New commercial carver

[Zoe Cattell]

Hello,
I’m new to this forum. I’m a commercial carver / painter living in Vancouver BC Canada. I carve mostly foam stuff for children’s play areas, signs and stuff like that. I’m glad to have found this forum, and am very excited to see all the different kinds of sculpture by so many talented artists!

Leprechaun painted for dry play unit

[JAZ]

Zoe,
Your process is new to me. What sort of foam are you using, how do you bond it and what kind of paint? It certainly looks like it weighs less than many sculpture materials!

[oddist]

Zoe,

Welcome and...wow...fantastic work.

Commercial you may call it, but probably the most contemporary art around.

Did you study this technique? Where?

I see this as a possible short cut to get to a bronze casting...do the sculpture in foam...have a mold made from the foam...have the bronze poured...and voilà.

[fritchie]

Zoe - Welcome! You certainly have opened some eyes to possibilities with contemporary materials. I’m with JAZ on this - can you give us more practical details? How do you assemble blocks of raw material in this size? How are the finished pieces transported ?- disassembled? Crated? What happens after initial use? Are they scrapped or recycled? Have you looked at a permanent “home” for any of this?

You have covered the gamut of subject very well - children, science fiction, promotion in many aspects. And all done with excellence! Let use hear more of your approach, goals and methods.

[Zoe Cattell]

Thanks, for all the kind words.

*Did you study this technique? Where?
I have no formal training, instead I have hundreds of art books I’ve collected over the years; my collections include books on tonal values, perspective and technical stuff like that. I would’ve loved to go to art school, but never did. I took welding at BCIT (our local trade school). I’ve learnt mostly through trial and error.

*What sort of foam are you using, how do you bond it and what kind of paint?
All depends on the application. I use EPS for large sculpts, Trymer foam for large yet detailed sculpts, and clay when I have to make a small sculpture. I use automotive paints and acrylic enamels.
I use EPS (expanded polystyrene) and Trymer foam.
The EPS foam comes in blocks 16’x4’x4’. I still cut them all up and glue them back together.
www.shurfitproducts.com (for Trymer foam) comes in a variety of sizes as well. Trymer won’t melt like EPS when fiber glassed.

*What do you use to carve the foam?
I use various power tools: grinders, chain saws, sanders, reciprocating saws. Various hand tools, saws, rasps, also hot wire tools including a hot wire table… I also use three different sized Olfa knives that I carry with me at all times on a tool belt. Of course I can’t forget trusty sandpaper.

*How are the finished pieces transported ?- disassembled? Crated?
Sometimes, if the piece is too large to fit in a container they are built with a seam and an interlocking armature so they can be taken apart and put back together on site.

*Have you looked at a permanent “home” for any of this?

Their permanent home is usually already decided before I begin building the piece. The carvings I build are found on kid’s play centers, or amusement parks I’ve also done storefronts and signs… I know, not very art like… I wish I could make my own sculptures my heart is really in clay sculptures and I don’t get to do very many. I have a family and I commute quite far to and from work, so I don’t find much extra time to do my own art.

*I see this as a possible short cut to get to a bronze casting...do the sculpture in foam...have a mold made from the foam...have the bronze poured...and voilà.

*It certainly looks like it weighs less than many sculpture materials!
Yes. That’s one of the major reasons foam is used in commercial applications… I’ve seen somewhere online clay being sprayed onto a foam armature and final details being carved into the thin clay layer…

I hope I got all the questions…

[oddist]

Well Zoe, the fact that you have not studied art at any institution of supposed higher learning is a great tribute to your talent.

I salute you.

Hopefully you will someday get to do some our your own work. Don't forget, you are already in the work you do.

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Your last comment on spraying clay on foam is one of the reasons I brought up the possibility of getting directly to a bronze casting. (although your use of the term armature may raise the eyebrows of some participants on this forum)

In my attempt to have a piece enlarged I learned the process would be to "laser scan", "machine small sections of enlargement in foam", "assemble the pieces", "spray with clay","have the artist come to the foundry to do the final details in the clay","disassemble and make molds","cast","assemble","chase","finish", and, "voilà".

The laser scanning, machining, and assembling is a fortune.

I just may try to do a small piece in foam, smear it with clay, and see where it takes me.

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You're an inspiration.

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One last question...on another forum someone asked about coating a foam sculpture and I refered them to a product called "Vanillacryl"...( http://www.fxsupply.com/vanillacryl/vanillacryl.html )...Do you folks use this and if so what's it like?

[sculptorsam]

Beautiful work, Zoe. Lively and with intelligence underlying the humor.

Perhaps I just missed it, but did you say if you have to coat every sculpture with fiberglass? or is the automotive paint enough to give a resistant surface to the foam? Looks like a great and versatile material.

Sam

[Zoe Cattell]

I use a urethane hard coat. ‘Vanillacryl’ sounds similar. The urethane I use has to be almost bullet proof... (gotta withstand the abuse of 1000’s of kids). The coating is sprayed on by a local company. It’s heated and dries pretty much on contact. Fiberglass melts EPS so if I were to use it as a coating I would have to coat the foam with a special coating prior to fiberglass application. Trymer, ridged urethane foam can be fiberglassed. I don’t paint directly on to the foam; I paint the coating.

[Araich]

Hey Zoe, welcome. I've a friend who works in similar material, mostly theme parks and film stuff... He's started to do more formalist stuff in his free time and it is eye opening.

[ironman]

Hi Zoe, WOW, love your web site and the work, and with no formal training! You don't need any. I hope you get some time to pursue your own sculptures, but it looks like you've got a full plate now. thanks for all the info on the foams, tools, etc. that you use. I make welded steel sculpture, but as most creative people, I sometimes like to delve into other mediums. Foam and fiberglas have been on my list, maybe seeing the possibilities, from looking at your work will give me the impetus. It's great to have you on this site.
Have a nice day,
Happy Holidays,
Jeff

[ironman]

Hi Zoe, A quick question. What density Trymer do you use and does it depend on the amount of detail that's needed for the piece?
thanks,
Jeff

[Zoe Cattell]

It's the two pound. I only use that density as it's nice and easy to carve.

Here's some links to some of my sculpture projects for anyone interested:

Dinosaur Sculpture

Dino

Dinosaur in Progress

Smilodon

Smilodon

Petranadon

Skull Splash

Skull

Skull Carving

Horse Mural

Bell Tower Carving

Ship Splash

Ship Splash Back

Carving a Railing

Pelican

Canoe

Trees

Cabin

Trees Painted

Bird

Carving

Butterfly

Yogi Panels

Yogi Panels

Yogi Splash

[Merlion]

Hi Zoe, I thought I should transfer my questions and discussions to this thread. You said you use EPS as well as Trymer, and that you prefer the latter for large and detailed carving.

I notice Trymer is Dow's product, and I have since contacted them. The bad news for me is their reply that Dow does not import any Trymer foam 'billets' to Singapore, and it would cost me too much to ship some over to try out.

What is the EPS that you use? It is not the beaded foam that is white in color ?

[Zoe Cattell]

I prefer Trymer for small detailed carving it is urethane foam... I’ve used it on a couple of projects when a fiberglass mould had to be made.
Yes, the EPS I use is the white beaded stuff, It comes in different densities… It’s been soo long since I had to tell my supplier what kind I want that I don’t even know the ‘type’. I use a high grade carving EPS when I’m doing smaller stuff (the balls are very small and the block is very heavy and expensive) and a cheaper grade for really large stuff. I always use virgin material (no regrind). Hopefully that will help you.

[GoocherLee]

Hi Zoe.
[ I know, never resurrect a long inactive thread, but hey... ]

I first became aware of your art in the Airbrushing Technique Magazine article highlighting your work. I'm glad that I've found links to more of it.

Great stuff!