By Martie Thompson
editor@floridanewsline.com
For the months of December and January, artist Brenda Councill has held an Open Studio at the Historic Mandarin Store and Post Office to allow community members to observe her as she works on her sculpture of Harriet Beecher Stowe, soon to be presented to the Mandarin Museum. It’s a homecoming of sorts for Councill, as she lived in Mandarin as a young girl when her father, a CSX executive, was transferred to Jacksonville. She lived here until 1987 when she moved to New York City to open her art gallery and continue her career. She still has family in the area — three sisters and a brother — so she visits Mandarin frequently. She currently lives in Blowing Rock, NC, “on top of a mountain.” In Mandarin, she is well known for her series of “Old Mandarin” limited edition lithographs, featuring iconic Mandarin landmarks such as Mandarin Road, the Mandarin Community Club, and the Episcopal Church of our Saviour. Councill hand colored each one with pastels and said she had produced thousands of them before the final one in 1991.
Q: Have you always been interested in art?
A: Definitely. I was always drawing and coloring from a young age. My mother actually kept me out of kindergarten because all I wanted to do was paint. When I was seven years old, I painted the World War I winged sculpture that is in Jacksonville’s Memorial Park (“Life.”) I won a competition with this painting and as a result, was able to exhibit my works at the Jacksonville Children’s Museum.
Q: Who inspired you to be an artist?
A: My parents encouraged me a lot. My mom drove me to many after school art lessons. My second grade teacher at San Jose Elementary was Janet Jones, who started the first initiative to protect the Patriarch Oaks. I credit her with helping me direct my creative efforts to painting and sculpting. And then my seventh grade history teacher at Dupont Middle School, Miss Carol Slosek (now Mrs. Carol Russell), inspired my love of history. I always try to infuse history in my art. Finally, when I went to Florida Junior College (as it was then known), I had Mark Howard as my art teacher. He was formative and taught me printmaking, etching, and engraving.
Q: How did the idea for the Harriet Beecher Stowe sculpture come about?
A: About three years ago, I was talking with Sandy Arpen of the Mandarin Museum about how the museum needed a permanent sculpture to honor Harriet Beecher Stowe. I made a little scale model of what I had in mind and everyone loved it. We developed the idea for the sculpture and then started the fundraising process to make it a reality. Donors are vital and we have found great support from the community. Plus we are asking for corporate donations. We have found that people are very interested in having a permanent memorial to Harriet Beecher Stowe.
Q: Can you describe your vision for this sculpture?
A: I felt like we needed to tell a story. Harriet Beecher Stowe was devoted to education and helping freed slaves after the war. This sculpture is a representation of two young boys who would have worked in her orange grove. Perhaps it is after their shift and she has them sitting on orange crates and is teaching them their letters or numbers. We feel that this helps to tell the story of her educational initiative. She left such a rich legacy.
Q: What is the process to make this sculpture?
A: I’m making a life-sized sculpture out of oil-based clay. It will go to the foundry in February, where they will make a mold and then pour hot molten bronze into the mold which will displace the wax. This is known as the “lost wax process” and it’s been used for thousands of years. We hope to have a formal unveiling of the sculpture at the Mandarin Museum, between the museum and the 1898 St. Joseph’s Mission Schoolhouse for African American Children, in the fall.
Photo by Martie Thompson
Brenda Councill working on her sculpture.
