JENELLE ARMSTRONG BYRD

"Jenelle has studied sculpture in my studio since 1998 and in these few years she has discovered a powerful and rare talent – she is gifted with the innate ability to see and reproduce in clay the essence of a person’s face and character.  Few sculptors, regardless of the amount of training and experience, ever reach her a level as a portrait artist.

"Jenelle Armstrong Byrd is a master of the human portrait bust!"

Jenelle began sculpting the human form in 2001 when our studio was first commissioned to create the Roy Benavidez Memorial sculpture.  Her skill as a sculptor grew rapidly on that project and she has subsequently created many different busts as well as sculptures of the entire human figure. 

Her first bust to be cast in bronze was the sculpture titled “Master Sergeant Roy P. Benavidez, Medal of Honor”  has been acclaimed by many of Benavidez’s friends and associates as a remarkable likeness of him.  Roy Benavidez’s widow, Hilaria, upon first seeing the life size bust in her home reached out to stroke the cheek and exclaimed  – “That’s him! That is Roy!”  
 

Jenelle’s portrait busts of Stephen Pless, as well as those of his three crew members, have been acclaimed by family, friends and comrades as great likenesses of the individuals."

                                                                   Mark Austin Byrd, Sculptor