Quoted: The Epoch Times on Sabin Howard Sculpture
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Quoted: The Epoch Times on Sabin Howard Sculpture

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Sabin Howard Sculpture

The Epoch Times, a vibrant and thoughtful international news outlet in both print and internet format, reviewed our sculpture opening at the Institute for Classical Architecture and Art on March 2, 2012.

Parts of my talk that night were quoted, including my line about post-modernism: “I’m here to tell you, the emperor has no clothes.”

Check out this well-written article here.

NEW YORK—A new vigor for classical arts, like another Renaissance, is in the air at the Institute of Classical Architecture and Art, in Manhattan, where the lifelike sculptures of Sabin Howard are now on exhibit through March 22.

“Real art uplifts you, it transforms you,” said award-winning novelist Traci L. Slatton, who is also Howard’s wife.

Under the various banners of classicism, realism, and art that is simply “uplifting,” Slatton and other accomplished professionals from the art and literary world gathered on March 2 to celebrate Howard’s works—many of which depict gods in the Greek and Roman tradition and took Howard years to create.

“Looking is the point, beauty is the point, mastery is the point,” said Slatton in an opening speech that condemned the highly conceptual direction of abstract and contemporary art today. “Sabin Howard’s pieces lack irony; this is a deliberate choice.”

The event was not simply an exhibit but a call for a revival of traditional techniques and uplifting subject matter.

Stefano Acunto, chairman of the Italian Academy Foundation, which hosted the exhibit, implored, “Let us work to build upon the work of the greatest achievers, to improve upon it, and to develop it organically—much as Sabin Howard is doing.”

My New HuffPo article: review of SKIN RULES by Debra Jaliman M.D.
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My New HuffPo article: review of SKIN RULES by Debra Jaliman M.D.

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Check out my new review of the essential skin care book SKIN RULES Trade Secrets from a Top New York Dermatologist by Debra Jaliman M.D. Here’s the link.

This book is beautifully, concisely written and full of practical advice. Get the book–you’ll be glad you did!

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Review of Skin Rules: Trade Secrets from a Top New York Dermatologist by Debra Jaliman M.D.

When I was in my early twenties, my beloved Aunt Judy advised me, “A good skin and a good figure, that’s what a woman needs.”

We were conversing in the kitchen, preparing dinner together, so this bit of feminine wisdom was just a casual mention. But she was in her fifties and still boasted both qualities, so I took her words to heart. They sparked a lifelong commitment to taking excellent care of my complexion and my body. That same week, I undertook a meticulous habit of using sunblock every day.

A few years later, my first pregnancy wrecked my carefully tended complexion. I was enthralled by the wondrous, delicious creature who was my new daughter. I was equally determined to repair the damage done by pregnancy hormones. I had read that a pregnant woman produces more estrogen during the nine months she’s pregnant than a non-pregnant woman does in decades. My face, stippled with pimples and depressions, showed it.

A girlfriend with lovely skin recommended Dr. Debra Jaliman, and I took myself to her office on one of those precious days I had a babysitter. I waited anxiously in the exam room, wondering if the doctor would be able to help me. The door opened and in walked a gorgeous woman wearing a white lab coat over a leather mini-skirt — and a very pregnant belly. I could only applaud her feminine confidence. I knew immediately I’d come to the right place.

My first baby is now a graduating senior from college, and I’ve been Dr. Jaliman’s patient all these years. I have remained in her care for the same reason that I use the multiplication table: because it works.

It was with pleasure, as a happy dermatology patient with a complexion I like, that I requested a review copy of Dr. Jaliman’s book Skin Rules: Trade Secrets from a Top New York Dermatologist (St. Martin’s Press, March, 2012).

First, let me attest: almost the first order of business in Dr. Jaliman’s office is to ensure proper face-washing technique. After two decades, when I come in for an appointment, she still asks how I am washing my face, and what I am using for cleanser. So, as a long-time patient, let me assure the general reader that Skin Rules meticulously documents Dr. Jaliman’s actual advice. She practices what she preaches in this slim, smart volume.

The book itself is a pleasure to read. It’s concisely and elegantly written. There’s not a wasted word in this book, nor an infelicitous one. Every one of the 77 rules is spare, practical, and instantly understandable. The rules come with product recommendations at all price points; Dr. Jaliman does not expect that her readers are all millionaires with an endless supply of money for dermatological goodies, whether they be procedures or creams.

The tone of this book is as empathetic as it is pragmatic. Rule 42 gently advises, “Don’t Despair If You’re Over Thirty and Breaking Out — Nobody Needs to Know.” Rule 39 reminds us, “Acne Doesn’t Just Ruin Skin; It Can Ruin Self-Esteem, Too — Just Ask Any Teenager.” It’s important to remember how vulnerable people feel when they don’t look their best, how adolescents in particular suffer from that vulnerability, and how much self-esteem can be improved by simply clearing up acne. Some people would like to dismiss dermatology as purely cosmetic, but there’s a deeper level here. Our appearance is inextricably entwined with our feelings of self worth.

Sometimes a medical condition results in skin problems, and Dr. Jaliman notes that in several places. In rule 33, “Legs and Feet Need Extra Care,” she mentions having diagnosed hypothyroidism in patients by observing dry, cracked heels and referring the patients to an endocrinologist. The skin isn’t its own separate, isolated system. It’s integrated into the body as a whole, and often reflects underlying disease.

I’ve set this review within the context of my own feminine beauty regimen, but it’s a book for men, also. There’s advice on shaving, hair loss and tattoo removal.

With a title encompassing the word “secrets,” a reader hopes for the scoop on what’s hot and really works. The book doesn’t disappoint. Rule 61 “Freeze Fat, Don’t Suction It” discusses the latest cryolipolysis techniques, and the machines that really do freeze off the fat.

At the back of the book is a resource section that lists products, injectables and lasers. It’s probably worth it to buy the book just to have this well-researched list of products and procedures that actually work.

This is a gem of a book that I’ll keep handy on my book shelf — unless my second daughter, now seventeen and seeking out her own beauty tips, spirits it away so that I never see it again.

My speech at the ICAA for the BOOK LAUNCH/SCULPTURE SHOW
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My speech at the ICAA for the BOOK LAUNCH/SCULPTURE SHOW

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My speech at the ICAA

WELCOME to this book launch and celebration of classical art!!

I am so happy to see you here, and to welcome you to this wonderful evening of discussion about the value and importance of modern classicism. It’s a quixotic but urgent topic. I am here on stage with four of my favorite people—the honorable vice consul Signore Stefano Acunto, Jim Cooper, Peter Trippi, my husband Sabin Howard–to discuss this topic with you, and I’m so excited.
Please note there’s a lovely woman with an iPhone that can take your credit card information, if you’d like to buy a book. Sarah, where are you?
Let me take this opportunity to thank a few people, the ICAA and Signore Acunto and Mrs. Carole Acunto, Jim Cooper, Peter Trippi, David Ludwig, Todd Deskins, Sarah Miniaci, Drew Stevens, Don Steelman.
So, about this book THE ART OF LIFE….
A few weeks ago, in speaking with the honorable vice consul Steve Acunto, I told him that I would begin my talk by saying, “The Republicans think art is for sissies, and Democrats think art has to be ugly to be real art.”
“Well, Traci,” responded Signore Acunto, “then you shall have to wear a breastplate and helmet.”  So rather than turn myself into a valkyrie, I decided to think more deeply about what I meant, polemics aside.
At this point I should probably disclose that, politically, I am currently a radical skeptic, and there are two groups whom I view with skepticism: Democrats and Republicans. Also, liberals and conservatives. Here in the waning years of the American Empire, partisan politics has made fools of us all.
And yes, art is political. I believe my husband Sabin will tell you that art is not political—that it transcends petty ephemeral concerns. But I believe that art speaks to who we are and how we want to live, so it’s very political.
So is ugly art real art because that gives certain groups the virtuous feeling that they support freedom?
When I ask the question that way, you already know where I stand.
It’s amazing to think that the 20th century which gave rise to repeated genocides–repeated genocides–also gave rise to new intent and new methods to better ourselves, to become, as a human race, better–peaceful and tolerant. I am thinking about Gandhi, Mother Theresa, and Dr. Martin Luther King.
Along the way to evolving and becoming better as a human race, something happened. The problem for me is that in throwing out the bathwater, we threw out the baby. In throwing out discrimination, we threw out discernment. And we need discernment.
We need to discern between what is masterful and what is silly, what is skilled and what is sloppy, what is art and what is not. Currently in the culture there’s a underlying attitude among some groups that it’s not acceptable to discern, that to say, ”Sabin Howard’s work is art and Dung Madonna is not” makes you a (fill in the blank with the latest catchphrase for bad person) Nazi rascist bigot. Sabin calls this the “I’m ok, you’re ok, even the serial killer down the road” mentality.
But we do discern. Human beings intuitively sense mastery. We have an innate ability to look at something and see that it is beautiful, that it is powerful, that thought and skill and vision went into it. We just know.
But in much of the contemporary art world we are not supposed to know. We are not supposed to look. We’re supposed to understand visual art through our ears. We are supposed to listen to the heady babble of professors, PhD’s, and my personal favorite, gallery owners who have something to sell. We’re supposed to read the manual–The New York Times. We are supposed to stifle our authentic human response to a work of art.
So when an institution such as the National Endowment for Self-Expression funds images of the Virgin Mary submerged in urine, that institution may be pretending to support freedom, but what it is actually doing is legitimizing the stifling of our authentic human response to a work of art.
Don’t buy it. They’re selling snake oil. It’s scam art.
Marcel DuChamp did us all a disservice when he foisted a urinal on us. It would have been fine for a few minutes of intellectual shock value and entertainment. But here it is, 100 years later, and art is still being flushed down the toilet.
I am here to tell you: the emperor has no clothes.
The manual is irrelevant: looking is the point. Beauty is the point. Mastery is the point.
This doesn’t mean that there isn’t a place for ornamentation, decoration, entertainment, embellishment, and illustration. This doesn’t mean there isn’t a place for freaky fun. It means you can see the difference.
Now what about the other part of my polemical statement, art is for sissies.
I think this goes back to certain prevailing cultural notions about what’s butch and what’s manly, besides creating estate tax loopholes. Because you know, creating tax loopholes is very butch. It goes to our fascination with the anti-hero, with irony. We’re Americans, we’re outlaws, we’re renegades, we’re riding into the sunset. But we’d better watch out, because China is riding back out of the sunrise toward us. They’re bringing it.
And we’re responding with irony. TV and movies, the popular culture, is full of anti-heroic irony. It’s a defense. It’s a weak defense. Ultimately, it’s a defense against an open heart.
What art does, real art, REAL ART, is gives you an experience of an open heart. Whether it’s a novel, or a movie, or a well acted King Lear, or a painting or a piece of sculpture, you have an experience or your heart opening. You’re a better person because of it.
Real art uplifts you—it transforms you. It gives you an experience of transcendence, whether of joy or of sorrow, because both joy and sorrow move through an open heart.
Sabin Howard’s pieces lack irony as a deliberate choice to give the viewer an experience of the heart opening, of upliftment, of transformation. This is the most courageous choice of all. This is the most radical choice of all. This is the most visionary choice of all.
The great poet Rumi says:
In your light I learn how to love. 

In your beauty, how to make poems. 

You dance inside my chest where no-one sees you, 

but sometimes I do, 

and that sight becomes this art.
Thank you.

Sabin Howard Sculpture: DAILY NEWS ONLINE: SABIN HOWARD CREATES CLASSICAL …
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Sabin Howard Sculpture: DAILY NEWS ONLINE: SABIN HOWARD CREATES CLASSICAL …

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Sabin Howard Sculpture: DAILY NEWS ONLINE: SABIN HOWARD CREATES CLASSICAL …: Check out this article online about Sabin’s studio in the Bronx.

Artist creates classical bronze sculptures of Greek gods and goddesses in Mott Haven

Walking into Sabin Howard‘s studio in Mott Haven is like stepping into a fine art gallery.

Clay and bronze statues of the Greek gods Hermes, Apollo and Aphrodite among others fill the 1,500-square foot studio.

“I am trying to return art to its sacred form,” he said, while working on pieces to be exhibited at the Institute of Classical Architecture and Art in Manhattan.

The gallery show, “Sabin Howard – The Classical Art of Sculpture,” opens Friday with a special reception and launch of his new book, The Art of Life.

“Post modern art is sacred to me,” said Howard, 48, of Manhattan. “I really got into it when I was in Italy. It affected me and I wanted to be surrounded by beauty. I didn’t want to make things that were just visually beautiful. I wanted to tell a story.”

Howard studied art at the Philadelphia College of Art and the New York Academy of Art. He taught for 20 years before turning to sculpture full time.

For Howard, the sculpture process starts with a live model. Then he builds an armature – steel bars welded together to resemble a stick figure – to fit within the figure. He then glues styrofoam onto the form.

Next, he adds clay. This is the most time consuming part. A life-sized piece of Aphrodite, for example, took 18 months to complete. And he’s been crafting a 28-inch statue of Apollo since last April, at times adding pieces of clay no bigger than a pinhead.

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Sabin Howard: The Man Who Sculpts Gods | Part 2 | Special Section | World | Epoch Times
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Sabin Howard: The Man Who Sculpts Gods | Part 2 | Special Section | World | Epoch Times

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Sabin Howard: The Man Who Sculpts Gods Epoch Times by Evan Mantyk and Katy Mantyk

“NEW YORK—Entering Sabin Howard’s studio in the Bronx is a unique experience. Through his lifelike sculptures, the gods’ penetrating stares are both humbling and uplifting.

“Collectors like them for their homes because they change the energy of a room,” said Howard.

Howard, who has spent his life between Italy and New York, stood in front of a sculpture of Apollo—God of the Sun from the Greek and Roman tradition—with perfect physique and graceful pose.

“You can see I extended the sternum and lifted it up toward the sky, so there’s more luminosity coming onto the chest—and that’s where your heart chakra is—then the openness with the arms stretched outward. It’s really about the possibility of what we can be,” Howard said.

The Apollo sculpture alone took Howard more than five years and $85,000 to produce, including materials and paying two models to pose for long hours.

Reflecting on Howard’s work, Stefano Acunto, chairman of the Italian Academy Foundation (IAF), said, “The word ‘masterpiece’ in Italian is ‘capolavori’—’lavori’ means to labor, to work. And you really see that in Sabin’s sculptures.”

The hard work paid off. After Sabin makes a first sculpture, he can create a mold and is able to make a series. With around 180 collectors worldwide, he sold the first three in the Apollo series for within the six-figure range and plans to create six more.

Presented by the IAF, Howard’s work, including his sculptures of Apollo and Greek gods Aphrodite and Hermes, will be on exhibit March 2 through March 22 at the Institute for Classical Architecture and Art (ICAA), at the institute’s historic West 44th Street headquarters.

Why does he often sculpt gods? “I pick titles that are universal, that can be understood by the community, and art is in service of the community,” Howard said.

Contemporary Versus Classical

Howard’s work is something that can be instantly appreciated for its masterful skill.

“The UPS guy and the fireman understand it; they walk in here and go, ‘Wow, this is real art,’” Howard said.

But his sculptures also stand in opposition to the many more abstract sculptures that have become the bread and butter of modern sculptors and the center of the contemporary art world.

“What Sabin is doing is so important because his work reflects on themes and techniques that are the basis of art, which are ignored so often in the production of contemporary art, which is more temporary than anything else,” Acunto said.

Howard, 48, said that the modern art of the last 50 to 60 years has gotten too entrenched in academic language.

“Now the conceptual part and the manual … [have] become more important than the art itself. So you read all this philosophy about the work, and there’s nothing wrong with that per se. But when that becomes more important than the actual object—and the actual object might be a pile of cinder blocks on the floor—then I have a problem because art represents me on a cultural level,” said Howard, who taught figure sculpture and drawing at the graduate level for 20 years.

“I don’t want to be represented by, say, pieces of mud smeared on canvas, or a pile of bricks. I want to be represented by art that really shows us rising to the occasion as human beings,” he said.

Howard isn’t alone. His exhibit at the ICAA will open on March 2 with a panel that also features other leading exponents of classicism in art, including editor of Fine Art Connoisseur, Peter Trippi, and editor of American Arts Quarterly, James Cooper.“

Sabin Howard: The Man Who Sculpts Gods
FALLEN: Top Pick for NIGHT OWL REVIEWS
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FALLEN: Top Pick for NIGHT OWL REVIEWS

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FALLEN: Top Pick

HCHarju at Night Owl reviews gave FALLEN an outstanding review, saying “This book had all of the key elements to keep me turning the pages in anticipation. It has adventure, horror, suspense, joy, love, passion and questions that build upon each other until the end. I was sucked into the world and found myself rooting for the heroin. So many of the characters were like friends, that I felt bereft when the story ended. The end was surprising and left me wanting more. ”

Read the entire review here.