Kneeling Girl. Ms. Bowden was commissioned to create this sculpture for an all-girls school in Richmond, Virginia, St. Catherine's School For Girls. Bronze, 4'x6', 2001.
About Constance Bowden
Baby Mary. In 1864, during the darkest days of the American Civil War, a baby girl, Mary, was born at Tuckahoe Plantation, near Richmond, Virginia. She died when she was only 7 months old. Her parents donated land and money to build a church for the coal miners in the area in her memory. They named the little white church St. Mary's. Ms. Bowden was commissioned to create this sculpture in her memory. It was installed in a children's garden at the church and is a gathering place for the children of the congregation.
Constance Bowden studied figurative sculpture at the Florence Academy of Art under director Robert Bodem, Mitch Shea, Eudald de Juana Gorriz, Sane Van Tongeran, Eran Webber, and Maudie Brady.
She began her studies in Florence in the summer workshop of 2015, following a successful 25-year career as a commissioned portrait painter and bronze figurative sculptor.
In addition to her training at the Florence Academy of Art, Ms. Bowden graduated with Highest Honors in Sculpture from the College of William and Mary in 1978.
From 1979-1982 she advanced her skills through a three-year apprenticeship in violin making with the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, followed by five years of bronze casting at the Johnson Atelier Institute of Sculpture Technology, including rubber mold-making, shell, sand casting, wax pouring and chasing, bronze chasing, and patina.
Starting in the 1990’s she studied painting with Cedric and Joanette Egeli, Dawn Whitelaw, Paula Frisbee, Raymond Everett Kinstler, Jessica Artman, Angela Cunningham, Cornelia Hernes and Simone Moritz.
In addition to the great joy she takes in teaching students from all over the world and making her own art, Constance enjoys kayaking the endless waterways of Virginia’s majestic rivers, cross country skiing, traveling the world with her husband, Tom, and spending quality time with their 3 adult children, their spouses and 4 (soon to be 5!) grandchildren, all of whom live close by in Richmond.
Ms. Bowden created this wall mural of Canada geese, cat tails and marsh flowers, directly in wax and she cast it partly in sand and partly in ceramic shell. It was a private commission in 1984 and is located in Manakin, Virginia.
Chinese Characters. Ms. Bowden was privately commissioned to create this bronze sculpture. She modeled the characters and the decorated rings directly in wax, in 13 separate pieces which were then welded together after they were cast in bronze. She cast them into bronze using the ceramic shell method. Commissioned by a concert pianist who grew up in China as the daughter of American Missionaries, the characters read, "Music is a form of life, and life is a form of music." Bronze, 8' x 8', 1985. The sculpture is in a private home in Virginia.
Mother and Child. This Sculpture was commissioned by a church in Goochland, Virginia. It was requested that the sculpture be in the style of an Italian Della Robbia. It is painted bronze, weighing 400lbs. It was cast at Tallix Foundry and it is 6'x4'. 1999.
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