Sculpture and Design by Molly Carpenter

Molly Sanger Carpenter

Portrait Sculpture and Architectural Bas- Relief

contact •resume•artists statement

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News

Featured in visitsalemcountynj.com new Salem County tourism ad campaign

"From the moment I saw sculptor Molly Carpenter's artwork, I made an instant connection with the artist. To me her artwork is aesthetically appealing to the eyes. I find her work very soothing and realistic."- Christine Mistichelli

Price on request

"Fairy Dreams" Painted bas- relief panel with pure gold leaf, 30" x 22.5"

price on request

"Kacy III"

26"h x 14"w painted bas-relief panel with pure gold leaf

price on request

"Kacy II " 26"h x 14"w painted bas-relief panel with pure gold leaf

for sale

Molly will cast only 5 of the Kacy sculptures, each will have a unique finish.

BIOGRAPHY OF MOLLY SANGER CARPENTER

Born in Wilmington, Delaware in 1960, the third child and only daughter of Richard “Dixie” and Margaret “Maggie” Sanger, Molly Sanger Carpenter has lived a life filled with art from the very beginning.

During her childhood, there were many visits to the Delaware Art Museum, and long hours in her bedroom spent quietly drawing. She watched her uncle and grandfather paint, and learned many techniques in elementary art lessons at Tatnall School, which she attended from kindergarten through twelfth grade.

While in high school, she could be found in the portable buildings that served as art classrooms, at the time, practicing stone carving, raku, soft sculpting, and throwing on the potter's wheel. In her senior year she was given the chance to intern for a month with Delaware sculptor Charles Cropper Parks. Through this experience Carpenter gained valuable experience in modeling clay on an armature, casting in fiberglass, and enlarging and reducing sculpture.

At her graduation, she received the first gold medal for art ever awarded by Tatnall.

On Parks' recommendation, Carpenter moved on to Philadelphia to study with Evangelos Frudakis, a well known sculptor and extraordinary teacher. The following years were spent shuttling between Frudakis' studio on Chestnut Street and the nearby Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, where Carpenter also studied. These years proved to be valuable and formative, and Carpenter learned much about anatomy, casting, and technique.

Molly Sanger married Preston Carpenter of Mannington, NJ in 1981, and Molly opened a second-floor studio in their home in Alloway, NJ. During the early eighties, she produced and sold many pieces of sculpture, and entered many regional shows with winning results. While the Carpenters were starting a family of their own, Molly received a major commission from the Delaware Heritage Commission for the Constitutional Compass Rose on Legislative Mall in Dover, This was followed by several private commissions, and the birth of the Carpenters' second child, as well.

In 1990, the Carpenters moved into a farmhouse in Mannington that had been occupied by the Carpenter family for many generations. While she and her husband reared their son Ben and his younger sister Margaret, Molly taught herself how to work directly in concrete, making and selling many garden pieces. Later she made garden sculpture of clay, produced her own molds, and cast cement garden sculpture, while also fulfilling several commissions for works cast in bronze.

Carpenter worked almost exclusively in glass in the late 1990’s. Beginning with a class in flame working, she soon went on to teach herself how to do lost wax frit casting, producing beautifully colored one of a kind sculptures.

Carpenter's work has been widely exhibited throughout the Northeast. Her works have been on view at the Philadelphia Flower Show many times, and at venues in New York City, including the National Arts Club on Gramercy Park with the Catherine Llorrilard Wolfe Society and the Hudson Valley Artists Association, and at the headquarters of the National Sculpture Society. She has also been invited and has exhibited at the Goodwill Games in Lake Placid NY, hosted by Ted Turner. Carpenter and her work have been featured in papers and magazines and in the New York Times. Her sculptures can be found in many private and public collections.

Molly Sanger Carpenter continues to build her art and her career, always exploring new subjects, techniques, and materials. Her present focus is on large-scale, colorfully painted bas- relief wall hanging panels. Many of these are portraits blended with dreams, created with new, non-toxic, eco-friendly materials, and with pure gold leaf

email: sculptress@mollycarpenter.com

"Karen, Richard, and Sophie" Bronze finished AquaResin bas-relief 30"h

Maggie Marvel Sanger, 9" painted bas-relief . mixed media,

Andrew 30"x22"x1/2" Oystershell AquaResin™ bas-relief

Jackson 30"x22"x1/2" Oystershell AquaResin™ bas-relief

Adoption Annex bas relief Plaque, Bronze, 2004 Molly Sanger Carpenter

Richard P. Sanger. 27", bronze, 2004

Molly Sanger Carpenter in her studio 2009

Shown is a small sampling of work

sculpture other than portraits also available by commission.

Artists Statement

Being an artist, to me, means having the need to create. When I work, I am absorbed by the process and my vision of what I am making. However, when I am away from working on a sculpture I am constantly collecting bits of visual and technical information. Art is not just a product, but the result of the life experience of the artist.

The greatest reward, for me, is when I see the effect my work has on someone else. As an artist I feel it is my responsibility to make sculpture that has a positive transforming effect on the viewer. Art can make the world a better place, balancing images of destruction with images of goodness and beauty, providing comfort.

The human face holds limitless potential, and yet there is so much that goes unseen. My portrait sculpture gives the viewer the chance to study the individual in new ways, and to see what it is that I see in each fascinating subject. I strive to make the sculpture so much more than just a recording of the obvious structures and forms, or a show of technique, but to infuse each piece with the subtleties that makes each model a unique individual.

email: sculptress@mollycarpenter.com

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"Baby with Bird" Bronze, life-size, A.I. duPont Nemours Emergency room

"Helen McQueston" bonded bronze portrait sculpture

"Dana", life size bonded marble portrait low relief shiacciato sculpture, 12"x 15",

Resume

Resume:

Education

Studied with Helen Mason, Evangelos Frudakis FNSS, Charles Parks FNSS,

Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Frudakis Academy of Fine Arts, Tatnall School (Wilmington, DE): received first Gold Medal for excellence in art. , Glass Art at Salem Community College, Certificate of Welding at Salem County Vocational and Technical, Ongoing studies Wilmington University

Public Art/ Commissions

* Constitutional Compass Rose commissioned by The Delaware Heritage Commission for U.S. Constitution Bicentennial: Legislative Hall, Dover, DE. , 1987

* Permanent collection, Independence Seaport Museum, Philadelphia, PA. , 1996

* Permanent collection, AI duPont Children's Hospital, Nemours, Emergency Dept. Wilmington, DE., 1989

* Award sculpture, AIDS Delaware. , 1998

* Bas-relief sculpture commissioned by the Bar Associations of Cumberland, Salem, and Gloucester Counties (NJ) honoring Judge Samuel Desimone, 2000

* Office of the President of Mannington Mills, 1986

* Creative Grandparenting of Delaware, portrait sculpture of Robert Kasey, 2000

* Finalist, Philadelphia Public Art Office Percent for the Arts Program. Police Forensic Science Center, 2000

* Finalist, State of Delaware, Commemorative sculpture for Gettysburg National Park, 1998

*Portrait Sculpture of Vincent Gioia, Quinton Twp School, Quinton, NJ 2001

*Portrait Sculpture bas-relief, Adoption Annex, Roslyn NY 2004

*Portrait bas-relief of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Martin Luther King Park, Salem, NJ, 2005

* Salem County Agriculture Department, Ware Building, 2006

*Major donor award sculpture, AI duPont Children’s Hospital, 2007

Exhibits

* Small Wonders Exhibit, National Sculpture Society, NYC, 1997.

* Philadelphia Flower Show, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999.

* Wilmington Christmas Shop Artists' Gallery 1981-2001.

* Ronald McDonald House Artfest , 1996-98, 2003-05.

* New York Flower Show, The Coliseum, 1996.

* Flower and Garden Show, Rockefeller Center, 1996.

* River Sounding Exhibit, Independence Seaport Museum, Philadelphia, 1996.

* Longwood Gardens (Kennett Square, PA), 1993.

* Gallery 50 (Bridgeton, NJ), exhibitions, 1983, 1986, 1992, 2004

* Glassboro State College, group exhibition, 1989.

* Gloucester Community College, solo exhibition, 1988

* Vineland Public Library, solo exhibition, 1988.

* Catherine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club, National Arts Club, NYC, 1999

* Delaware Art Museum Art In Bloom 1999

* ORDA Museum, Goodwill Games Exhibit (by invitation) 2000

* Tawes Gallery, Millville, NJ, 2003

* Hudson Valley Artists Association, Annual Exhibit, National Arts Club, 2006

* Philadelphia Flower Show, 1988- 2007

Organizations

* Salem County (NJ) Cultural & Heritage Commission Arts Committee 1998-2003

* National Sculpture Society, 1982-

* Salem County (NJ) Arts Alliance, Board of Directors- 1997-2007

Vice-president Salem County Arts Alliance, 2000- 2007

* Catherine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club1999-2000

*Fellowship of Quakers in the Arts 1999-2000

*International Sculpture Center, 2001

* Portrait Society of America, 2001, 2006, 2007

* Salem County Cultural and Heritage Board of directors 2001- 2003

*Salem County Arts Consortium 2003, 2004

Interests

Community involvement, Lifetime learning, Commitment to my work and family.

2002- present Who’s Who in America

2003- present Who’s Who in American Women

2003- present Who’s Who in the World

email: sculptress@mollycarpenter.com

Commission a bronze bust

Commission a portrait plaque

Commission a monument

Commission a Memorial

Payment may be made by credit card through Paypal.

Phone: (856) 935-5213

email: sculptress@mollycarpenter.com

More photographs available on request, please call or write for details and prices. Sculpture not limited to portraiture, please call or write with your ideas.

State of Delaware, Legislative Hall, Constitutional Compass Rose, Bronze, 12' Molly Sanger Carpenter

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email: sculptress@mollycarpenter.com