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NEWS RELEASE
Contact: Leah Jackson (jacksonl@nsula.edu)
News Bureau
Northwestern State University
Natchitoches, LA 71497
(318) 357-6466
11/09/2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NATCHITOCHES -Lt. Col. Lee Pennington, professor of Military Science and Battalion Commander at Northwestern State University, received first place for three-dimensional mixed media in the annual 2006 All Army Fine Arts Contest.
LTC Pennington specializes in classical stoneware busts which he sculpts by hand. The winning sculpture, Colonel Edmund Rucker, is on display at the United States Army Aviation Museum in Fort Rucker, Ala. Fort Rucker, known as the "Home of Army Aviation," was named after Col. Rucker.
Colonel Edmund Rucker is on permanent loan and is one of two Pennington pieces in the museum. The second piece will be unveiled in the museum this winter. It was created on request of Museum Director Steve Maxham to commemorate fallen aviators in Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.
Before moving to Natchitoches, Pennington was self-taught and had no formal training. He enrolled in art classes at NSU this fall and is studying under the direction of Matt DeFord, assistant professor of sculpture.
"I am excited to be at NSU and am very happy to be learning from a pro," Pennington said.
"Lee has great talent. He is driven and loves to excel," DeFord said. "He also has a great deal of patience. He is like a sponge when it comes to learning. I enjoy working with him."
Pennington's work is detailed and emotional, and each piece takes him approximately 40 hours to complete.
"I've always liked working with my hands. When I started sculpting five years ago people kept telling me God gave me a natural talent. I was drawn to it the day I tried it," he said. "I only sculpt in my spare time, so hopefully I'll get faster when I can sculpt full time."
Most important in his work he said is "an excellent likeness of the subject is important but more than that, my goal is to capture a person's unique personality in each piece."
This is the second consecutive year Pennington has received honors in the All Army Fine Arts Competition. Of 306 entries in 2005, he placed first in the three-dimensional category with Beauty, a sculpture study of his wife, Kat.