index

Bronze sculpture by Sedona artist, Deanne McKeown. Some pieces are created in editions while others are unique castings. Please inquire concerning availability, detailed images and/or shipping information. Each sculpture is accompanied by detailed provenence, artist's statement and biography, and care instructions.

"Forest Spirits" speaks of a time in human history when people lived close to the earth, attuned to the cycle of seasons and in commune with the plants and animals who shared their environment. This young Celtic girl in the springtime of life would have matriculated a rite of passage and been accepted as a woman by her clan. This is the moment I have tied with a 9th century Irish legend telling of Deirdre, the beautiful daughter of a Druid chieftain. One winter's day she saw a raven feeding in a field. " I could love a man with hair like the raven, cheeks like blood, and skin like snow," she said. "There is such a man,"said her nurse. "His name is Naoise, but he is the son of your father's greatest enemy."

In spite of their family's enmity, Deirdre contrived to meet Naoise and they eventually eloped to Scotland. Like Romeo and Juliet, their story does not end happily as neither fathers no brothers would allow their union. But their love lives on in legend and their likeness oft appears forever entwined in the intricate designs of Celtic knot work.

"Best of Show Award" Sedona Arts Center Member's Show, 2005

Everyone feels at least some sense of joy and renewal when spring rolls around each year. These desert critters have come through the winter with more than a little pent-up energy that just has to be expressed.

This sculpture is part of a series of miniatures based on the wild creatures of my home in the high desert wilderness surrounding Sedona.

A pair of bronze ravens are mounted on a large stone in our front yard. For a time after they took up residence there, wild ravens gathered now and then in a nearby apple tree. They curiously waited to hear what these new girls on the block might have to say, but have long since found the two silent newcomers all too boring.

So...I created a third individual, one who is caught in the act of gathering nesting material. What wild bachelor raven could possibly resist heckling a newly mated father-to-be, bent on a course of obedient domesticity?

This raven is life-size and designed for outdoor display. It lends itself very well to mounting on a wall or deck railing or possibly on a stone plinth with the application of a name or house number. This image shows an example of basing for indoor display.

"First Prize, Sculpture", American Academy of Women Artists Exhibition,

Mill Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 2006

The Indian tribes of the Great Plains believed that invisible presences existed which could be contacted to bring harmony into their lives. Through vision quests they sought to bring the supernatural and natural worlds into close contact. During a vision quest, the individual experienced a higher level of consciousness and would be visited by an animal spirit who then became his spirit guide throughout life. The animal helper carried petitions and prayers to the Great Spirit and was the embodiment of personal power.

Among the Lakota Sioux the raven was a potent spirit guide -- mummified birds were wrapped in ceremonial red flannel strips and placed with other meaningful symbols in a personal medicine bag.

The most recent castings of this piece include handles near the top on each side which are embellished with beads and black feathers.

"Edgar" rests serenely on a beautiful leather bound edition of the collected works of Edgar Allan Poe. The branch and raven are not attached to the Poe volume in order that the book can be opened and read.

A smaller version of this piece is also available. It depicts a small calling raven on a branch and rests on a pocket book of Poe's works.

Have you ever worn a red hat or scarf and been startled by the whir of a diving hummingbird, come to investigate if you are food or friend?

Through eons of conditioning these wee, beautiful creatures are drawn to shades of crimson like steel to a magnet. No matter that the "flower" is hat shaped and sits atop a being that would otherwise be considered threatening. The implicit promise of that wonderful red is irresistible.

To encounter a hummingbird hovering inches before your eyes is a rare blessing, too soon ended, and always remembered.

This piece was inspired by a visit to a 12th century churchyard on the remote island of Inis Meain, one of three Aran Isles off the western coast of Ireland. The church itself is a primitive oratory - a tiny structure built entirely of stacked stone. The gravestones are for the most part, laid flat on the earth and covered with lichens, their inscriptions nearly worn away by time and fierce Atlantic winds.

In the midst of this fascinating jumble of historic stones is a large round slab with a void carved in the center. At first we mistook that shape for a quern, or grinding stone. However, upon further investigation we discovered it was a symbol that reaches far back in time. The ancient Celts believed that such stones had healing properties and were also windows on the Otherworld, that by looking through one might glimpse eternity.

I have combined this symbol with ravens, a bird that is thought to have magical abilities in many cultures throughout the world. In Celtic mythology ravens are powerful symbols and are strongly associated with magic.

Picasso insisted that everything is miraculous - it is miraculous he said, that one did not melt in one's bath.