If the lack of snow is causing you to want to see something visually appealing this winter, there’s no need to worry because you can always visit the deCordova Sculpture Park in Lincoln, Massachusetts. This park covers 35 acres, and it boasts stone sculptures and many other types of fascinating sculptures.  Outside of the sculpture park, the property includes a museum, a store, a cafe, and classroom space.

In terms of the sculpture park, there are 60 works of art including contemporary sculptures, representational sculptures of realism, and abstract sculptures. One of the best parts about going to the deCordova Sculpture Park and viewing the modern sculptures is the fact that you get to see the possibilities that exist to be creative with your own lawn. Obviously most people don’t have that much room to work with, but it can definitely spark ideas that you can carry over into your own garden.

Whether it’s the surrounding foliage, the actual stone sculptures themselves, or the different types of paths (gravel, grass, stone, and pavement), the deCordova Sculpture Park is a great place to visit if you have an eye for art and nature. With tons of land and so much to see and do, it is the perfect place to go if you’re looking to have a good time. And like I mentioned earlier, it just might be the motivating factor in getting you to make some aesthetically pleasing changes in your own home.

NY Daily News, January 3rd 2012

Oversized containers of ketchup, mustard and mayonnaise sit on the living room window sill in Robin Antar’s home in Midwood, Brooklyn.

She doesn’t have to worry about them spoiling, though. They may look like the real thing, but each is carved from stone.

“I wanted to do a set of condiments,” says the 54-year-old artist, who has been sculpting since she was 17.

The set is among about a dozen stone pieces Antar is sending to the Pop International Gallery in Manhattan in a couple of weeks, where they’ll be on display for six months.

It was July when we last checked in with the eccentric artist, as she was hollowing out a bag of potato chips from a 6,000-pound block of marble.

“The potato chip bag is finished,” she says. “It just needs a brand name and needs to be mounted. I didn’t make the chips yet because I’ve got to decide on a brand and every brand has different shaped chips.”

She’s holding out in hopes of getting a commission from a chip company. Until then, her focus is on dozens of other pieces.

Antar carves stone into items present in everyday American life. Everlast boxing gloves, a crinkled soda can, York Peppermint Pattie, tube of Crest toothpaste, and Oreo cookies spilling out of the bag are some of the supersized sculptures she’s sending to Pop.

The three condiments will likely be showcased together.

“For the mustard, I hired an artist from New Jersey to hand-paint the French’s label,” Antar says. “And the Hellmann’s mayonnaise, I just got a large bottle from Costco and blew up the label. So each sculpture is different. The mustard, the problem is the bottles were too small and it didn’t work.”

It took Antar a couple of months to complete the collection.

“It’s more coming up with the concept and deciding what to do,” she says. “You’ve got to figure out what you’re doing. It’s not just straight carving.”

She’s currently working on a liquor closet.

“I did Tanqueray Gin and a scotch bottle,” says Antar. “I’m in the process of getting a sign maker to make the labels. And then I’m going to do a bottle of Absolut vodka.” Antar was recently honored with a write-up in “Best of America Sculpture Artists Vol. II,” and a brief bio will appear in “Important World Artists I,” when it is published this year.

“I just finished a ton of abstracts,” Antar says. “And I’m working on a piece with 22 bunches of wine grapes. It’s one of my old pieces that I started in 1992. It’s like the last piece that I had in my shop and I figured I’d better finish.” You Should Know

Later this month, Robin Antar’s sculptures will be on display at the the Pop International Gallery, 473 West Broadway, Manhattan. (popinternational.com), or rantar.com)

Read article online at NY Daily News

Robin Antar, the Brooklyn artist known for her stone sculptures of realism and eye-grabbing abstract sculptures, recently launched a calendar for the 2012 year. The calendar is a full 12-month calendar with each month being graced by a picture of Antar’s representational sculptures. Some of the contemporary sculptures included in this calendar are: Milano Cookies, French’s Mustard, and M&M’s.

Antar’s calendar, which displays some of her finest modern sculptures, is a great showcase and conversation-starter in any home or office. Looking at the calendar at first, people might not even realize that all of the pictures are actually stone sculptures. Because these sculptures are often mistaken for the “real thing,” a calendar only makes the illusion stronger.

Ms. Antar is an artist who is dedicated to capturing the essence of modern times through iconic items. She takes her craft very seriously, and she ensures that all of her work is as accurate as possible. With the precision and detail that she includes in her sculptures, they nearly come to life. Maybe by taking a look at her calendar everyday, you can make your dreams come to life as well.

To purchase this amazing calendar, CLICK HERE.

Robin Antar, the Brooklyn artist known for her stone sculptures of realism and her captivating abstract sculptures, recently had a sculpture selected for online exhibition by Michael L. Royce, who is the Executive Director of the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA). Royce is guest curator for Curate NYC, which, according to its website, ” is a juried exhibition and online platform that exists to heighten exposure and opportunities for New York City visual artists.”

Antar’s representational sculpture of boxing gloves was one of 1500+ entry submissions made by various artists. Currently on the website, Antar is joined by only ten other artists who have their artwork featured by Royce. Of all of the featured artists on the website, Antar is the only one who was selected for a stone sculpture. The only other featured sculpture belongs to Suzanne Broughel who made a sculpture out of 23 shades of Band Aids.

Ms. Antar’s modern sculptures are a way for the artist to capture everyday items in stone. In addition to her boxing gloves, she has sculptures of M&M’s, Milano Cookies, Heinz Ketchup, and York Peppermint Patties; just to name a few. More than anything, the artist makes sure to capture each and every detail in her contemporary sculptures, so that future people can get the most accurate picture of what the world was like. Just taking a look at her sculptures, it’s easy to see that she is achieving her goals.

Condiments Sculpture by Robin Antar

My name is Robin Antar, and I am a sculptor from Brooklyn, New York. This jacket was carved out of a solid piece of limestone in around 2005. The real jacket was hanging on a hook, and that was used as a model. It was used, tools that were used were diamond wheels, chisels, air hammers, grinding wheels, and it was polished, it was carved, and then it was polished up to a 600 grit. And then it was hand stained with different oil stains that I made up to copy the denim material.

This is my Milano cookies, carved out of a solid block of marble, using the real bag as a reference. Bag was carved, chiseled, cut, ground and polished up to a 1200 grit, and then it was painted with oils and acrylics to get the real deal of the logo. The inside of the bag has silver leaf. The cookies are cast and then painted to look like the real deal. And yes, people have broken their tooth on it.

This usually has a lucite cover case on this sculpture but the case is being repaired so it is opened, but I had people pick up a cookie and break a tooth. This piece won the gold metal award in 2004 from the Allied Artists of America.

This is a pencil. Why did I do a pencil? Because my kids went to a school back in the day, in the nineteen nineties and I really loved this school. And at the time, I was searching what to do for my sculptures, what represents America. And schools and pencils…. And the old number two is a classic.

And I did one and, in fact, I gave one to the school and I kept one for myself. This sculpture is made out of a solid piece of limestone. One piece, wire and it is hand stained. And the tip on the bottom is stone, as well.

This is a model for a Torah casing which was carved out of a solid piece of stone in 1992. This is one piece of stone representing the Wailing Wall, the Kotel, with towelette coming on top. I got this idea because in our community people donate Torahs. And when you go to a Torah dedication, they always have a towelette wrapped over the Torah.

So I got an idea of actually creating a Torah case with the towelette within the design. The Torah case is treated like a sculpture rather than a two dimensional surface design.

This piece is a knot. It is one of the several knot pieces that I have created. It is carved out of a solid piece of watermelon marble. And, basically, this piece represents the frustrations, and the anxieties of raising children. One of my children drove me crazy, so I decided, I made three knots in his honor. This is D Knot #1, and I got D Knot #2, and inside is D Knot #3. My abstract pieces represent emotions and experiences of life. Each piece has a definitive incident which made me inspired to create the image.