Gene Fenton Presents to PARSEC

From SIGMA, the Official Newsletter of PARSEC - June 2000

Pittsburgh PA -PARSEC has two new members: Joey Reynolds, a Dr. Who and video fan who is moving to Pittsburgh from Florida; and Gene Fenton, an artist from Indiana, PA, who just happened to be our guest speaker! The raffle was won by Jim Whalen, who took a book. Heidi Pilewski donated a pair of baseball tickets to that night's game, which Mary Soon Lee cheerfully accepted.

May's guest was Gene Fenton, a sculptor in papier mache from Indiana, PA. His works are mostly of dinosaurs, inspired by such diverse sources as art-history books, paleontology books, and old monster movies. Gene brought six pieces with him, four finished and two in progress, and a host of photographs of others. Ann was particularly impressed with the photograph of the 3-foot beetle, as well as a tusked draconic-looking fellow inspired by an old painting.

Gene starts with a structure of cardboard, tape, and other matrials like balloons or detrgent bottles. Instead of applying the papier mache layer-by-thin-layer he treats it like clay, molding thick layers of it with his hands. When dry, he uses bone-carving knives and sandpaper to detail his creations before giving them color and life with auto and house paint. When a piece is finally finished, about two to three months after being beun, such ordinary materials as paper towels and tissue paper have been transformed into fantastic creatures,some of which have never before been seen by human eyes.

Gene's been creating dinosaurs, insects, and other fafulae for about five years now. Each model takes about three or four weeks to build, working 10 to 15 hours a week, and then another month to dry completely. If themodels he brought with him are any example,he's got a lot of talent at not just sculpting them, but in coloration and detailing as well. (Ann *really* liked the one with the tusks!)

Gene and his dinosaurs will be at the Three Rivers Arts Festival in the PPG Wintergarden from May 27 through June 19th. If you'd like to learn more about Gene and his artwork, visit him at the Three Rivers Arts Festival or at his webpage: http://www.genefenton.com.

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