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Leo E. Osborne
SAA Master Signature Artist, NSS Fellow, AFC
Sculpture, Painting & Poetry |
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LEO E. OSBORNE
Born in 1947, Leo recalls his preschool years living in Marshfield, Massachusetts at his grandmother’s farm, where chickens, ducks and a goat named Mary, after his grandmother, were the run of the day. He spent endless hours climbing trees, flying kites and walking along stonewalls where in summer the tiger lilies grew well over his head. He began schooling in Pembroke, Massachusetts where his parents, Walter and Judith took up residence on the shores of Big Sandy Pond. This brought Leo years of woodland adventures training wild Mallard ducks to feed from his hand and to follow him into the house with their ducklings. He still climbed trees, but with a more dangerous spirit about him and he is one of the fortunate souls who can remember, ”swinging from birches.” With the neighborhood boys he fished daily in the posted “ no fishing” pond and learned to smoke stolen cigarettes that were kept in a hollow stump in the forest. It was in those forest settings that he first felt the world of spirit…the old souls that were present in those sacred places. He was obviously a constant source of interest for his parents.
Thus began Leo’s fascination with the “wild” side of life and the world of nature and spirit. He also began drawing what he felt. During high school years, he won a scholarship from the Art Instruction School of Minneapolis and entered a home schooling course. This was furthered when he was trained at New England School of Art in Boston. He recalls wonderful instructors who were all painters from the Gloucester School of Painting and taught Leo about the “finer” side of art even though he was taking a course in commercial illustration. Returning home each day from the city, he would join with his neighbor David Carroll and wife Laurette. David had taken the position of the high school art teacher. Leo feels that he could not have experienced a better mentor than David with whom he spent hours drawing, listening to public radio, writing poetry, playing wiffle ball and drinking Guinness Stout. As a teenager and budding young artist, these were powerful moments in time.
Early showings of Osborne’s paintings were seen around Cape Cod, where he spent many summers working and surfing. He recalls that around 1968 he was the guiding force behind an art event in Pembroke that they called the Pauper’s Art Festival. Moving to the Maine Coast in 1970, he “dropped out” in order to live in the woods, 2 miles from pavement. In the years to come he worked a short stint at Sears, actually selling auto parts {unbelievable} and later to work in the fish industry and then as a shepherd of 300 sheep and to put pin stripping on autos. He began painting signs to make money and then to carve them in 1974 when his daughter Rachel was born. Thus began the evolution into his bird carving period where he showed throughout North America and won many of his numerous and prestigious awards. In 1990 he moved to the beautiful Pacific Northwest and furthered his interest in bronze sculpture and has since produced many works. He is found often at the foundry overseeing new pieces and working with his favorite patineur and friend Tim Norman.
In 2002, Leo and Jane Lane moved into a new location on Guemes Island in the San Juan Islands of Washington State. Captivated by the love and joyful spirit of this island, they have together co-created MILKWOOD STUDIO & HOME GALLERY. This cottage by the sea is now referred to as “a living museum”. The studio, sculpture gardens, home and guest cottage are fused together as one entity. There is no separation says Leo, as this spiritually creative journey of his and Jane’s encompasses all aspects of being in the moment.
Leo continues to investigate many mediums and potentialities in art, as with his paintings, which he refers to as “acrylusion”, the fusion of acrylic paint over gold leaf gilded panels. He refuses to get locked into a niche and play the same tune over and over. He has always been a sort of rebel. His philosophy is that ART transcends all borders and boundaries. Each creation of our hands comes from the heart and mind and reflects the creative spirit and energy of the Universal Maker. Therefore, we must honor it as sacred. As caretakers of this planet, we must in all hospitality and with consciousness leave this life having given back something of beauty. We must be led by spirit and like so many artists prior, we are storytellers of our time. Painting and sculpture are rhythm, musical form, mood, feeling, the jazz and the energy within. Release that from wood or with paint and the story unfolds.
The artist is the instrument for release. The mind moves and the tool walks on its own. Become one with the tool, one with the medium, blend, move together, feel the music and feel life.
Where will we find Leo and his work heading? One cannot be certain, for he knows not where spirit will lead him. He remains open for all possibilities to become present in his life and work. In doing so, Leo E. Osborne keeps the dream alive, allows for the mystery to unfold, creating mystology and striving for excellence.
Memberships
NATIONAL SCULPTURE SOCIETY
SOCIETY OF ANIMAL ARTISTS, MASTER SIGNATURE ARTIST
ARTISTS FOR CONSERVATION
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Permanent Public Collections
THE LEO LAMBIEL MUSEUM, Orcas Island, WA
ISLAND HOSPITAL, CANCER CARE UNIT, Anacortes, WA
ROCKPORT ART CENTER, Rockport, TX
BURLINGTON PUBLIC LIBRARY, Burlington, WA
CITY OF ANACORTES, WA
CITY OF PORT ANGELES, WA
THE VIRGINIA MUSEUM OF ANIMAL ART, The Worrell Collection, Virginia
MAYO CLINIC, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
BROOKGREEN GARDENS, Pawleys Island, South Carolina
CITY OF WENATCHEE, Wenatchee, WA
LEIGH YAWKEY WOODSON ART MUSEUM, Wausau, WI
GENESEE COUNTRY MUSEUM, Gallery of Sporting Art, Mumford, NY
SOUTHERN ALLEGHENIES MUSEUM OF ART, Loretto, PA,
by the Richard King Mellon Foundation
MAINE AUDUBON SOCIETY, Falmouth, Maine
WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE, Worcester, MA
LOVELAND HIGH PLAINS ARTS COUNCIL, Loveland, CO
NATURE CENTER AT SNAKE LAKE, Tacoma, WA
MBNA CORPORATION, Camden, Maine
FOREST HILLS CEMETERY, Boston, MA
BELLEVUE REGIONAL LIBRARY, Bellevue, WA
FOREST LAWN CEMETERY, Buffalo, NY
THE NATIONAL WILDLIFE ART MUSEUM, Jackson Hole,
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Awards
(Selections from the complete list dating back to 1985 )
Elected Fellow of the National Sculpture Society, 2011
Appointed Master Signature Artist of The Society of Animal Artists 2009
The People’s Choice Award, Art at the Port, Anacortes Arts Festival
The Evelyn Haller Memorial Award for Interpretive Sculpture, The Society of Animal Artists
Silver Medal, National Sculpture Society
The John Cavanaugh Memorial Prize, National Sculpture Society
9 Awards of Excellence, Society of Animal Artists
4 Don Miller Sculpture Awards, Society of Animal Artists
Margaret Hexter Prize, National Sculpture Society
Best of Show Awards: The Ward Museum of Wildfowl Art, International
Bird Carving Annual Competition
Northwest Wildlife, Eastern Oregon State College
Pacific Rim Wildlife Art Show
Dremel/DU Masters Carving Competition
Minneapolis Western and Wildlife Art Show
Southeastern Wildlife Art Exposition
1st Best In World, 2nd and 3rd Place Awards, The Ward Museum of Wildfowl Art, World Bird Carving Competition
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Published
AMERICAN ART COLLECTOR MAGAZINE
SOUTHWEST ART MAGAZINE, MY WORLD ARTICLE
SCULPTURE REVIEW MAGAZINE, FEATURED ARTICLE
PINTORES DE LA NATURALEZA, PUBLISHED BY SEO/BIRDLIFE, MADRID, SPAIN
SOUTHWEST ART MAGAZINE, FEATURE ARTICLE, NATURE’S MAGIC
INTERNATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION MAGAZINE
WILDFOWL CARVING AND COLLECTING MAGAZINE
WILDLIFE ART MAGAZINE
EQUINE IMAGES MAGAZINE
INTERNATIONAL FINE ART COLLECTING MAGAZINE
TAOS MAGAZINE
WILDFOWL CARVING (BOOK, INCLUDES ENTIRE CHAPTER)
REVUE ART MAGAZINE
INFORMART MAGAZINE
WILDFOWL ART (THE WARD MUSEUM MAGAZINE)
BIRD CARVING BASICS (TWO BOOKS ON TECHNIQUES)
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