Emile Norman

Emile Norman, born April 22, 1918cite web
title = Emile's Life
publisher = EmileNorman.com
url = http://www.emilenorman.com/bio.html] , is an iconoclasticcite web
title = TV review: Life of Big Sur artist Emile Norman
publisher = The San Francisco Chronicle, David Wiegand, June 20, 2008
url = http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/20/DDPL11AJEF.DTL] California artist known for mosaics, panels, jewelry and sculpture with a meticulous attention to detail.

Externalimage
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http://imgs.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2006/10/14/dd_norman.jpgEmile Norman: c. 1964, in front of his wood inlay mural "History of San Francisco." Photo by Brooks Clement]

http://imgs.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2006/10/14/dd_norman01.jpgEmile Norman: at home in Big Sur, Photo by Jeffrey Mallory]

http://mvff.com/files/images/20061014_RAF_EMIL_AJW_001.preview.jpgEmile Norman: with Michael Tucker and Jill Eickenberry, at the Mill Valley Film Festival, October 2006, at the world premiere of "Emile Norman: By His Own Design"]

Norman grew up on a San Gabriel Valley walnut farm and from an early age exhibited artistic talent. He began his professional career fashioning window displays for Bullocks Wilshire in Los Angeles and later Bergdorf Goodman, Bonwit Teller, and other New York department stores. In New York, Norman's work was featured in Vogue Magazine — and he first displayed an affinity for working in plastic. Norman was featured in a November 22,1944 New York Times article, "Plastics Shown in Decorative Role", covering the opening of his exhibit at the Pendleton Gallery.

quote box|width=250px|quote=""'Nobody ever gives
you permission
to become an artist.""'
|source=Emile Norman

cite web
title = Indie film traces the life of an artist
publisher = The Mail Tribune of Souther Oregon, April 11, 2007, BILL VARBLE
url =http://archive.mailtribune.com/archive/2007/0411/local/stories/emile.htm]

Norman's lifetime body of work includes sculpture, mosaic, jewelry and other forms — and most prominently the large mosaic window for the Masonic Center in San Francisco along with an assemblage of exterior stone sculptures.

Norman often uses an innovative technique bringing together his own admixture of epoxy-resin, crushed glass, plastic or wood — creating an effect not dissimilar to cloisonne or stained glass. The effect is especially unusual when Norman crafts the layered effect over a wax form which when later melted away leaves behind a three-dimensional sculpture.cite web
title = All the pieces of Emile Norman's life as artist and gay man, together on film
publisher = The San Francisco Chronicle, Pam Grady, October 14, 2006
url = http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/10/14/DDGILLOD041.DTL]

Since 1946, Norman lived and worked at his studio-home in Big Sur on Pfeiffer Ridge — where he lived and worked with his partner Brooks Clement until his passing in 1973 from cancer.cite web
title = Emile Norman: By His Own Design
publisher = PBS.org
url = http://www.pbs.org/emilenorman/] Norman still lives at his ranch in Big Sur, along with his nephew and his nephew's partner, who help take care of him.

Norman is the subject of a 2008 PBS documentary, Emile Norman: By His Own Design, produced by actors Michael Tucker and Jill Eikenberry , directed by Will Parrinello.

References

External links

* [http://www.pbs.org/emilenorman/ PBS Documentary: Emile Norman: By His Own Design]