Tess Little

Bob Coates, Tess Little, Jim Little

Tess Little eats, sleeps and lives art. "Art just surrounds us," she says. "The grandchildren think everyone makes art." (She has sculpted for 30 years. Her husband Jim is a photographer. And her son has begun to dabble in art.)

Things in her life are quickly compared to art: cooking for 150 guests or decorating her home, a converted barn. "It's just like a large sculpture," she says repeatedly.

Little's sculptures generally have a serious tone. She coordinated the Heritage Sculpture in Dayton and the REACH (Realizing Ethic Awareness and Cultural Heritage) Across Dayton program. She also teaches sculpture at Dayton's St. Claire Community College.

Salvador Pigali, sponsored by Hans French, was an opportunity to "just have fun." The pig was designed during a weekend of brainstorming, and Pigali began as her son's idea. It's based on one of Salvador Dali's sculptures of a bronze elephant; it includes two melting clocks from his familiar painting, "Persistence of Memory."

Currently, Little is finishing her Glorious Women series, working on a Millennium project and planning a show at St. Claire for January.

Life doesn't imitate art, in Little's case. It is art.