Terrie Bennett (Born 1962) American, Bronze Sculpture of Four Dolphins. The dolphins are playing and leaping together around a central spout of water. Signed, numbered 5/350, and dated 1984 on edge of base. This indicates it is one of her earliest cetacean pieces. 

Size: 5 X 5 X 8 in. 

Terrie Bennett was born in 1962 in Sacramento, California. Her father, Tom Bennett, was a bronze sculptor who collaborated all his life with his identical twin brother Bob, and from an early age she was inspired to follow in their footsteps. She did not attend college, learning her craft entirely in her father’s foundry. She studied composition, form and the technique of creating three dimensional sketches in wire, which also led to her becoming an accomplished welder and creating one-of-a-kind wire sculptures just like her father and uncle. Although her first passion was writing, it was the birth of her daughter in 1981 while living in Camino that brought her to sculpture full time. Throughout her pregnancy she experienced vivid visions of whales and dolphins, and wished to capture the cetacean forms in bronze. She was one of the first sculptors to focus primarily on marine mammals in the early 1980s, quickly establishing herself as one of the top marine artists in Hawaii and the West Coast. Her oceanic work led her to become an environmental activist as well, contributing to many organizations and causes over the years. She was chosen to create a sculpture for The Space Foundation in 2010, commemorating Nasa’s thirty year space shuttle program. In 2016 she was commissioned to create a life-sized version of one of her father’s works, “Reflection,” a month after he had passed away. The year-long endeavor led her to reconnect with her cousin Ashley, who also became a sculptor, as well as her estranged daughter Nicki, a professional photographer and advocate against domestic abuse. She opened her own studio and gallery in Camino in 2017 where she also began to experiment with poetry, painting, and mixed media installations. Today she is carrying on her family legacy in Camino, as well as at fine art galleries throughout California, Hawaii, and New Mexico, and her sculptures are recognized and collected around the world.

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