Lorett knew she had the talent to sculpt and began to teach herself to carve and paint birds, in a few years she was winning awards in major competitions.

Wildlife Art Magazine, May/June 2002
Volume XXI, Issue 3 - Page 66
www.WildlifeArtMag.com

Bobbie Lorett was a stay-at-home mom. Her husband Mike became her mentor. -He asked me one day when our baby was getting ready to go to kindergarten. "What are you going to do with the rest of your life." Lorett knew she had the talent to sculpt and began teaching herself to carve and paint birds, in a few years she was winning awards in major competitions. "The awards gave me confidence", Lorett explains. She moved to bronze when she decided to work out some problems in clay before carving in wood.

Mike traveled with Lorett to art shows across the country. "At first. people would talk to Mike, assuming a woman didn't know what an elk looked like. But as my career developed I haven't had that problem:"

Lorett believes there are advantages to being a woman in the industry. "When a woman artist is good, she is really good, because she had to work harder to get there" she says. Part of the hard work is ensuring the quality of her bronzes, so Lorett handles all the foundry work except pouring the bronze. She recently reduced her regular editions to 10. "Chasing the waxes, welding and applying patinas is grunt work", she concedes. "so staying challenged is critical" For Lorett, that means working in stone and exploring small­scaled sculptural jewelry.