8" Loon by Dale Ford *Paddling in the Pond*

Inuit art: Loon
Inuit Artist: Dale Ford
Size: 8" across (7" horizontal), 4" high, 3" wide
Community: Goose Bay, Labrador 1/22
Material: Stone
id: d-8830fjjy

How does one think of a carving as a masterpiece worthy of an art museum but at the same time, be taken by the sweetness of the piece?

From my point of view, this loon's sweetness is a comination of its innocence and its joyful nature.

Look at the bird's wide innocent eyes, his pudgy (juvenile) cheeks and his beak. 

Dale has carved the beak on an angle that is slightly upturned, just like the endearing "upturned"  nose on a young child.

These three facial features alone are heartwarming.

I also love how Dale has illustrated the bird's feathers by scoring and etching the black stone to release the underlying white which becomes the smaller details of the feathers.

The effect is and somewhat unusual.

And isn't that the magical bit we look for in our art?

The piece de la resistance that melts our heart and quickens our pulse?

Dale Ford has mastered this loon.

See our January 2022 blog/communique Spotlight on the Colour Black.

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