Meows & Minis Flap Cat

Thought you might want to know about this fluffy fellow! He's one of Melody Pena's Flap Cats I painted into a "purple-point" kitty with colorful wings and teal eyes. He's a 100% donation to Chris Wallbruch's charity show, Meows and Minis, dedicated to Cat Guardians.

He was lots of fun to paint, being a quirky diversion from the typical palette of horse colors and effects! Check out his auction here.

"Hope is not a prediction of the future; it's a declaration of what's possible." ~ Yogi Bhajan

Meows & Minis Flap Cat

The Method, The Madness and The Mystery—Part 2

I suspect this is how "my team" feels when I start a new piece. My tools were too busy weeping to pose for this pic. My hands won't even talk to me.

Welcome again to The Method, The Madness and The Mystery, a sculpting series following the creation of a frolicking Dutch Draft Horse stallion, "Himmy." If this is your first time here, you may want to pop on over to Part 1 to get up to speed.

In this Part 2, we're going to discuss some initial philosophies when I sculpt a new piece. Now I'm sure you're thinking, "Can we just get onto the sculpting, please?," but I assure you that introducing these ideas now will help you understand some points and choices later. So…

The First Steps

When I start a new piece, I like to define some goals I'll use to decide when the piece is finished and successful. These goals are different with each sculpture and are part of the inspiration for their creation because, along with the fun and fulfillment, I consider each new sculpture a new learning opportunity, a new means to push my skills. I actually prefer to create "on the edge," of finding that boundary where I'm uncertain, nervous, and unfamiliar…and jump. Though I may be risk adverse in life, when it comes to art, I have no sense of self–preservation. So if I'm not thinking to myself as I sculpt, "What the heck am I doing?! This is going to be a disaster! I'm never going to be able to pull this off! What was I thinking?!," then I'm not pushing enough.

For better or worse, I also don't trust comfort zones and find that, at least for me, complacency tends to breed a false confidence that dampens "my team's" ability to really rise to the occasion. Instead then, I like "everyone" to be on wide–eyed Red Alert, and that only happens when I've thrown myself into a metaphorical howling abyss—screaming. Who needs sky diving when there's art? Just as in life then, horses are also teachers in the studio, and so Himmy will teach me to:

• Nail the proportions and build of a really heavy draft horse.
• Imbue a lively personality without appearing wild or unruly.
• Recreate a winter adult coat fluttering in the gallop.
• Achieve a sense of weightlessness despite his hulk.
• Produce a sense of nimble speed despite the base.
• Recreate a sense of billowing, splattering kicked snow.

All that means I'll keep working on Himmy until I've achieved these goals to my liking. But some of them won't be easy. In fact, I consider Himmy to be the most difficult concept I've tackled so far because of them. That may seem surprising, since Himmy appears to be relatively straightforward, but those goals actually entail elements more systemic than musculature, type, or texture. What's nagging my sense of confidence then? Life.

Here's the thing…realistic art aims to duplicate life as accurately as possible to fool the eye—but art is entirely different from life. Said another way, inanimate clay and a living animal are two totally different things. Really think about that. Let it soak in for a moment. Though that statement may sound absurdly obvious, it's surprising just how many artists don't fully anticipate the implications for realistic sculpture. What—how? Because it implies that sculpting what we see isn't how one sculpts realistically. Now I've been working on a sculpting series that deals with that specific issue in much greater detail, but in the interim we'll approach it from this angle…

Unconsciousness vs. Consciousness

In life, our brain automatically processes three functions of an equation commonly regarded as "reality." Being automatic, they're instantly recognized and processed by our unconscious mind both in field study and our studio and as such, tend not to be readily identified by our conscious mind.  

First are the natural physical forces, The Universals, such as kinetic energy, force (including centrifugal and centripetal force), gravity, mass, inertia, cause and effect, drag, friction, resistance, impulsion, thrust, contraction, rebound, center of gravity or mass, leverage, tension, equilibrium, acceleration, fluid dynamics, and a host of other effects. Using Himmy as an example, we instantly know that if he were alive, he'd be a massive hulk (being a draft horse), he'd be moving fast (since he's galloping), he'd be benign (since he's happy and excited) and that what he's running through is puffy and crunchy (we know the texture and qualities of snow). Our brain does this on autopilot as a function of the fight or flight response because it wants to make sure that Himmy won't trample us before it decides to admire him. We usually don't even notice this initial deduction has been made—it being so automatic—that is, if Himmy isn't running at us! Then we get out of the way before we look again.

Second is biological reality, what we think of as "anatomy." In its simplistic form, this allows us to identify a horse as a "horse" and different from a cow, hippo, or platypus. By the time we're old enough to sculpt realistically, we usually recognize a horse from a donkey, from a mule, between the breeds and perhaps even the genders. In targeted training for equine realism, we can then recognize sculptures with more accurate equine structure from others; we can recognize progressive degrees of equine feasibility in sculpture. We are then better able to factually and objectively answer the question, "If that sculpture of a horse was alive, would it be a viable horse?" These are The Givens, those aspects of structure that define the basis of equine realism—anatomy and biomechanics*. No piece of realistic equine sculpture can be "realistic" if it doesn't come as close as possible to technical accuracy, by definition, since looking like a horse and factually depicting a horse are indeed two very different things. For more discussion on equine realism in sculpture, you can download my article, "Walking the Tightrope; The Unreality of Realism," I wrote for The Boat here.

(*For the purposes of this series, biomechanics will now be considered interchangeable with anatomy, since the former is simply an inevitable expression of the latter.)

Third, once our brain has been educated—which is safe to say with horse enthusiasts—it automatically pinpoints The Variables, those factors that create further distinguishing aspects such as breed standards, conformation, grooming, tack, and preferred movement. With more training, the better we become at ascertaining these nuances. Having said that, however, no amount of prowess in The Variables can compensate for errors in The Givens when it comes to equine realism, which is precisely why they're Variables.

Our brain processes all of these three factors unconsciously so that our conscious mind can take them for granted and thus be freed to focus on those aspects that appeal to us—and there are lots of 'em with such a captivating critter! These features are The Irrationals, those aspects of our equation that are spontaneous and may be specific to cause and effect, such as individual features, expression, gesture, personality, presence, posture, motion, hair movement, etc. Indeed, The Irrationals are usually those very particulars that often inspire a new piece in terms of concept, design and composition. And like The Variables, no amount of prowess with The Irrationals can compensate for errors in The Givens. 

The fifth factor to all this is us! Our goals, our skills, our discipline, our workmanship, our knowledge base, and all those elements our brain draws upon to drive us in this art form—but we'll leave that for another blog series. Now there is a sixth factor, which is…

Is Reality Really What We See? 

The sixth factor, the one staring me in the face, are precisely all those components not registered by my conscious mind, The Invisibles. I don't have the luxury of automatic processing with clay. It's just an inert lump. Instead then, I have to recreate a self-contained, complete universe from scratch, so I have to readily recognize everything. Simply put, my brain cannot take anything for granted so that yours can. I refer to this hidden ingredient as "Living Moment" and it factors back in all those elements processed under our radar and so tend to go unseen.

See, here's the other thing about realism: despite all the elements we have to consider as we work, we still cannot factor out our own brains. And this is exactly the reason why simply sculpting what we see isn't how one sculpts realistically. Can you guess why by now? Yes! It's because your brain actually functions as a Reality Filter. What's more, your own unique circumstances of nature and nurture culminate into an individualized, custom–made Reality Filter all your own. And the same applies to each of us. This is why different sculptures have different degrees of accuracy, and it's also why each of us pick up on different things when looking at the same horse or sculpture. It's why different artistic styles exist, too. So because each of our Filters has a unique set of priorities, goals, blind spots, habits, aesthetics, proclivities, and preconceptions, we each have our own unique view of reality. Ultimately then, all of our different Reality Filters are what account for every differing factor in realistic equine sculpture.

That's where my problem lies, and on two fronts: not only do I have to tackle my own Reality Filter, I have to tackle yours as well. This means I must constantly revisit the question, "What really constitutes reality?" In doing so, I'm obliged to address those very things unprocessed by my consciousness only because I can't rely on my Reality Filter to show me what reality actually is. This is why I prefer a Red Alert situation. Hey, no one on my team can get comfy when everything we're engaging is suspect—including my own mind!

And it's here where Living Moment comes to our rescue. It's truly enlightening when you take a new look at something and strip away all your preconceived notions about how it should look. Only when you do that—only when you can do that—do you start to see reality as it really is rather than how you want it to be. Indeed, what reality is and what we think it is are two very different things, thanks to our Filter.

So because Living Moment involves effects usually imperceptible to our conscious selves, we need to learn how to recognize, interpret and translate them to infuse them into our clay. Yet our brain cannot do this on its own—it has to be shown how and then guided to maintain that state of awareness throughout the sculpting process. But this is neither easy nor intuitive because we're asking our brain to bring what's registered on the "automated" unconscious level up into our "manual" conscious level for objective analysis. Plus, our unique Reality Filters means those particulars are usually different for each of us. So in a way, Living Moment is to an artist's brain what Self–Carriage is to a horse. And like each horse is an individual—one who will need different training methods to address his unique personality quirks—so each of our brains will need its own customized training to help it perceive and translate Living Moment.

We'll explore some ideas on that to get you started, but once our brain gets the knack of it, it really keys in on the constellation of fleeting events unfolding every second as we begin to recognize how the different substances, structures, textures, components, features, emotions, and reactions in life are thus affected. Through this, innumerable little touches that input actuality into our sculpture are revealed, exponentially increasing our creative choices and taking our work beyond representation and into narrative, beyond formula and into serendipity. Only then do we start to See the full spectrum of reality and realize that we cannot separate a believable subject from a believable universe, that we cannot sculpt realism in a contextual vacuum. Realism isn't about sculpting a factual horse then, it's about sculpting a factual reality that happens to feature a horse.

So What Exactly Does All This Mean?

Boiled down, Living Moment addresses just that—sculpting a factual reality, a complete universe. Because of this, it incorporates the physical forces and biological consequences our brain would otherwise take for granted—and thus tend to omit from clay—that impart a sense of immediacy, a sense of "realness," a degree of "changeability" beyond The Universals, The Givens, The Variables and The Irrationals. Altogether, the concept recognizes that no one moment is alike as each unfolding one is entirely new. This suggests that we cannot sculpt any two sculptures alike, right down to our anatomical interpretations. Heck, it suggests we cannot even sculpt each side of our subject the same! In all, we're quietly reminded that not only is each animal a unique individual, but each moment is unique, too. For some ideas on what that means for sculpture, refer to my two–part anatomy interpretation series here and here.

Practically speaking then, one way to think of Living Moment is that our sculpture is like a movie still—a single frame within a continuum—with these storyline components:

• The Universals create a believable setting.
• The Givens create a believable visual.
• The Variables create believable value judgements.
• The Irrationals create a believable individual.
• Living Moment knits all this together into a believable plot.
• Our mind is the interface.

In other words, Living Moment refers to the physics and biology applicable to our equine figure within the context of the scene portrayed. That means I won't be sculpting a draft horse galloping in the snow. That's only thinking of part of the equation. Instead, I'll be sculpting a universe in which a draft horse happens to be galloping in the snow. That's the full equation. Perhaps you can see now that there's a big difference between depicted movement and depicted Moment.

The Essential Dilemma

When we grasp this idea, we then start to see the implications for our sculptures. For instance, Living Moment indicates that aptitude in The Givens isn't enough. Sure, clinical expertise can take us pretty far in realistic equine sculpture, and it definitely takes quite a bit of effort to achieve in any measure. The equine is arguably one of the most difficult subjects to sculpt realistically, having stymied countless artists throughout the ages. Even Degas admitted great difficulty with the subject! So there's good reason why technical precision is such a struggle in the beginning of our careers, and why we work so hard to continually refine it.

Yet no amount of clinical accuracy can help us express the quintessence of a living creature or the transitory essence of life, as mountains of technical illustrations, anatomy charts, and representational pieces prove. So if we want our efforts to go beyond this, we're asked to go beyond positioning a 3D anatomy chart in different poses with different breed outlines. Flipping this over then, another implication is that the more we strive to sculpt with absolute clinical precision, the less realistically we tend to sculpt. Accurate anatomy may be at the basis of realistic equine sculpture, but if that's all we focus on, we're going to miss the most important component itself—life.

We'll explore all of this throughout this series, too, but it all comes down to this: just as horses "fill in" for us (as Tom Dorrance so wisely taught us), our brain fills in for art as well, and for realism in particular. Here's the deal summed up by this blunt quote: 

Realism has to be such high quality, you can't fake it. It's all hanging out there like the laundry. ~ Nelson Shanks

This art form is a kind of magic trick in that I'm trying to convince you that the illusion I've created is real enough to suspend disbelief for just a moment. Realism cannot be faked, fudged, or phony, which is why the more gripping works appear "more realistic" because they are more realistic. By definition, realism isn't something we can just make up—it's dependent on rules, The Givens. The more rules we perceive and employ then, the more convincing our work becomes.

But therein lies a trap, the belief that the more adept we become in duplicating the rules, the more correct and convincing our sculptures automatically become. And this is true—but only to a point, remember. Because we all know that Nature is as much about rules as it is about breaking them, and that idea applies to our sculptures as well. That is to say we must come to know the rules so well, and so far beyond a chart or illustration, that we also discover how and when to break them, too. And it's Living Moment that guides us.

We are sculpting living animals in mercurial moments, not anatomy charts or registry diagrams. So our work must be equal parts precision and organic if our brain is going to be truly tricked because this is what our brain already registers in life. Really, does your brain see a skinned horse galloping around a paddock in life, like an animated anatomy chart? No. It sees a living, organic horse. Put another way, your brain already factors in that organic nature unconsciously—it simply takes it for granted because it takes the fact the horse is living for granted. Indeed, your brain automatically strips away features of the Living Moment to simplify the visual.

But when we look at a realistic equine sculpture, our brain unconsciously looks for that organic nature—that mental function is spinning in a loop looking for that stimuli in the sculpture that it finds in life. And in a piece that follows The Givens too literally, that circuit is tripped almost as effectively as if The Givens had errors. When our brain cannot find that organic, Living Moment element in a sculpture then, it will attempt to "fill in" for that missing ingredient—and the moment it's forced to do so, the piece registers as "not real," and POOF—the spell is broken.

So—yes—the quickest way to break this spell are errors in The Givens, but the more subtle way is an inadequate infusion of Living Moment. And in certain pieces especially, Living Moment can play a far more critical role in that spell's power than just about anything else…and Himmy is exactly that kind of piece. 

The Challenges

So in case you haven't guessed by now, five key Living Moment elements that will take center stage with Himmy are:

• Weight vs. weightlessness (Himmy vs. his gait)
• Impulsion vs. rooted (his gait vs. the base)
• Resistance vs. velocity (his coat vs. the wind generated by his gallop)
• Mass vs. fluffy (Himmy vs. the snow)
• Flesh vs. velocity, impulsion, resistance and suspension (Himmy's fleshy bits vs. the act of galloping in snow)

And that's just the tip of the Himmyberg! If I'm successful then, Himmy will appear as if he's moving very fast and nimbly, as though he's floating during that suspension phase of the gallop, but also come across as the massive, powerful hulk of a horse he is. If I'm really successful, you'll also "feel" the crisp air ruffle his winter coat, you'll "hear" the snow crunch and pop as his dinner plate hooves smoosh and fling it, you'll "sense" the rumble of his hooves as all that bulk thunders by, you'll "see" the fluffy snow splatter, billow and spray under the kick of his heels, you'll "listen" for his snorting breath and blows, and you'll "connect" to his happy, joyful attitude. He'll have context; his moment will be complete. Altogether then, if I account for Living Moment well enough, your moment be transported to his moment and—for just a second—you'll share something with each other that mimics the same feeling you would have if he were real and you were there with him. 

That's the magic trick. And I sure hope I can pull this bunny out of the hat!

NEXT TIME: Part 3: Materials and Tools

"What is magic? In the deepest sense, magic is an experience. It's the experience of finding oneself alive within a world that is itself alive. It is the experience of contact and communication between oneself and something that is profoundly different from oneself; a swallow, a frog, a spider weaving its web…"  ~ David Abram

The Method, The Madness and The Mystery—Part 2

It's a Mud Hunt! A Mud Hunt!

All my hard work this month has paid off with a passel of new porcelain goodies in my Etsy store! You'll notice lots of fresh new ideas in this offering, from the RunequinesTM mosaics to the RelicRocTM pieces. And if you explore the sold pieces, you can see even more fun new ideas that got snapped up immediately.

Now some pieces have been withheld for auction, either because they're extra special thanks to serendipity, or because they won the round of "eenie meenie miney mo."

The OOAK Trinket Box #4 (above) is one of those pieces withheld for auction, all because of that random cracking around the heart. Who knew? Gotta love mud and fate!

So now you know why I've been so quiet on this blog for so long. Most of all though, as we've been getting back on our feet after three years of total chaos, I've been trying very hard to balance work with getting myself back on the mend. I haven't been able to create as much as I would have liked, but as the Christmas fiasco taught me...I must pace myself.

CBCM Reflective #7 is another piece that will be offered at auction soon. This piece took a lot of work since an Arabian head is so radically different from the original Reflective head, but he came out pretty cool. You just have to keep at it, especially when you want to run screaming to the hills.

That said, I hope to rectify my absence soon now that this sale is humming along and I can gear up for new production, such as for Christmas and new sculptures! And here's a great bit of news―Barry tells me the CubequineTM molds are done and ready to pop out horsey cubey goodness! Woot!

In particular, however, I want to get started on the Christmas 2012 porcelain ornament and some original busts and bas–reliefs in stoneware and porcelain. Plus finish the sculptures that have been orbiting half–done here for way too long. All in all, I can't wait to get started! Again!

Now if you want the inside scoop for when these pieces go up for auction, plus all the other debuts and sales goodies that pop out of the studio, subscribe to my new email newsletter! It's the exclusive source for all my sales bulletins!

So until the next post―stay cool in this hot weather, get out there and enjoy yourself and, above all, stay creative!

"Nothing, of course, begins at the time you think it did." ~ Lillian Hellman

It's a Mud Hunt! A Mud Hunt!

Uncommon Joy

Scotch Tape Dispenser H-122 -- the object of my obsession.

I definitely have been remiss in attending to this blog. Eeeesh. But the past month essentially ended up in the blender and life hit "frappe." The good news is that I have lots of projects underway, and I hope to start unveiling them here as they progress. Though here's a sneek peek at a rearing guy I started work on beginning of March....

1:24 scale cavorting Friesian stallion -- as seen on Facebook.

But enough about busy work...I am giddy with glee! For years I've been searching for clones of my beloved and highly-guarded tape dispenser (pictured in the intro). Some chicks like diamonds. Expensive cars. Yachts and closets full of expensive clothes. Not me. The perfect tape dispenser makes me happy beyond all sense of decency.

I have freakishly small hands. [I also have freakishly short arms. Even the seamstress who adjusted my wedding dress commented on their proportional deficiency. So paired with my big mouth, I'm like a T-Rex....and a very witty friend coined a term that I love, "Sarahsaurus Rex." Perfect!] Anyway, this makes other tape dispensers annoyingly difficult to use with my cocktail-sausage fingers. I also don't like tape-guns since the leveraging needed to cut the tape and manipulate the darned thing is downright awkward and inefficient for me. I have tried countless types of tape dispensers and the results, in a phrase -- "catastrophic failure." And with all the shipping I do -- ease and speed of taping up boxes is a deal-breaker!

So...back to my blessed tape dispenser. It's the perfect size and mechanics for me. A balance achieved that only can be described as "perfection." And I'd been searching everywhere for more, but to no avail. To make the situation even more dire, I drop this puppy a lot in the madness induced by packing, and I just knew one day I'd be left bereft of my treasure. Then it occurred to me (years later -- yes, I weep for myself, and if you are, too -- thank you!) to actually look at the thing, and what's this? A model number? I rush to do an online search and BOOO-YAH! There are his long-lost brothers on Amazon! I bought three in a flash. Oddly enough, this model never popped up in searches -- even searches on the Scotch website itself! Cosmic hide-in-seek? Who knows! But now I'm willing to share this amazing device with Hubby as he helps me pack up all the Haffie mares and foals we'll be dealing with in the next few months. Life is good.

"If one's life is simple, contentment has to come." ~ Dalai Lama

Uncommon Joy

The Force is Strong...

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

I'm about ready to start speaking in tongues with Ms. Haffie...but I'm able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Here's another sneekie peekie...

Some small tweaks and some final resculpting of that troublesome left hindleg, then clean-up...and voila! This Mother will have landed. That lengthening of her limbs solved all the problems that bugged me with her legs, especially that left hind leg. It looks right now. But keep yer fingers crossed -- tight. She's thrown more than her fair share of curve balls, so it ain't over 'till the ol' broodmare bellows!

To occupy my time while waiting for her epoxy to set up a bit to work it, I've jumped into some customs...that PAM I mentioned last post...

As you can tell, almost her entire right side has been resculpted. Phew. Maureen is teachin' me lots! I intend to turn this PAM into a 12-ish Arab mare, snorty in turn-out. You know how they cavort around, then stop promptly at the fence, tail over their back, ears twitching and then snort? Kinda like that.

And a QH-guy...

I really like this mold a lot. I'm going to turn him into a turned-out reining horse, but I'm not sure of his color. A Paint most likely. I want to experiment with some ideas I have for mapping technique, so he'll probably end up a tobiano with oodles of cat-tracks and weird mapping fun. We'll see, though. As you can see on his tail, I use a wire mesh as an armature. This stuff is wonderful! It's called "Active-Wire Mesh" and I get it at Michaels in the clay/polymer clay section.

But, alas, I've been unable to get into the ceramic studio and glaze that pile of tiles for Etsy or create new ones with my new stamps since my focus has been laser-focused onto Ms. Thang. I learned long ago that when your groove is on with a certain piece, you just gotta go with it. Trying to attempt other things only hoses up the works...and I've had enough of that.

But if you've been following my chatter on my studio Facebook page, you know that I'm hyped up to start sculpting some Friesians! I've been inspired by the incredible black beauty from "Prince Caspian," and so add that to the list. Alls I know is that this year is going to be busy!

"It takes a mix of control and a sense of abandon to make art. Plus it's just plain boring to know the exact outcome." ~ Melanie Peter

The Force is Strong...

Diving In...

The hinder of the Classic Swaps I've customized into a haughty WB stallion

This week has started with a bang -- if I can keep January's momentum up, I think you'll be very happy with what comes outta the studio this year! My aim is to offer pieces to a variety of niche markets, and I'm well on my way...the tiles (giftware), the clinky Brownies (ceramic), Haffie mare and Foal (blank resin), CM Taboo (finished resin) and....two customized pieces. Yep -- you heard that right! I'm diving back in!

I don't offer custom pieces much anymore. I think the last one was Gentle Jim, a customized Stone "Standardbred" into a pintaloosa gelding (back in 2005 or 2006 -- I forget...doh!). Now I don't know if you remember my mention of a CMed Swaps into a jaunty WB stallion a while back (above), but I want to get that puppy done asap. He's been peering at me far too long and I'm ready to paint him. And that nifty custom-made dressage bridle made by Corinne Ensor needs to live outside of its box! From day one, he was destined to be some kind of light fleabit grey and I'm looking forward to starting him soon. It's been years since I've painted a fleabit grey (I think 15 years?), and this time I'm gonna do it without the toothbrush!

But I thought you'd be interested in another custom I started, just for kicks -- a PAM. Now if my memory serves, I don't think I've ever offered a customized Arabian to the public before. So not only will this piece be rare (being a custom), but a first, too. I figure why not get crazy? But she won't be an extreme CM, like many of my previous customized Arabians. I want her to be recognizable as a PAM, staying faithful to Maureen's beautiful style and to keep that "PAMiness" we all love so much. This is both a challenge and a delight -- Maureen was so talented and it's quite a delicate balance between me and keeping her present in the piece, too.

Both of these pieces are a real full-circle for me. I started sculpting with customs, which got progressively more extreme until I moved to original sculptures, and then customs became more rare. So now that I'm diving back in, I deliberately want to avoid an extreme custom because, otherwise, what's the point? If I don't get to "collaborate" with Maureen and create a recognizable hybrid between us, there's little reason for me to customize this PAM at all. So I'm making moderate modifications to make her different and fix the mold casting issues, but I'm going to work hard to keep as much of her appealing head as possible and as much of her old foundation look as possible. As for her expression, she's going to be a bit pugnacious, something quite different than the original mold's expression. And for her color, I envision her as some sort of odd grey, but we'll see. It feels comforting, though, workin' on a good ol' PAM. Kinda like "going home." And to be re-exploring the subtleties of Maureen's great gift at my current stage of awareness is wonderful. So if I can do a smidgen of justice to her, I'll be happy!

The first layers of epoxy on Ms. Pammy.

As for selling them, I aim to have either one of them done by March or April for Auction Barn, with the other a couple of months later. Anyway, I'll be able to start resculpting on Ms Haffie's leg's tomorrow! I also began to resculpt a bit of the foal's chest area, and it's looking loads better. Everything seems to finally be clicking into place. So -- in theory -- both should be in the clean-up-for-molding process come Friday. Keep your fingers and toes crossed!

And speaking of diving in, I want to make a little plug for my long-time good buddy, Tina. She's started her own business from scratch and I couldn't be more proud of her! Especially since she has a three year old in tow, to boot! Her business is Prairie Medical and may she rock the medical world! Looks like both of us are off to a great start in 2010!

"Our old experiences, memories and fears guide us down the present path. It's not so much that you are the artist; you are the conduit." ~ Nick Bantock

Diving In...

Tidbits to Tempt and Tantalize....

Now it's time for a shameless plug for the RESS ezine, The Boat, of which I'm chief editor (and graciously propped up by two diligent assistant editors, Irenne Randolph and my Mom! And perhaps a third, if I can convince her to hop on board as part of the crew!). So here's the cover of the Summer 2009 issue (above), with Karen Gerhardt's lovely draft horse sculpture, Boreas, in fine bone china and overglazed by her. Previous cover pieces have been a beautiful glazed ceramic Tuesday by Lynn Fraley (who graced the cover of the first electronic issue!), a splendid bronze Ravenhill by Hilary Hurley, and the fabulous 2006 silver coin Jasper National Park of Canada for the Canadian Royal Mint sculpted by Michelle Grant.

One of the things I really like about RESS, besides the educational and professional factor, is that it promotes realistic equine sculpture art in all forms and from all venues. It also brings artists together as colleagues, something rather unusual in the model horse world which forces artists to be competitors. Yet it's different from publications from the art world because of its practical, educational slant -- and education from all facets of "equine artist life," from equine color genetics, to ceramics, to anatomical study, to business matters, to sculpting, to technology insights, to painting, to articles for beginners, to even the logistical and philosophical challenges such artists may face. Issues average about 180 pages, though this last issue was a portly 244 pages! Members get "fed" quite a bit with each issue. Some have joked that this "boat" has become a "cruise ship" -- love it!

Starting with the Winter 2008 issue, The Boat became a biannual and electronic publication (available as a downloadable PDF, or sent to the member on a CD, as a PDF). The electronic format allows us to really go bonko with material and images, something that was impossible with a printed version (in terms of costs and logistics). I even had to get a fancy industry-standard publication program InDesign® in order to publish this puppy in its growing complexity (I cannot speak more highly of this program, by the way!). It's been fun learning the program and refining my publishing skills -- the little bells n' whistles make each issue an amusing challenge, and I think it's important for an artist to exercise her left brain in equal measure! This is a new skill this stubborn old dog enjoys learning! Whenever I need a break from right brain immersion, I tinker with the upcoming issue. Now -- to figure out kerning...

Anyway, it's actually interesting to see how many organization publications are moving to an electronic format for these very reasons. Many long-time publications are moving this direction, too. But enough chitty-chat...as promised, here are some teaser pages from the recent Summer 2009 issue. This first one offers selected pages from the approximately 20-page article about designing "medallions," or palm-sized bas-relief:

Here are some teaser pages from a 43-page article (or thereabouts) about painting conventions in order to help artists evolve beyond them and advance their own development:

Note: The text and images are copywritten to the author and to the individual artists who provided the images. So please write me for permission if you'd like to repost or reprint these teasers elsewhere or otherwise use them.

I've already started work on the Winter 2010 issue, which promises to be just as hefty. Hopefully I'll be able to finish the "painting a silver dapple" article by finishing the painting of the actual piece! I think I can now, since I've figured out my "new" painting techniques a bit more (and I'll be posting that paint job I've been talking about -- I'm almost done!). I look forward to my "quiet moments" in the office hammering out each issue, just as much as I look forward to my time in the studio. I learn so much by creating each issue, not just from writing the articles, or reading them, but in the doing of it. I'm a firm believer in learning new skills on a regular basis, and I suspect this ezine will keep my brain hummin' for a long time! If you're interested in becoming a member to receive this ezine, please visit the RESS website!

"This is the most interesting period for artists. Never before has so much diversity been acceptable. Never before has so much information been readily available to aspiring artists. All you need to do is connect." ~ Paul Foxton

Tidbits to Tempt and Tantalize....

Another Hafie Mare Sneak Peeker

Ta-dah! Ok...sorry for the lousy, fuzzy photo but my camera is acting goofy and I'm too lazy to grab the manual. But you get the idea. I still have some minor adjustments to make on her, but the light is now visible at the end of the tunnel. Once I get some shipments out and some things in the kiln, I can get back to finishing her in earnest. It'll all be a very good distraction from being sad about little Eppie. I just can't stop thinking about him.

Hubby is going to be gone all weekend at the big Elko "Rumble in the Rubies" Bike Rally, so it'll just be me, the ratties, my flowers and the studio. Some real "downtime" to decompress and get my bearings again. I sure need it.

"The isolation of being in my studio capsule underground is like being in bed, pulling the covers over my head and shutting out the rest of the world." ~ Shirley Erskine

Another Hafie Mare Sneak Peeker

Hello from another planet....

I pretty much feel like Eppie (above) -- tired and blobbed out (well well well!). Only not as cute.

As fate would have it, I got sick as a dog* after the euphoria of Mayhem, and so I've been back under the comforter sleeping most of the days away. What is it with me and being sick this year?! I'm feeling much better, though, and should be as right as rain in time for Junefest, when Stephanie M. and Sonya J. arrive next week. Whoo hooo! Junefest is like the cold-painting and sculpting version of Mayhem, with just as much culinary indulgence.

Anyhoo...I was convinced to join Facebook during Mayhem, and did so about a week ago. As planetary alignments would have it, Facebook promptly decided not to recognize my password, and also has prevented me from resetting it. Is this divine providence? Whatever it is, I'm waiting to hear from the Facebook team to see if they can remedy the hiccup. If they can't, well...I'll cross that ether bridge when I get to it. I really don't want to open another account, and so I may opt out altogether. But who knows. I could just be cranky about it.

The good news is that in between naps, I've been able to work on the Haflie mare! She's coming along quite nicely now, and getting her "hair done." Take an in-progress peek from the salon....

I apologize for the fuzzy photo, but I'm so hopped up on cold meds it's a wonder I can operate the camera. She's going to be very "pasture-y" so that mane is flopped around every which way. I think it's so lovely when painters "follow" the flow of the hair in their coloration detailing, and this little lady will give them a fun canvas for that.

So today I'll be working on her some more, and pouring the first of the slip-cast Bjorns. The mold should be dry now and I'm so very excited to try it! This fun piece she created will give Sonya lots of fodder to learn how to pour, clean, claybody and underglaze her creation! And if I get my act together, we can play with the overglazing goodies Lynn provided me, too. I'm anxious to try them and it'll be fun to explore the media with fellow newbies together! And so....we flail! But laugh as we do!

So...time to set the tea on and get to mixing slip!

"As the artist matures she is continuously shaken by what she manages to discover: by the earth shifting beneath her feet once again, by her own amazed, ringing laughter." ~Eric Maisel

*I wondered about where this saying came from -- it's a rather sad thought! And lo...I found a plausible answer here.

Hello from another planet....

I'm Surrounded by Well Wells

Last year, my buddy Stephanie Michaud sent me this fabulous bird feeder, fully knowing that it would become a squirrel feeder...something she knew I would love even more! And lo! Behold the gooey glory! We now have a preggers female and a smaller male regularly showing up to gorge. Good times. Good globby times!


Squirrels crack me up. The way they move and respond to sound almost makes them seem like they're constantly saying, "WHAT?!"...."WHAT?!!!" Like Eddie Izzard (one of our fave comedians) would say, "Wait?! Did I leave the gas on? No...I'm a squirrel!" And watching them figure out how to get to the goodies in the bird feeder was a hoot. Is there such a thing as a squirrel-proof bird feeder? Me thinks not! Do not get between a Well Well and food. Food, glorious food! Hey, I can relate!

Speaking of food...Mayhem is right around the corner! I'm madly trying to get stuff done. Unfortunately, however, it's been rainy and overcast for the past three days. Not that I'd usually mind, but I can't pour the rubber master mold of my Feral Mare medallion because it absorbs the atmospheric moisture and won't cure properly. DOH! I may have to pour indoors, so we'll see how that goes. Me, rubber and plenty of places not to get rubber on is a really bad combination.

Another project I'm trying to finish up in anticipation of their arrival is finishing (or getting close to finishing) that Haflie mare. It looks like that left hindleg has finally come together the way I want it, thank goodness! Sheesh. So here's another sneek peek (though she's still bald!):

Speaking of finishing up...here's another sneek peek of that CM Breyer Man O' War I was finally able to pick up again and work on (has it really been that long?!):

Now I'm not sure when I'll actually get this guy painted and up for sale, but at least his customizing is done. I also started working at cold-painting again. In particular, I'm finally back to working on that fun dapple grey Laf'n Bear LLC Bram'll Blue Boy! Hazzah! For the longest time I couldn't find the original reference photos I was using for him in the wreck of my studio. But since I cleaned it up last week (pretty much using the leaf-blower technique made famous by Bill Murray in CaddyShack) -- there they were -- hiding in plain sight. Of course. So back to work! I'll post teaser pix of him when I'm farther along.

Until then...back to the plow....

"You can't be suspicious of a tree, or accuse a bird or a squirrel of subversion or challenge the ideology of a violet." ~Hal Borland

I'm Surrounded by Well Wells

I'm not dead. Yet.

It's The Three Amigos! They're even wearing the black and "silver" costumes Steve, Martin and Chevy wore in the film. All my Charmkins need now are sombreros and tiny six-shooters. My little clowns have grown into three rambunctious and cheery blobs, who miraculously stood still for a whopping two seconds, in "formation," so I could snap this pic.

I've finally come back to my life. Being sick with this blasted flu for nearly three weeks drove me into a hole, away from the world. I couldn't even play with my ratties for most of that time, for fear of getting them sick, too. My poor little fellas were crawling up the sides of the cage by the time I was well enough to at least scoop them out and plop them on "the rat couch" to get "the beans out." For nearly that entire time, I didn't check email or keep up with the news -- I just sat under blankets on the couch, high on meds and watched Stargate and Stargate Atlantis DVDs. Hubby took great care of me, though -- he's a textbook caregiver and, boy, am I grateful! But I've never been hit so hard by a flu before. Wow. It drained my will to do anything but stare at a TV and drool. Now I'm back (pretty much) and it feels odd -- like I came out of a dream. I'm slowing becoming aware of my life again, re-learning how to get back into the swing of things.

I have to admit, however, that the forced "leave" did clear my mind. It was a mental vacation. I realize now that my little grey cells had become clogged with too many stresses, which were impeding my progress on the Haflinger mare and other studio projects. I was able to get back into the studio last week, and re-started working on the Haflinger mare (sneek peek here, albeit bald):

Things have gone much smoother with her after my "leave," and she's just about ready for her mane, tail and feathers (one of the last things I apply to a sculpture). Ironically I was working on that troublesome left hindleg with fresh epoxy when the flu hit, so I popped her in the freezer, thinking that I'd be well enough the next day to complete it (the cure time of the epoxy I use for sculpting slows almost to a stop if frozen, which allows me to put a sculpture "away" for a short time to come back to it later). Alas, that wasn't the case -- the key term being "almost." After two and a half weeks in the freezer, it finally cured. So I had to yet again dremel it off and restart it. It's become almost funny at this point. But things are far easier now, even with that leg, so I should be able to complete her by the end of the month. I've never had a sculpture challenge me more, but I think she's not only taught me new things about sculpting, but made me aware of just how badly stress can compromise my ability to work in the studio.

Anyway, as soon as I get my head fully screwed, stapled and hot-glued back on, I'll snap pix of the new WB plaque in resin, "Reflective," and the new Jumper plaque, "Jax." I've made some changes to both since the flexible molds for resin casting allow me to play with cut-outs and undercuts more, unlike the rigid plaster molds used for ceramic casting, and I think you'll like the additional touches. This way, you'll also be able to identify a ceramic casting from a resin casting at a glance, which I think is important for collectors. I also want to dive into creating a new edition of Rune Horses and other tiles, so I can really start to use my tile press in earnest. My Sister-in-law, Megan, is cycling in the AIDS run again this year in June, too, and I'll be creating another fired item for auction to support her (HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY NOAH! I miss your face goo!).

Now back to the salt mine -- Cheerio!

"Conscious and unconscious experiences do not belong to different compartments of the mind; they form a continuous scale of gradations, of degrees of awareness." ~Arthur Koestler

I'm not dead. Yet.

It's a bug hunt! Game over man!

In case you're wondering what that little blue arrow is pointing at....no, it's not a blob of snot...it's a wad of baby praying mantids clinging together as they hatch from their egg sac! Hubby purchased quite a few egg sacs, and together they're expected to hatch out about 1200-1500 of the little guys to deal with the grotesque earwig problem this year, in an eco-friendly way. Haven't seen much of the mantids, but the earwigs sure have vanished. Chomp!

Speaking of "game over man," it's that time of year again---publication of The Boat time! "Team Boat" has been madly working to bring the Summer issue together for publication this month and it's shaping up very nicely. One would think we'd run out of topics or information for a 150+ publication twice a year, but wonderfully I end up having to chop stuff out to save it for the next issue. Who knew that "realistic equine sculpture" could have so many relevant tangents of information? I mean, really, there's only so much a working artist can read every six months!

Suffice to say, I've had my Mazzy Star albums on a loop in my iTunes program throughout all this. They lend a vibe that really allows my brain to concentrate while still eased by cool tunage. I'm also a sucker for a good hypnotic melancholy, haunting tune, I admit. Anyway, as soon as The Boat is published, it's back to work in the studio, though, since I've got lots of paintjobs needing attention and sculptures in the works. For instance, besides that Arabian mare I mentioned in a previous post, I'm also working on that little foal's Mom! Here she is in her armature glory, as she currently sits on my work table (Boat readers may recognize her from the article I wrote about sculpting her kidlet)....
Lynn Fraley was kind enough to lend me a picture book on Haflingers because despite my pile of reference photos, I just couldn't find one of a Haflinger mare's hiney directly from the back, and if you know anything about Haflingers, the structure of their hefty hinders is rather important. Those babies gotta "have back." However, this feature can be very easy to get wrong if you don't know exactly how they're structured, because they're similar to a draft horse's hinder, but not quite, and then you add in the broodmare factor, and well...it's a delicate balance of bulk, curves and angles to make it look right. Ultimately, my goal is to make her rather "broodmareish," with the expression, belly and the slack musculature thing going on, which is something you don't often find in sculpture, with artists tending to choose a young "fit showhorse" type of mare. I don't know, though, I like the "patina" a mare develops as she ages. I think it lends to her appeal, especially for sculpture, or maybe I'm just able to identify with that type just a little bit too much now! So we'll see how she turns out. Sculptures so often take on a life of their own, one you just have to follow rather than fight.

So until this Summer's Boat has left dock, I'll sign out for now and hopefully have some images of completed paintjobs and in-progress images of the various sculptures coming down the pike soon. I've got more "minis" in the works and I've started on Stormwatch's base for his bronze edition that I hope (fingers crossed) to get started early next year. I'm really excited about the prospect of producing in bronze. Something new to explore and experience. Happily, my Uncle Mike and his fabulous wife, Mary Teresa (Hello there, you two!), live very close to the foundry I've chosen so what could be better?....family and new horizons, a golden combo!

"A perfect method for adding drama to life is to wait until the deadline looms large." ~Alyce P. Cornyn-Selby

It's a bug hunt! Game over man!