John
Leon and James Billiter
Award
Artist Sings a Happy Tune
BY Kate Brauer
Sculptor John Leon has always loved music. In fact, the local artist
says, “I’m a big music fan. If I hadn’t become
a sculptor, I might have been a musician. I think I would have been
just as happy had I been a musician, if my life hadn’t taken
me in this direction.”
Leon’s design for this year’s CEA award, his second
(he also did the 2002 award), uses the new CEA logo designed by
James Billiter in a relief sculpture form that stands about 9 inches
tall. To start, he had a wooden template cut in a wedge shape.
“I wanted to make it a free-standing sculpture,” he
says, “which is the reason for the wedge design.”
Over the wooden template, Leon applied a thin layer of clay, sculpting
details, then made a rubber mold. He cast the awards in hytrocal
and used his own pigments for a finished color that gives the pieces
a terra cotta look. After allowing them to dry for a couple of weeks,
he applied two coats of wax with pigments mixed in, enhancing the
colors and bringing out some of the textures.
Leon, a sculptor for the past three decades, has done commissioned
work for Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Procter & Gamble,
Kroger Co., Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens, Corbett Foundation,
University of Dayton and Jewish Federation of Cincinnati. ©
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Leon | James
Billiter
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