"Paved...."

Composing "Paved"

I fooled around with this post for too long, so it's a bit behind the times. Still, it's a good record of what goes into the creation of one of the framed reliefs.

Here's the initial Photoshop mock-up. By now I've learned that the piece is inevitably going to change a great deal when it meets the real world, so I'm when I'm working digitally I'm not trying to make a finished piece, so find a starting place, and get a sense of which pieces I need to make.



That said, I was sticking pretty close to the plan until I decided it wasn't really working.



So I ended up basically starting over. All those black spots are places where I've blacked out a hole I've made in the paper that I'll need to ignore when it comes time to drill out the template.







Still, I wasn't quite happy with it, so I started fooling around with the borders, cutting the ladies off at the top and making the whole thing a bit more claustrophobic. Then I decided that some of the "paving" pieces were too large, which led me to decide that many of the individual pieces needed to be fragmented, which necessitated an entire reconstruction of the lower section.



Compare the image above with the image below, with some details below.







A dance teacher once told me that things happen quickly on stage, so if you're composing a dance, and you've got a step you like, repeat it. The audience won't think it's a failure of imagination, they'll be grateful that they got to see that cool step again.

On a similar note, I was quite happy with this moment, where the skeleton intersects with Mad Meg in a negative space silhouette, so I decided to repeat it. Twice. Which led to a re-imagining of the top section, with skeletons floating all through the space.





The final object was changing right up to the last day. See the post above to see the piece in it's final incarnation.

Dexter Jones Award

I am pleased to report that I have recently been awarded the National Competition For Figurative Sculpture Dexter Jones Award. My thanks to the jurors, and the guardian angel who encouraged me to apply.

The award was for Ad Infinitum, which makes me happy, because it's the only piece that didn't sell out of the NYC show, but which I happen to love. Nice to see all your babies get recognized.



In other news, I've just installed my show as part of the Abington Solo Series. I've got a long post brewing on the evolution of the new piece in the show, but at this point I'll just say that the show looks great, and that I'm hugely relieved to have the last show of the semester behind me. Finally time to take a break, recharge, and make some new stuff.

Dang

I thought I had snuck one by the mold gremlins using my old mold making material and polycoat for a mold release, but those gremlins don't miss. Stuck like a sonofabitch. Fortunately the original came out, so at least I don't have to re-make my tiny .357.

Rescued and Installed

Here's a shot of the original plaster and burlap test of "Self-Portrait" rescued from the garbage and installed in the ivy behind my in-laws. Nice to see it have a life outside of the studio.

I don't know how long it will last out there, but it will certainly have a longer and happier life than it would have in a landfill.

More Guns

Sometimes the mold looks better than the positive. Case in point.



This mold was made with ancient remnants of the material I used to make the big guy, using polycoat as a mold release. No reason in the world it should have worked, but urethane has a short shelf life, and I didn't want to buy a new mold making kit without more figures on deck. So I risked it.

Guns

For some reason there's a lot of guns floating around these days.



Guns made of scrap wood and pvc for the kids.



A blurry Dan Wesson .357 for Mad Meg.



And a work in progress. Meg on the left will be holding the revolver.