Okanagan Real Estate Umbrella - Vernon BC REALTOR Brenda Ellis, aka Brell: "The Sparrow Project

Due to the enthusiastic response of the first, there will be a second presentation of the Sparrow Project in Vernon to which you are most cordially invited to attend.

Imagine a flock of beautiful glass birds (Sparrows) suspended from the ceiling of The Canadian Clay and Glass Museum in Waterloo, Ontario, from April 3 to June 19, 2011, during Julie Oakes’ solo exhibition, Swounds. The gallery, itself, is spectacular – a dramatic, architectonic space with a twenty foot expanse to the ceiling and, below, a polished concrete floor reflecting the light from the recessed windows. A simple hymn, sung by opera soprano Neema Bickerstethcomes on the sound system. Then, there is a cataclysmic shock as one of the beautiful birds falls from the flock and shatters on the floor below …“If God so sees the sparrows fall, you know he loves you too” is the pivotal prompt before the ‘death.’

Sparrows is currently a work in progress addressing the specificity and fragility of life. In order to facilitate the fabrication of the flock, we would like to invite you to a private preview, offering and explanation of the project, Sparrows, at Ashpa Naira Gallery, Sunday, September 26 between the hours of three and six. We hope you are able to join us. RSVP to ashpanaira@telus.net or julieoakes@earthlink.net by September 24 please

Sincerely,
Julie Oakes
Maria Carolina Sanchez de Bustamante

Concept gouache for Sparrows Oakes 2010

The first forty birds made for Sparrows, an installation in glass by Julie Oakes, comprise a limited offering. Oakes made a wax model of a flying sparrow from which Berengo Studio in Murano,Italy, fabricated prototypes. These birds will be the detailed foreground sparrows that will make up the flock for Sparrows. Each bird is approximately 10 x 8 x 7 inches, numbered, and costs $1500. The size varies as no two birds are identical for each bird is individually made. There will be no profit from the sale of the first forty birds. Instead, each sparrow sold begets two new birds to be used in the exhibition, Sparrows, Swounds.
Each of these first forty birds can be ordered with hangers for suspending them or as free standing birds. They are in clear glass or in opalescent glass. The numbered birds can also be included in the exhibition at the Canadian Clay and Glass Museum according to the preference of the collector but only the birds with hangers can be included in the exhibition and only if the owner of that bird designates its inclusion. The owners of the first forty birds, whether their bird is included in the exhibition or not, will be acknowledged as supporters of the project.