A Peak Inside my Portfolio: Figurative Sculpture

This sculpture class is really taking it's toll, but I believe I'm pretty much caught up and in a good place to finish the semester strong! My last portfolio post discussed my Social Issue Additive Sculpture (check out that post here!), which is now completed!

I'm happy with the way it turned out and even more importantly, I'm happy that it's done!

Our second assignment was to create a manipulative sculpture. So instead of adding pieces or constructing, we are to take a material and manipulate it. I used clay for this piece. In addition to being manipulative, the sculpture also had to be figurative. Most students were doing a bust (head and shoulders) so I did a torso, to try something different. As with most of my pieces recently, I wanted to add an element of fiber arts to my design. To that purpose, one half of the torso will be constructed by weaving.

These two images are the front and back of my torso after the first day of working. I was simply building the piece and roughing in the different body parts. My goal was to continue to build up the piece while paying attention to musculature and bone structure underneath.

After my second day in the studio, I had almost finished the piece in relation to size, but you can see from the butt that I was still working on getting the correct shapes and proportions for all the anatomy.

At this point, I thought I was done! But as my husband pointed out, the butt is very tight and firm and the front look like it belongs to someone who maybe doesn't work out as much. Or as a fellow student put it, 'it looks like it has a Sponge Bob butt' So I went back to work refining the overall shape.

Now I can say that I am all done with the clay portion! I'm waiting for it to dry out and then in the kiln it goes. I believe I will stain it instead of applying a glaze. More to come on that. Now for the weaving part:

As you can see along one side I have made holes. There are dowels that will fit into those holes after firing is complete. These dowels will then become the warp form my weaving portion of the piece that will make up the entire left side of the torso! Hopefully that will be done soon! Now we're onto Subtractive Sculpture (carving), wish me luck!

A Peak Inside my Portfolio- Additive Sculpture Update

Alright friends, this piece is a beast! I cannot seem to finish it and even though I've spent hours and hours on it, there still seems to be more to do! I've completed the construction and now I'm on to finishing the surface. I coated the entire piece in plaster which took forever! I had to make small batches and continually rinse out my container. Lots of trips to the sink! I used a fork and my fingers for the application. As you can see, the piece is taller than me so it took a long time to cover the entire surface area.

After the piece was completely covered, I moved into the painting stage of finishing the work. I'm using a matte black acrylic paint. Doing a small area at a time, I paint it and then wipe off a good portion of the paint using a sponge The process is slow (again!) not to mention it is tearing up my hands and the sponges. But, what I'm left with is an amazing texture and finish! I love it! The black paint remains in all the grooves and cervices but comes off of the higher areas so the white can show through. This gives the piece the grungy, gritty look that I was hoping for. I'm about half way done and have high hopes to finish it next week (although that has been my plan for the last two weeks so we'll see...) Stay tuned for finished product pictures!

A Peak Inside my Portfolio: Social Issues Additive Sculpture

This semester, I'm taking a sculpture course as part of earning my Master's degree. I'm liking the course, but it is challenging for me, especially in the realm of construction. This first piece is a additive sculpture constructed of wood, dry wall compound and wire. It's not finished, it's taking so long to put it all together correctly!

The assignment was to create a sculpture that addressed a social issue. I chose to have my piece discuss the idea of our freedoms in this country and how, for some people, more 'freedom' actually means less freedom.

These are just in-process pictures, more to come soon!

Creating a wire loom for my metal wire weaving

Starting to do the weaving!

The structure of my sculpture complete!

Clay Project- Gnomes!

I have to thank my art teacher friend Mike for this one! A clay project for elementary students that combines; slab-making, molds, slip and score, additive sculpture, and glazing. My fourth grade students are making clay gnomes, although some have decided to turn them into wizards, which is perfectly okay with me being a wizard fan myself.
During the first class, we discussed air pockets and the clay drying process. Then we wedged out the clay and threw it to make a slab. The students then wrapped that slab around a paper-towel covered cone and smudged the edges together. Then a small amount of water could be used to pull the top of the clay out so that it created a steep point that will eventually be the hat of the gnome/wizard.

During the next two classes, students were able to add whatever details they liked to their creations. We simply reviewed how to score and slip to attach pieces of clay together. Students also had to use facial features on their gnome/wizard to demonstrate a mood. We talked about that a little bit, and the kids got started creating some of the most interesting creatures!

On a more personal note, some of my art teacher friends came over to my house to paint wallets. Apparently, you can paint with acrylic paint on leather or faux-leather wallets. I purchased mine at the thrift store. I finished this one just yesterday, sadly I only have two pictures of it, not many in-progress. I hope to create another one as well. This one just needs to be sealed with a clear acrylic sealer.