Wheatley Allen: Sculptor to Emperors, Presidents and Kings by Ken Karlstad

During President Clinton's recent (December 1998) trip to the Middle East, he carried with him two of Wheatley's "Peace Dove" bronzes which were given as official gifts to Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in recognition of their work on putting together the Wye Peace Accord. Two of these magnificent "Peace Dove" bronzes were also given at the White House by President Clinton in 1994 to Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and King Hussein of Jordan on the occasion of their historic peacemaking meeting. Allen's sculptures, whether given at a time of needed encouragement to the peacemaking process, or at a time of celebration of achievement, bear a powerful message of hope: the birds fly free, unhindered by the borders and barriers that separate people. The symbolism of Wheatley's beautiful Snow Goose was a delight to President Mikhail Gorbachev, of the former Soviet Union, who received it during his visit to the United States after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Wheatley Allen was asked by George Schultz, former Secretary of State, to be the presenter of the Snow Goose gift from the Hoover Institute at Stanford following President Gorbachev's remarkable speech there. "Gorbachev's eyes twinkled," Wheatley recounts, as he told Gorbechev: "This is a Snow Goose. He winters in the United States and summers in Siberia." "You mean a living link," Gorbachev responded, as he immediately captured the wonderful poetry of the gift.

Wheatley Allen's first bronze, to be given as a state gift, was commissioned by President Ronald Reagan and given to former West German President Carl Carstens. Wheatley has subsequently created twenty-one different bronze bird sculptures, each in a limited edition of 100 signed pieces. All have originated as wood carvings, which then proceed through a complex molding sequence, culminating in the pouring of bronze at about 2,000 degrees F. Allen, with his meticulous craftsmanship, may spend as long as five months on a large carving. The finishing of the bronze is also a labor of love. The beautiful patina, being a hand process, is different with each piece. Intriguingly, each sculpture acquires some character of its environment, as the variant light and the rich patinas play together.

With twenty-one different bird sculptures, patrons are able to select pieces with personal care to honor the recipient and the meaning of the occasion. President Reagan, while Governor of California, selected two pair of California quail and took them with him to Japan. He gave one pair to Prime Minister Sato and presented the other pair to Emperor Hirohito, a naturalist and bird lover. Cranes were the right gift for Crown Prince Akihito of Japan from the "Young Presidents' Organizations," an association of 2,600 company presidents from around the world. The gift of two cranes was used to symbolize West and East, an American whooping crane and a Japanese sacred crane. It was a global message of good will, since in many countries cranes are symbols of long life and health.

Marking the transition from military rule to freedom for a fledgling democracy in 1995, President Clinton appropriately gave Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide the Peace Dove during his celebrative visit to Port-au-Prince. President George Bush received a Texas saw-whet owl, and Senator Dianne Feinstein a California quail. Premier Zhao Ziyang of China received a great blue heron, and President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt a peregrine falcon. Eduard Shevardnadze of Georgia received the four piece "Mallard Family."

Given the attractive diversity and growing history of the whole collection of twenty-one birds, it is not surprising that individuals and corporations add to their collections over time. Collectors in Northern California include Clarence J. Woodard, a well known art patron and philanthropist, and former Secretary of State George Schultz. Those who have many pieces are afforded a remarkable visual experience of the magnificent sculptures of species, which are not naturally observed in close proximity. Seen together, there is an exuberance in the diversity of form, and one is startled by the obvious---it is the birds themselves that are the real gift.

A little robin carved out of sugar pine was Wheatley's first piece, created at the age of six. Howard Wheatley Allen, a fifth generation Californian, was born in San Francisco in 1941, joining a long line of artists. He first learned to carve using an official Boy Scout knife from his father, Charles Howard Allen, who painted landscapes and wild birds as a hobby. Wheatley's paternal grandfather was a carver and both grandmothers were painters. His maternal great-grandfather, Alpheus Bull, came to California by covered wagon in 1848 and designed San Francisco's cable cars and the two Golden Gate Park windmills. The artistic gift has clearly visited Wheatley's generation, as his two sisters are painters and his brother, Peter, is a wood carver.

Growing up in Marin County, Wheatley continued his bird carvings through grammar school, high school and college. He graduated from Dartmouth with a degree in Architecture and a minor in Art. After finishing a stint in the Navy, he married Rosemary Hexberg in 1966 and they settled in Mendocino. Rosemary, is a noted abstract impressionist painter whose work is has been shown at the Glendeven Gallery.

Sculptor Wheatley Allen with two bronzes: "Peace Dove", one of which was given to the late King Hussein of Jordan.

In 1970, Wheatley Allen's carving career advanced dramatically when former Governor Reagan discovered his work by reading an article about Allen in the Sacramento Bee. That year, he also held a show to benefit the Audubon Canyon Ranch in Stinson Beach. It was successful enough to double the size of the Audubon Ranch, and it provided sufficient money for Wheatley to put a down payment on a house in Mendocino. Wheatley and Rosemary developed a dream together, starting with a classic 1926 farmhouse and twelve acres of redwoods. There they raised two artistically talented daughters, Daphne and Lisa, and have recently celebrated the births of their first two grandchildren who, of course,will be handed artists' tools at an early age.

To know Wheatley Allen is to know the importance he places on all wildlife and on the land itself. He cherishes the forests and meadows of their place at the ferny headwaters of Little River. "Maybe we'll call it "Meadow Glen," he recently proposed, trying to name a heart-place that has a quality that he knows somehow can never really be named. With the same artist's love imparted to his birds, Wheatley has gently sculpted the flowing meadows and signed them with apple trees and roses. It is somehow apropos that his bird-carving workshop perches high on a forested knoll above this sculptured meadow, filled with light and peace. Wheatley's workshop catches dazzlingly bright sunrises that illuminate a wall covered with razor-sharp carving tools. The simple space is heated by a pot-bellied, wood-burning stove, and is frequented by his embarrassingly loyal wolfhound named "Jack." In the adjoining room is the painting studio of the love of his life, Rosemary.

"Just call me Wheat," he is apt to say as he opens himself in friendship to so many who cross his path. His love of people, art and ideas is a warm delight to those who seek him out and find him quite willing to thoughtfully share his life and work, his philosophy and convictions. When it may be helpful to creative people who are daunted by obstacles, he tells what it is like to be a sculptor and pianist with Parkinson's disease, a matter that he has overcome with inspiring courage, faith and perseverance. He exudes deep feelings for the natural world, and his lifetime of work with organizations for environmental protection and preservation give insight into a man of integrity who actually does what he believes. Wheat has served as a board member of the Save the Redwoods League for many years. Always a raconteur, he shares stories, humbly passing on his sheer amazement at the higher purposes that have engaged his sculptures, which were created simply out of his love and knowledge of birds. I have explored the question of how his sculpture is perceived and appreciated during our occasional long walks together through the redwood forest he loves. My question is: What is it really that makes Wheat's sculpture compelling to people of so many cultures? There doesn't quite seem to be a word for it, we agree, but several key elements are evident. There is a clear harmony and balance. The birds are refined to their very essence of form and design, and yet, they still have critical wholeness and integrity. The forms are simple and common and have a quality of timelessness. Finally, the sculptures are a reflection and a celebration of the gift of life, reminding us of its fragility. It seems that Wheatley Allen's sculpture embodies much of that fundamental "quality without a name" that noted architect/philosopher Christopher Alexander has developed in his classic writings. Perhaps it is this "quality without a name" that enables Wheatley's sculptures to effectively carry the additional symbolic meanings imparted by their historic use. The bronzes, together with their attendant oral histories, could well become timeless reminders of shared visions that were intended to last for generations. The creative giving of Wheatley Allen bronzes by those who would seek to build good will is clearly a thoughtful activity, not unlike the creative work involved in making the sculptures.

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Wheatley Allen welcomes visitors by appointment. He may be contacted at P.O. Box 632, Mendocino, CA 95460, (707) 937-5401. Contributor Ken Karlstad, a designer and photographer (Karlstad Design) invites comment and may be contacted at (707) 937-2575 or by e-mail at: karlstad@mcn.org. More information about Wheatley Allen's work may be obtained at his website: http://www.mendocino.to/wheatleyallen.