Inspired by a visit to the Renaissance Festival, John Conklin of Webster Township took an Applewood tree and turned it into a work of art that will be on display next month during ArtPrize.

Conklin created a life size sculpture of a female dancer called “Spill the Wine.” He entered his sculpture into the acclaimed art show not knowing much about the competition and he’s now been invited to show his work at The B.O.B in downtown Grand Rapids.

ArtPrize is an annual international art competition and cultural event goes from Sept. 13-28. The Sun Times News caught up with Conklin to ask him about this cool opportunity.

“I didn’t know that much about ArtPrize and somebody said I should enter my piece,” he said. “I was surprised that I got in and excited that The B.O.B. reached out to me and has agreed to show my sculpture.”

He said the sculpture was “inspired by a dancer I sketched at the Renaissance Festival who wore a dress of long strips of cloth that flowed around her as she danced.”

“It was fluid movement as she danced and I was fascinated by it,” Conklin recalled.

Conklin’s journey as an artist began after he graduated from Dexter High School in 1979. He took art classes at Washtenaw Community College with Jon Onye Lockard, who was an American muralist, painter, professor, historian and activist, and was also a founding faculty member of the Department of Afro-American and African Studies at the University of Michigan.

“I was also beginning my career as a Tile and Marble man, but I just didn’t know it yet,” Conklin said with a chuckle while looking back at that time in his life. “I continued doing tile and marble and I kind of let my art slide until 2003 when I went back to Washtenaw Community College and Professor Lockhard was still teaching there. I took Jon’s class over and over again with a focus on figure drawing and portrait art. Jon and I became friends and he was my mentor.”

Conklin assisted Lockard with the restoration of a mural located at Mosher-Jordan Hall at the University of Michigan that is titled, “Visions of Destiny.” Next to his signature on the mural, Lockard noted he was assisted by Conklin and another student.

Conklin describes himself as an inspirational artist.

“If I see something that inspires me or an idea that interests me, I pursue it,” he said. “I am a painter, a sculptor, and I sketch as often as I can and usually carry a sketchbook with me.”

In creating his ArtPrize sculpture, Conklin said the layout of the body proportions for this sculpture was most important. He said he had an idea where her face, torso, knee and leg should be. The human figure is seven and a half to eight heads high.

“I laid it out with chalk and so I knew where everything was going to be before I took a chisel to it,” he explained. “I wanted her to look organic like the apple tree she came from and to also be a fine piece of art.” 

Of his process, he said he sometimes worked late into the night and probably had 300 hours into making her. He said his wife would tease him and say he was spending more time with his sculpture than with her.

The tree he used was from his wife’suncle’s house. 

“We had many memories around this tree,” Conklin said. “It was next to the cooking area where we would make lamb shish kabob at family gatherings. When it was time to cut it down for firewood, I just couldn’t do it because I always liked the tree. I liked the twist in it and the movement. It looked like a dancer to me. I mean I often see images in nature like imaginary in leaves on the trees. Or you know, a tree itself.”

The name of the piece “Spill the Wine” came to him as an answer to a question about how he chose to depict his dancer.

“I wanted her to be sensual with a sexy, naughty side,” he said.

Of the end result, he said he wanted to show movement so he put her on a turntable so she can spin around like a dance partner.

To see the sculpture in person it might be worth a visit to the ArtPrize event at The B.O.B at 20 Monroe Ave NW, in Grand Rapids.