A commission of a child in a chair- introducing David

Here is David. He is my new commission. His mom would like a sculpture done of him and we have entertained the idea of putting him in a chair. During my photo sitting of David I picked up a selection of chairs to consider that his mom was collecting. The chair that I am leaning towards is a small chair and it is very debatable if I can create the sculpture that size. If this was a bronze there would be no problem and I would tackle it with fervor, however, this is to be a fired sculpture and fired clay is very temperamental and unforgiving. I have covered the small chair in plastic to protect it while I work.

Started the new commission- mom and baby

I have been working on roughing in the mother and baby commission. This is a different style than I have used to creating in. The sculpture will be more contemporary and less detailed.

It is important to try and make the design work from all sides. The client wanted the sculpture to stand approximately 8” This size of the sculpture that you see includes the area of the woman’s lower torso that is not actually in the original logo. I thought about trying to make the woman larger and cutting that area off, but to make it 8” it will make it a very wide piece and I feel that might take away from the delicate and tenderness of the piece. It is always good to go away from a piece for a few days and come back to it later to see things from a new perspective.

Painting again!

Leave it to me, a perpetual learner, to find a new creative endeavor. It has been a while since I learned a new computer program, and I must admit spending time on the computer in the office is far from having my hands covered in clay. However, My husband purchased this new Cintiq computer table that I have mentioned before. This is a graphics tablet that looks like a computer screen but allows you to draw right on the tablet.

We have had it in the office for a while, and I think we are leaning toward buying an additional tablet. It really is wonderful to work on. Unlike other tablets where you draw on the table on a tablet and then it appears on the screen. Frankly that does something to my brain, it just does not compute. This tablet has helped me in many different ways with my art and I am glad we invested into it. Can’t wait to have one of my own.

A few weeks ago my husband said, “you should see this new program I have, it is like painting.” The program is called Corel Painter

It is amazing what it can do. So when hubby was taking a lunch break and his computer was free I would try it out. I’m sold. Though you can draw, paint in oils, ink and many other mediums using Painter I have chosen my other medium of choice, and one of the most difficult to master- watercolor. I have painted in watercolor for years and even taught it for a time. But this digital watercolor is a bit different. It may take me some time to master. I thought I would post one of my traditional watercolors so that you can see what I am aspiring to do in this new digital medium.

Why not use the traditional, you might ask? Because it does not mix well in the sculpting studio, it is not a forgiving medium and the digital does offer many things that the traditional does not. I am working on a children’s book illustrating it in this digital watercolor and I am having so much fun in my spare time, which I have very little of with sculpting and writing.

A new commission

A man called and asked if I could reproduce this image of his wife's logo as a small sculpture for her birthday. I am thrilled about the prospect of working on something that is outside of my traditional style. I'll keep you posted on the outcome.

An update on number two in the edition of the life-size newsboy bronze

The Meyer Gallery in Utah contacted me about the edition of the life-size bronze Newsboy. Their client wanted to buy one in the edition to honor the Tabor City Tribune and the former editor/publisher Walter Horace Carter. They inquired to see if the Newsboy could be recreated with a replica of the Tabor City 1953 newspaper announcing their winning of the Pulitzer. That is where the idea of changing each newspaper for the rest of the newsboy life-size bronze edition came from.

According to the 1953 Tabor City Tribune newspaper that was sent to me, they were the first weekly paper to receive such an honor and shared it with Whiteville News-Reporter. Both papers were chosen for their crusade against the Ku Klux Klan, quite an impressive and courageous accomplishment, in this artist’s opinion. I am thrilled to be a part of this place in history.

The client sent me a copy of the paper. I had to modify the design of the newspaper so that it would translate to bronze, but was able to keep the look, headline and masthead of the paper. To recreate this paper for the bronze a wax is poured for each of the papers that are a part of the sculpture. There are some under his arm, one in his hand and some at his feet. Each must be carved in the wax to represent the new paper and headline. Here you will see the copy of the newspaper, my marker layout, the wax and how all of that transferred into the details of the bronze papers. Of course the back of the paper remains as I created it with the tribute to Skinney and others based on the historical article written by history professor Vincent Digirolamo.

I am still waiting for photographs of the placement of the sculpture and official comments.

Follow this link for more photographs and to read more about Horace Carter, Tabor Tribune and Tabor City. I am happy to announce that there are several articles coming out about this piece of artwork and its placement. I will be intereviewed by Press Time on Wednesday. This is wonderful because there are 8 more in the life size edition left for purchase, and I would like to sell them.
I'll post more about the publicity later.

A new and improved web site?

I’m always amazed at the amount of time that some office and marketing things take. I am in the process of revamping my web page. Who would have thought it was so big with 180 plus pages, some that many people cannot get into unless they happen upon them.

The process is a total restructuring of the design, new content, an update on artwork a forum to help individuals with their creative endeavors and more interactivity. I hope it is done pretty soon as it is taking up entirely too much of my time. It is however something that has been long due as the site has been the same for quite some time. One can tell by the copyright notice on some of the pages, many pages say 2001!