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ABout

LIFE LONG LEARNING...

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Shirley thinks that learning throughout her lifetime has vastly contributed to her making art. Workshops and travel, coupled with as much reading as possible and an active curiosity, have been major keys to her art making.

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ARTS WORKSHOPS...

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Wyrick is enthusiastic about value of attending Arts Workshops. She found each workshop has brought her closer to her inner self. She usually chose workshop topics that intrigued her outside of the field of sculpture because they allowed her to expand and enrich her art in many media.

 

Workshops offer serious concentration without outside interruptions and each has fostered long-lasting friendships and exposure to others’ works and ways of seeing the world. She was surprised recently to find that many artists have never participated in Arts Workshops and she would like to encourage them to look for these opportunities.

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ARTS WORKSHOPS ATTENDED...

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Pastel Workshop Summer 1984

Split Rock Arts Program, Duluth, Minnesota                           

Joyce Lyon, Instructor                                              

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Pastel Workshop July – August 4, 1990

Split Rock Arts Program, Duluth, Minnesota  

Visual Voice: Painting Workshop

Sally Brown, Instructor 

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A Split Rock Arts Program Cover

Split Rock Arts Program August 5 – 11, 1990

Image & Memory: Visual Journals Workshop, Duluth, Minnesota

Judith Roode, Instructor

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Wyrick was struck by reading of a Far Eastern belief in deifying a bear after killing and preserving it on a stake. They expected by “feeding it” that the bear would be their connection to the spirit world and good fortune during the year ahead. The bear became their Shaman.

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Mythic Bear in charcoals-pastels & later in bronze

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Her first drawings in the series (all in 1990) were done while thinking of the bear and empathizing with it as it is overtaken by Death:

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Shaman Bear clawing tree trunk, Shaman Bear downed by Thrown Boot, Shaman Bear Crushed, Shaman Bear w bowl of blueberries,

Shaman Bear closeup showing stake, Bird of Prey,

Shaman Bear with Bird of Death, Shaman Bear walking with Staff,

No, Shaman Bear Raging, Shaman Bear Among the Symbols,

Mythic Bear bronze-ash 

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The last three Shaman Bear drawings were done after Wyrick learned of her young friend’s (director of the UI Museum of Art) impending death from a brain tumor.

 

NO! is filled with Wyrick’s emotion and longing as she imagines her being sheltered from death by the Shaman Bear:

 

NO! charcoal-BFK Rives

 

The Shaman Bear is then shown, on behalf of Mary:

 

RAGING! charcoal-BFK Rives

 

In the final drawing, the Shaman Bear takes its place:

 

AMONG THE SYMBOLS charcoal-BFK Rives

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Iowa Summer Writing Festival Week of June 24, 1993

Duluth, Minnesota

Michael Dennis Brown, Instructor

 

 

Split Rock Program

Forestry, Connecticut

Eric Leach, Instructor

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A Retreat at the Cloquet August 8 – 14, 1993

University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa

Eric Leach, Instructor

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Things to Do At Poetry Workshop

 

Iowa Summer Writing Festival November 13 – 14, 1993

University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa

Ken McCullogh, Instructor

 

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Split Rock Program July 12– 18, 1998

The Wonderful World of Monorints, Duluth, Minnesota

Judy Stone Nunnely, Instructor    

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A Retreat at the Cloquet January 15, 2005

Pastel Workshop

Marcia Wegman Studio, Iowa City, Iowa

Marcia Wegman, Instructor

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T’ai Chi Workshops...

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Yang Style T’ai Chi Workshops, as well as weekly group meetings and intense study for many years, were extremely important to Wyrick. She studied Professor Cheng Man Ch’ing’a style, explored several other forms via videotape and practiced mindfulness and meditation. T’ai Chi has been essential to her and her art.

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T’ai Chi Workshops attended...

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Yang Style T’ai Chi and Qigong Retreat February 1 – 4, 2001

Sinsinawa Mound Center, Madison, Wisconsin 

Tricia Yu, Instructor

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Bataan Faigo T’ai Chi Workshop November 9 – 11, 2001

Clary Illian’s Hall, Ely, Iowa

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Yang Style T’ai Chi and Qigong Retreat January 31 – February 3, 2002

Sinsinawa Mound Center, Madison, Wisconsin 

Tricia Yu, Instructor

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2002 T’ai Chi Retreat October 24 – 27, 2002

Center States T’ai Chi Ch’uan, Kansas City, Missouri

Conception Abbey, Conception, Missouri

Kim Kanzelberger, Instructor

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Fingerlakes T’ai Chi Camp #2 August 10 – 15, 2003

Kirkwood Community College

Iowa City Campus, Iowa City, Iowa

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Yang Style T’ai Chi and Qigong Retreat January 31 – February 3, 2002

Keuka College, Keuka Park, New York, New York

Maggie Newman, Instructor

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Bataan Faigo T’ai Chi Workshop November 14 – 16, 2003

Kirkwood Community College

Iowa City Campus, Iowa City, Iowa

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Tricia Yu T’aiji Workshop October 22 – 24, 2004

Arts a la Carte, 20 E. Market Street, Iowa City, Iowa

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T’ai Chi Ch’uan April 8 – 10  &  May 6 – 8, 2005

Dancing River T’ai Chi Ch’uan, Minneapolis, Minnesota

The Children’s Center for Physical Therapy & Arts a la Carte

20 E. Market Street, Iowa City, Iowa

Barbara Davis, Instructor

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Greet the Wind... T’ai Chi & T’ai Chi Sword Workshop October 28 –  30, 2005

Clary Illian’s Hall, Ely, Iowa

Ken Van Sickle, Instructor

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2002 T’ai Chi Retreat October 24 – 27, 2002

Center States T’ai Chi Ch’uan, Kansas City, Missouri

Conception Abbey, Conception, Missouri

Kim Kanzelberger, Instructor

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T’ai Chi Workshop February 3 – 5, 2006

Center States T’ai Chi Ch’uan, Kansas City

Yellow House, Hoover Foundation, West Branch, Iowa

Kim Kanzelberger, Instructor

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T’ai Chi Workshop October 20 – 22, 2006

Center States T’ai Chi Ch’uan, Kansas City, Missouri

Yellow House, Hoover Foundation, West Branch, Iowa

Kim Kanzelberger, Instructor

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T’ai Chi Workshop July 10 –13, 2008

Weyerhuser Hall, Macalester College, St. Paul, Minnesota

Weiming Yuan, Instructor

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Yang Style T’ai Chi weekly January to March 5, 2020

The Center, Iowa City, Iowa

George Nelson, Instructor

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T’ai Chi Review December 12 – 13, 2020

Center States T’ai Chi Ch’uan, Kansas City, Missouri

Online - ZOOM

Kim Kanzelberger, Instructor

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T’ai Chi Review June 19 – 20, 2021

Center States T’ai Chi Ch’uan, Kansas City, Missouri

Online - ZOOM

Kim Kanzelberger, Instructor

ABOUT SHIRLEY WYRICK

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