Taos: Besides her art, VanneBrightyn is very active in the community of Taos. She currently serves on the board of directors for Taos Search and Rescue. VanneBrightyn is a certified search-dog team with her K-9 white shepherd "Zatoichi" and also serves as K-9 Unit Leader and Training Officer for Taos Search and Rescue. "People, animals, the wilderness, the arts...these are my passions", she responds when asked about her volunteer work, "And service is a part of me. As I must breathe to live, giving back to community is an intrinsic relationship to living and my life." Sundance Performing Arts Center in Taos is a community space owned by VanneBrightyn and is available at low cost to performing and visual artists for classes, shows and events. VanneBrightyn is a member of Glass Alliance - New Mexico, a guild comprised of artists, galleries, and collectors of contemporary studio art glass whose mission is to further the development and appreciation of contemporary studio art glass. This year, with 3 other artists working in glass, she rented the studio and purchased equipment left in Taos by Chihully. Together they have founded and opened the Taos Institute for Glass Arts to further the knowedge of studio art glass. Delinda has served on the board of directors for The Taos Center for the Arts for the last seven years, thus promoting both visual and performing arts in Taos. VanneBrightyn has exhibited at LewAllen Contemporary (Santa Fe, NM), Hawthorne Gallery (Springfield, MO), Winterowd Gallery (Santa Fe, NM), Artifex (Taos, NM), Henningsen Fine Art (Taos, NM), Salon MarGraff (Santa Fe, NM) and The Smithsonian Museum (Washington, DC). She is currently represented by The Edge (Santa Fe) and Hawthorne Gallery (Springfield, MO) and is in private collections throughout the United States.