Hooves, Halos and sculpture

The Barclay Gallery held special showings over the last two weeks to bring public awareness to Hooves and Halos, a homegrown horse rescue charity in Redmond.

"We try to do fund-raisers several times a year for different animal rescue facilities. Usually, we do these for the ones that are not well publicized and don't have a big marketing budget," said Sandra Mayernik, owner of The Barclay Gallery in downtown Sisters.

"We don't usually raise a lot of money for them (there was $150 donated; totals for the weekend aren't yet in), but we do try to get the word out for them. Like there are a lot of people who don't know about Hooves and Halos and what Diane (Davis) does out there. She doesn't have a big marketing budget and so a part of what we do is getting more people to know about them."

The featured artist this week was Kim Chavez, a sculptor from Terrebonne, who has been exploring different mediums for just under three decades. Chavez was working on a new piece in the gallery, and visitors were able to watch the creative process as she worked the oil-based clay to build her sculpture.

"I worked in clay for 25 years and switched over to bronze three years ago. Now, I only work in bronze," said Chavez.

Chavez was working against a deadline to finish her piece. It needed to be delivered to the foundry in Troutdale by Thursday. It takes several weeks to get the bronze returned once the original is delivered and Chavez has a showing in Colorado that is coming up soon.

Chavez was attempting to put the finishing touches on her work while chatting with gallery patrons who found her environmentally-themed piece fascinating.

"This piece is called Global Warning. It is the third in a series that all have environmental messages. I have tried to have all of these have a slightly whimsical feel. For example, this one is a woman trying to save a polar bear," said Chavez.

Diane Davis was not able to attend the Saturday showing as she had an unscheduled animal emergency - and that always receives her full attention.

"It isn't just horses. We take in puppies and kittens. In fact believe it or not, Wal-Mart gave me a fish that was nearly dead. How sad is that," said Davis.

Hooves and Halos has a long history here.

"We have been a 501c3 for about five years, but I have been doing horses for approximately 47 years. We work with a lot of different agencies and try to not end up with too many (horses). You know with the price of hay, it just gets really spendy," said Davis.

For more information visit the Web site at: http://www.hoovesandhalos.com.