paperclay gone wild

[oddist]

Been busy this past winter. Still haven't fired anything. Started to build a downdraft barrel kiln though. I wanted to photo document all the pieces though just in case all fails in the firing.

All figures are in the 12 to 16 inch tall range...

Here, and the next number of posts, are the works...could be finished...could be maquettes..could be molded and turned into bronze...

Decisions, decisions, decisions...

MIME:

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Alberto's Girl:

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Contemplation:

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-Heads Up-:

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Pushing the Envelope:

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Reclining figure study:

[fritchie]

Oddist - Looks like you have been busy with that new material. Thanks for posting these - you have explored quite a range of concepts fairly quickly. My favorite probably is “Pushing the Envelope”, with the empty head. In my early introductory sculpture classes about 1970, I did a large (roughly 14 - 16 inch) plaster which essentially was a “hole” - a rough sphere with an opening covering about 40 percent of one side. I really was more interested in the interior space than the exterior, and finished both in a sort of rough surface.

The piece was cast in aluminum - magnesium alloy. We had to gather our own raw metal as experience, and this one was mostly used motorcycle and lawnmower pistons. Some of the other students thought I was nuts.

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Fritchie,

It has been an interesting exersize to work with this clay..As I've been experimenting with figure posture I found myself vascilating between needing or not needing detail to impart the subjects intent...

The Mime and Pushing the Envelope (PTE) seemed to need fingers while others could do with mitten-like hands...Faces went from having features to being blank to being cut off altogether as in PTE. The feet have no toes..but the suggestion of features by shape..

In "Heads Up" the head on the pole was the original of the piece--too large for the body. After removing it the blank face I added, nestled down between the shoulders, seemed to add much more to the emotion of the piece. And the head on PTE was constucted as a hollow ball that was out of proportion...I cut the front off to resize the piece and found that I felt the hollow would add much more to the piece than a face...

Working with the paperclay, which allows you to work dry, let my come and go as I worked on a piece without the worry of keeping the clay moist. Hands were added by either building right onto the end of the arms-- or constructing them seperately, letting them dry, then attaching them with slip. Areas of the figure needing to be reworked were shaved down with a razor or rasp, the surface wetted, and fresh clay added with slip to the desired shape. Some limbs were cut off altogether, relocated, then attached dry to dry with slip. I'm still learning the capabilities of the medium and right now find it a marvelous way to modle ideas rapidey, change them rapidly, and have a fairly durable maquette, even without firing.