Creek Side Art, featuring the artwork of Mary Ida Rolape

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About Mary Ida Rolape

Mary Ida Rolape's artistic objective is to use the golden sheen of bronze, the warm depth of wood and the cool glow of light through marble to capture the beauty of Southern Maryland. Her subjects range from the graceful great blue heron, through colorful songbirds to old-time farm scenes.Mary Ida Rolape
Instead of using a foundry to make exact duplicates of each piece, Rolape performs the whole casting process herself. A master sculpture is created from either wood or clay. She makes a mold from the master and then pours bronze or crushed marble mixed with acrylic resin into the mold. The resulting cast sculpture is polished to bring out the sheen of the metal or marble. Since the formulation of metal and each patina's chemical reaction is slightly different, each piece of the limited edition is unique. The wood master is either stained or painted and provides a different perspective of the image.

For many years Rolape explored watercolor and acrylic as her medium of expression. She has taken multiple courses through the Smithsonian Institution's Associates Program and from artists affiliated with the Torpedo Factory. In 1999, her uncle, William Battenfield, an accomplished traditional wood carver, introduced her to wood sculpture. She has since taken additional classes from Master Carver, Roslyn Daisy and has greatly benefited from the guidance of several members of the Southern Maryland Woodcarvers. Now dedicated to her artwork full time, Rolape blends the detailed perfection required of woodcarvers with the freedom offered by materials used in traditional sculpture.

Contact Mary Ida Rolape via email or telephone 301-769-3179

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