New Quote.

So I have a new quote that I have been thinking about for the last two weeks.

"Do what other's wont for a little while so that I can do what other's can't for the rest of my life."

Starting something new is hard. And time consuming. But it is also exciting, invigorating and I know that eventually it will also be rewarding. I have learned so much in the last few months. I have grown. I have made calls, met with people and made offers that would have totally freaked me out five months ago.

I need to keep pushing forward.

Here is a picture of the opportunity I have been working on yesterday and today. Great Location, Good bones. Needs to be totally stripped, though. Even the kitchen cabinets are growing mold. But if the roof was raised to accommodate a better master suite, once repaired this little house could be charming once more.

I do love what I am doing. I am enabling new life to be breathed into old bones. This in turn improves the neighborhood and the continued potential for positive change keeps growing.

I love that.

and...I feel that is is time to sculpt again. : )

Baby Steps...Sigh.

Well, my strict 8 week schedule has been pushed out the window. I know that I will not be finished with my second First Bond sculpture by the end of May. But life is full of opportunities to adapt and adapt I shall. I am not discouraged. Any forward movement is good movement and worth celebrating! I love the progress I have made on my sculpture. I was able to work on her for about an hour last night. Focusing on the right shoulder and clavicle and moving just a little ways down the arm. I did not have time for a progress photo. If I can carve away any time this weekend to work then my progress photos will seem more dramatic...
Todd and I have signed up for a real estate seminar. We have been wanting to learn more about real estate investing and figure that now is the time to learn. : ) That is this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. And they have mailed us a HUGE manual with instructions to have it read before we arrive on Friday morning. Fortunately we carpool and have been able to take advantage of that time to read aloud...but we still have to wade through the last four chapters by the end of this evening.
Now.....time to buckle down and throw myself into my day job.... I am focusing on a lot of marketing right now so it is stimulating and personally pleasing. I am working on putting together a portfolio book using Blurb.com. Kind of a cool program...but I am still trying to figure out how creative it will allow me to be. I have a huge amount of projects, new houses and remodels, to photograph as soon as our nice weather returns. So...there you have it....even my M- Th job has a lot to look forward to! : )

I have decided that another one of my mantra's shall be: "If I can choose to be positive then do so! No matter how hard it is, remember that I always have the choice"

Just when I thought my day was full...

Just when I thought I had a jambed packed day....I have discovered that I can (must) fit more into it! Life loves to surprise and stretch us. : )

Took Mia for a walk last night and out of nowhere a yellow lab appeared..followed us home...and laid down on our door step. Todd spent the next hour knocking on neighbor's doors trying to see if anyone recognized the dog. No such luck. We couldn't leave the dog loose as he seemed to have no road sense at all. He looks exceptionally healthy, knows basic commands and feels like he should be inside our house. Obviously someones baby. And he looks JUST like my late Emily. : ( sigh......so we fixed him a comfy bed in the garage.

I have a wonderful friend coming to stay for the weekend. A house to clean, every last stitch of our laundry waiting to be washed or folded, an empty fridge that must be filled, an opening art show I need to help my boss with tonight.... Sculpting that I have been desperately trying to get to.......just an hour..please!

So far my morning has been full of online Found postings, making fliers and dropping them off at the local coffee house, grocery store, plant sale...I have a 10 am appointment at the vet to see if he has a microchip. Please be yes!

On a positive, The sun is shining. I am full of energy (just want more time!) and I don't have to go into the office today! I love my Fridays!

5.5.09 Progress

I only have a moment today...I ran out of healthy food (aka: turkey and cherry tomatoes) at home and must run to Trader Joe"s during my wee lunch hour.

I love my sculpture. : ) She has turned the corner for me from struggling to be to actually being. She is taking on a life of her own. I feel the drive to continue sculpting, complete the process and let her live. When I first start a new sculpture I feel inspired by what could be. my hopes and dreams for what I want it to portray. The emotion I want to bring out. to Harness and capture the energy of life. It is intoxicating. Then I start....I jump in...and it is really hard. I am always surprised by how hard starting is.....

There is a defining moment when each piece emerges from this struggle and I can see the potential again. She is there! I just need to keep going! That happened this week. Once again I feel renewed and excited. I wish that I had more time to work....

Favorite Phrases

Another glorious weekend has slipped into the past. Todd and I had another work weekend planned but alas did not accomplish everything that we hoped too. So, to practice my new favorite phrase.. "Oh well..".
We did go for some great walks in the Spring Sun, invited ourselves in for a tour of a young couple's backyard (with their permission, of course) and met an adorable English Bulldog named "Farley". 60 + pounds of wiggly love. I thought that Mia and Farley would really hit it off, but Mia was more interested in exploring the premises and Farley just wanted our love. In fact he got quite jealous of Mia when she tried to let him know that we were her Mommy and Daddy! Ha Ha. : ) But the yard was amazing and gave Todd and I some pretty cool ideas.
We did start digging out the plot for our back patio. Whew! what a lot of work. and dust. and weeds. We probably spend 75% of the time rescuing and moving earthworms and only 25% of the time actually moving earth. "Oh well.." : )
Had a barbecue at another neighbors house that night and I embarrassingly (hopefully only to myself) became intoxicated on Mike's Hard Lemonade. Wow. I usually don't drink those and they can really be deceptive....I wonder how many I had..."Oh well...". The shishkabobs were amazing.
As an extra punishment we got home to a very sick little dog. Yes....all over the living room...and it continued through out the night. At least we made it outside at 3 am and at 6am but each session then had to be followed by a pretty wet spit bath....."Oh well..." Now is a great time to be totally done with drinking for a long time. : )
I spent Sunday out in the yard again. Got a little more digging done, my strawberries finally planted and played with Mia. She seemed to be fully recovered and was rolling around on the lawn just loving life and the warm sun. If felt so good to just lay in the grass with her and know that I didn't have to go anywhere or honestly do anything. My life was a lazy blissful trickle. I must make time for more of these moments.....

Friday End

Another Friday has come and gone. I do seem to pack them to the busting point. Today was a good day though...I found time to sit in the grass and sip a mango smoothie. Mia rolling around next to me.

I'm not quite sure who enjoys Fridays more. Her or me. : ) She loves it when I am home and by now has me quite well trained. Sitting at the computer and trying to type is accompanied by whines, yips, yelps and finally nips to the elbow. When I try to sculpt, she is at the back slider, scratching on the glass and barking. She has a one track mission - Go outside and play..with me! If those actions still do not get my attention she then pulls out the trump card and torments Jasper...knowing that his yowls of protest will always bring me running. Yes...I would say that I am quite well trained by now. : / Despite the countless trips around the back yard, cat rescuing, and one unsalvagable roll of shredded toilet paper, I was able to make progress on my sculpture today. : )

I am moving out of the skeletal stage and into more of the pose. I continued to work on the rib cage and then moved into the legs, blocking in one side on the butt. I know that my backbone is not quite there yet but I think that as I starting to add some of my connecting core muscles I will see the adjustments I need. I also added the clavicles and started to get a sense of the traps.

Tomorrow is scheduled to be another yard day with Todd, but I plan on finding at least an hour or two to finish the other side of the butt and maybe define the shoulders.

Mia had a 2pm appointment to meet with a new Vet. I am trying to find one that is close, good and experienced with bulldogs. Success! The place was immaculate, the doctor very nice and knowledgeable and best of all, less than a mile away! The only disappointing thing was that he couldn't tell for certain whether or not she was in heat. I was going to spay Mia before her first heat but think I might have missed my chance and that she is already in or entering the heat cycle. I learned that female French Bulldogs often tend to develop breast tumors later on in life but if you spay before the first heat then the chances of tumor development is 0%. Pretty good. But now..if I have already missed the first heat..I am wondering if I should consider not spaying her and perhaps breeding her next year. She has beautiful conformation, coloring and temperament...I guess I will think about it for another week. It might be way more trouble that I want to get myself into.

I am posting some picts of my sculpting progress today, Jessie tormenting Mia from her perch on my studio bookshelves and Mia wondering why I am always take pictures of her....and hoping that she will get a treat for sitting so nicely. : )

Progress 4.22.09

I was able to carve an hour of sculpting last night out of dinner, clean-up, family phone conversations, walking Mia and countless wiping of dirty paws...

I am starting to see the soft action that I love in this piece. I never cease to be amazed at how fast the week goes by! I am looking forward to tomorrow. : )

Sunlight

I woke up this morning to sunlight streaming in the windows. What a glorious and rejuvenating feeling. Since we have just emerged from our dark, gloomy and over cast winter, sunlight seems especially wonderful and amazing to me right now. And warm. : )

Todd had to run off to a workout but I leisurely made myself a latte and am now enjoying that with a piece of peanut butter toast. Life is good. It is remarkably warm outside. If I wasn't afraid that Mia would scratch through the screen I could leave the slider open and let all of the spring smells flow in.

Life Follows Light. Four days a week I work for a Residential Architect. Our mission is to design space to harness and celebrate natural light, improving the quality of life for our clients. Right now..as I sip my coffee, and think about planting some new seedling strawberries and the tomatoes that have been languishing on my window sill for a week and just soaking the sunlight into my soul... I am happy that I am part of that mission. : )

I made some progress on my sculpture this week. I am still working on the form of the ribcage and hips. She is almost ready to move on to some much needed supporting core muscles. I have her hands and arms moved out of the way and in the progress photo it looks very much like she is dancing. I suspect she must be celebrating the sunlight that streams into the studio from late morning to afternoon. : )

Filling Time

Sometimes I view life as a rushing river with me moving along in the middle. As I rush along, or flow depending on my mindset, I try to draw things into the river with me. Accomplishments....progress....things that I think will make my experience downriver more enjoyable and fulfilling. I set a lot of deadlines for myself and I always expect that I can accomplish more than I actually do. When I don't meet my personal expectations I start to pressure myself and accept stress. I think that my life is going to be less happy unless I can "pull it together", "pick up the pace", "make up for lost time"... Why do I do this? This is stress and a quality if life that I am giving to myself.

I have several personal mantras that I believe in:
"I can do anything that I set my mind to do"
"I Live my Life...Life does not Live Me."
"Thoughts become Realities - Change my Thoughts, Change my Reality"
Sometime these mantra's war with each other. I create a river of goals and ideals and then feel trapped and out of control because I don't accomplish them. I need to adapt and re-adjust. I get stressed because I accept stress.
I have created the rushing river of "time". I can change the direction and slow it down to a lazy trickle or fill it to a bursting torrent. I am the author. Do I want to live in a world of not enough time or plenty of time? Do I want to run behind life, trying to catch up? or walk in front and love the view?
As I write, Mia is at my elbow, barking and whining and giving my arm an occasional nip. I think I shall give in to the plea and go for a walk. : )

Boundries -Physical and Relational

I did not sculpt today. No..today was a Yard Day. And what a day...I can hardly hold my head up. The back of my neck aches soooo bad.

Todd and I tried to finish laying a gravel path on the side of the house, connecting the driveway to the back yard. We don't have the gravel down but the edging is in.. the area is level..I can totally imagine the space with the completed path. Beautiful. : ) I also defined the edge between my side yard and the neighbors. Something I have been hesitant to do ever since we moved in. I think I was afraid that she would come rushing out and demand an explanation for all of the lawn I was cutting up and claim that I was on her side......ha ha. : ) Not true as her lawn did make a wide swoop into my side but I still worked exceptionally fast....just in case. Once you have a flowerbed cut in it is hard to remember what the border line used to be. The new defined straight line (complete with grass barrier) between our yards looks so awesome and I'm sure improves the value of her yard as well as mine! Mission accomplished.

I had fun trying to capture some pictures of Mia and Jessie playing this morning. Jessie hides behind the shower curtain and peeks and swipes around the edge or will punch out really fast from the middle and Mia will push back or try to look around the edge without being hit. Very Exciting stuff. : ) Don't know if any pictures turned out but it was fun to watch them. I could tell that Jasper wanted to play as well but was just a little too dignified to allow himself to. Several times he raced over to them as if he just couldn't contain himself...then stopped, drew back and would watch from a safe spot with aloof disdain. I took a picture of him sitting on my new children's church pew.

Poor Jasper. He is such a big baby and was the hardest hit when we got Mia. To add insult to injury, Mia totally dominates him. She tries to dominate Jessie too but those fast little claws keep her at bay. Jasper unfortunately is clawless and I have to keep a sharp eye on Mia that she doesn't hurt him. I think she only wants to play but she is much to rough and that bully instinct of hers worries me. Many times I have caught her straddling him on the bed...

I heard from a couple that bred and raised Boston Terriers and Frenchies that you have to be exceptionally careful around cats and other small animals. The Frenchie is not vicious but they LOVE to play. Their favorite toys are anything fuzzy that squeeks....hhmmmm...that could be kind of cat-like. Because their mouths are so wide, they can easily smoother a cat or other small animal. This exact thing happened to this couple and they lost one of their cats. Despite being warned themselves of the danger. : ( So I must consider myself twice warned.....

So far, excessive "no"s and "separation from the family" -being locked outside by herself -have not seemed to deter Mia from tormenting Jasper. My next action will be to get a squirt gun and maybe a loud horn..... I hope that does the trick.

Now I think I will watch a movie with Todd. Maybe make a Mango smoothie.

I wonder what it would taste like if I added some white wine to the mix? : )

Progress & Power Struggles

11:30 am to 5:00 pm. A very productive day. It is almost 8pm and I am feeling good but exhausted. I ran out of worked clay last week so broke open a new block I had purchased a while back. Horrible stuff. Hard, inflexible and constantly breaking mid-strip. For really good plastelina you have to work it for years...adding body oils and small imperfections. The more you work it, the more supple and elastic it becomes. It glides under your fingers and warms up quickly to the touch. I have known sculptors to have 100+ year old plastelina in their possession. Well-worked clay is so prized that it is passed on to future generations.

But today I ran out of my supply. So I struggled for hours kneading and molding and trying to form supple sausages that I could apply in strips without breaking. But...just like everything else, all clay has a beginning and what I worked today is no longer "new". Wow. That was deep. What am I rambling about?...I must be really tired. : ) Looking at my progress photo - I am pleased.

I did some gardening tonight. I should clarify that "Mia" and I did some gardening. I would pull up and nice clump of weeds and give em a shake and then Mia would proceed to snatch and completely kill them. Shaking and tossing them in the air, she would cover herself in dirt..then proceed to run around the yard with them. When they had completely given up the ghost, she would race back to me and dance back and forth in the flowerbed, barking and yipping at my trowel. I almost lost the new shoots on my hosta to her quick little paws.

I have discovered an amazing thing. You can have a nice flowerbed with a puppy. Just buy an abundant supply of tomato cages and put them over all plants with tender new shoots. Then when she tears through the flowerbeds at bullet speed, she avoids the cages and my plants are safe. : ) I must run to Fred Myers tomorrow for more cages...

Mia and I also experienced our first little power struggle tonight. I have been trying to teach her that "Mommy" goes through the door first, then Mia. But.....I have been pretty lazy with actually enforcing this. Tonight, after eating her share of my weeds she proceed to race around the yard barking at imaginary intruders, so I decided to put the noisy and grubby little girl inside while I finished cleaning up my tools. When I tried to exit the house without her she panicked and attacked my leg with her teeth and paws. She was not going to be left inside! This was the first time she has used her teeth to express herself against me..not ok. I immediately gave her a firm no and grabbed her face firmly in my hands and gave her the stare down until she looked away. Right away her attitude changed and she actually sat as asked while I exited. Animals are so interesting and complex. Dogs especially, as they are so pack orientated. You just have to make sure you are always the pack leader.

I should probably give her a bath before bed......Now, there is once place that she totally has me wrapped around her little paw. I have not been able to enforce sleeping in the kennel and not in our bed. I can't resist that sad little whine and her big eyes. And when I give in..she is such an adorable little cuddler.: /

First Clay

I have been craving fat and carbs all morning. Thinking about anything from the mac-n-cheese at the Deluxe on Broadway or Top Pot donuts and coffee in Belltown. Hmmmmm..... maybe I will walk to the Bagel Deli and get a plain bagel toasted with cream cheese. A good dose of carbs can almost fix anything. There's really nothing wrong with a "little" comfort eating. : ) Just as long as I acknowledge it for what it is and enjoy it! I don't really know what is causing it......my insides seem to be buzzing with anxiety. Maybe it is just excitement that tomorrow is Friday... : )

I put down the first clay on my new sculpture last night. Spent about an hour and half shifting the wire into the pose, rolling more clay and then starting to build up my hip width. I still have about 1/5 to 3/4ths of an inch to mass on each side. Once I finish that, I will move to the rib cage and start massing in the egg shaped form.

I can already tell that this piece is going to have a lot more action than my first one. A subtle shift of weight..upper body turn...it will be very sweet and protective. I thought of my previous sculpture as very strong....beaming proud...full of anticipation. The pose is almost exactly the same in both....same hands wrapping around the baby..... I am excited to be able to bring out the differences in these equally beautiful women.

I want to spend more time exploring this thought...but if I don't hurry I wont be able to gather some satisfying carbs before my lunch break is over...

Awww..the carbs must win!

Two New Babies.

Pictures of Mia from our photo shoot yesterday and my brand new armature figure - the first step to a new sculpture. : )

Mia was cuddled up on the couch taking a snooze so I decide to take advantage of the opportunity to get a picture that was actually in focus. She is such a bouncing bunny that so far I only have a nice photo collection of fuzzy black blurs. : / Puppy pictures? Not a chance. Well... except for a few of her sleeping. I think that is why people think that French bulldogs are so calm. Most of the photos are of them sleeping! The rest are so blurry they never make it into the book

Mid-snooze she sensed an "intruder" outside and while protecting our territory from her perch on the back of the couch I was finally able to get some in-focus shots of the handsome little girl. She slept all night last night. 10 pm to 5am! Either her wee bladder is finally large enough or our four miles a day are paying off... whatever the reason I certainly won't complain. I just hope it happens again tonight......

I am mentally tired tonight. I had errands to run after work and they always take longer than you want. Then dinner to make. Dover sole for the first time. Not sure if I am a fan but it is possible that I didn't cook it correctly. Quick pan fry with Tuscan seasoning......sounded good. I did roll some new clay in preparation for my sculpture. I was hoping to bend the wire into the pose position but that will wait until tomorrow.

Now...it is off for the evening walk with Mia and Todd and hopefully another night of blissfully uninterrupted snoozing. There is always hope. : )

Week One - April 5th, 2009

Spring has arrived in Seattle! I didn't realize how depressed and down I was feeling until we actually had two days in a row of sunshine and temperatures hitting 70! I don't think I could ever live anywhere but here....though last week when it was snowing and in the 30's I'll admit that I thought about Wyoming much too frequently. : )
Despite the snow and cold of earlier in the week, I was able to rally myself and really accomplish a lot. I met with the foundry on Friday and the bronzing and patina cost is going to be Half of what I was expecting. Great news....now my art can be beautiful and affordable to more people! I still don't have an estimate for the molding costs but with such a great bronzing price, I am not worried. Though, with that price comes more involvement on my part. At the very least with the wax editing. I have never bronzed a sculpture before so I am still trying to determine what that will mean......

I also accomplished my goals for Week One on my second piece. I completed the wire armature, completed and posted my measurements as well as my timeline. I will post a picture of my wire armature tonight. I plan on extensively documenting the process, stages and steps on this next sculpture. It will hopefully inspire me to see the progress and with a weekly deadline of Sunday night, I will have an incentive to sculpt faster and with greater confidence. : )

Mia posed for me in the sunlight yesterday and I got some beautiful pictures. This inspired another idea within me.......though I still need to wrestle with it for a while........so now it is off to the coffee house to write down some thoughts and savor that latte!

Endings & Beginings

I have been working on details every night this week. Focusing primarily on the lower hand and arm. It is progressing.... Though with every session I seem to see more and more that I want to refine. Originally I wanted the focus to be on the hands and arms ....wrapping around the belly. The finish needed to be tight with a lot of energy. The rest of the body could be looser and less refined. Lately, I find myself falling into the dead hole of "smoothing". Refining and refining an area until all of a sudden I realize that it has lost it's energy. No! This must stop. I need to remember to back up and see the piece as a whole and not just the back of the arm, the fingers, the neck...etc.. Tonight, before I jump into finishing I will step back and just look. And look some more.....then work.

I have also been working on my preparation for my new piece. The calculations are done. I have most of my measurements drawn out. I need to finish those tomorrow as well as compile my portfolio of photos. Lots to do. I also meet with the foundry tomorrow. : )

Bragging

I have to post this picture of my "child" because it is just SO cute. Mia in her favorite spot on the daybed watching me work at the computer.

I think she must sleep all day long while I am away at work. Last night she woke up at 1:30am and I could not get her to go back to sleep. I even locked her in her kennel for an hour with a chew toy and listened to an hour of whining. It was not a good night for me....

Todd and I get up every morning around five and take her for a walk. Unfortunately. Mia has started regularly waking up at 4am. She will wiggle around for a half hour, semi-quietly, then try to get us up in earnest from about 4:30 onward.. While I can justify getting up at 5am.....

I just can not figure out how to get my dog to sleep through the night.

Yardwork

Yesterday was the first sunny day all week! And it was stellar. I worked on cleaning out some flowerbeds and edging while Todd mowed the lawn. We finally don't have to hang our heads as one of the not-so-tidy houses on the street.

Though, I don't think Todd was prepared for the physical labor..... I caught a great photo of Todd, Jasper and Mia all conked out on the couch.

I sculpted for about an hour on the finger detail of the lower hand then moved to my checklist for my second piece. I was able to do all of the calculations and wrote out my timeline and weekly deadlines. Tonight when I get home, I hope to sculpt for at least a half hour and finish that hand, then draw out my measurements.

I found out that I did not get into the art competition. I wallowed in disappointment for about an hour and then moved on. I plan on entering as much as I can so there will be others.

I feel great about First Bond. I think she is beautiful and has fulfilled my expectations. I am looking forward to meeting with the foundry this Friday and getting her cast this next month.

And I am starting to get very excited about my new piece..... : )

Tweeking

It drizzled all day long today. Constant..steady..gloomy.. and cold.

I was really looking forward to mowing the lawn. The first cut of Spring. I have always loved the smell of fresh cut grass. It takes me back to when I was eleven and mowing the lawn was my weekly responsibility. I loved the smell, the lush green and the instant gratification of shaggy disorder to perfect. Hmmmm. : )

I made some yummy omelets for breakfast while Todd handled some super strong lattes. Halfway through the cheesy goodness, the vet called to let us know that Mia had tested positive for worms. Lovely.... So, off to the North Seattle to pick up medication and contemplate all possible instances of undesired sharing that might have occurred....

The rest of the morning was spent washing bedding, floors, Mia. We now have a renewed interest in crate training as a great option for nightly sleeping arrangements...

I finally got to some sculpting this afternoon. I had been thinking for the last few days that the belly need to be a little lower and a little fuller. But I hated the thought I trying to move that lower hand. I finally just went for it and was able to cut underneath it and pull it down with minimal damage to the arm and finger detail. I added quite abit to the lower belly...just making it feel a little weightier. I like it. I now have rework the lower arm and the hand but I think I can do that tomorrow morning. She is almost there. I need to stop making changes. I don't want to over process her and have her lose the energy and sense of raw medium.

Tomorrow. I want to write down my goals for my new prenatal sculpture. I would like to start that on Wednesday, April 1st.

So by next weekend my check list is to have:

1. List of Goals for my new piece - what do I want it to say?

2. Timeline of actual calendar dates - What level do I want to achieve each week?

3. Measurement List - All measurements drawn out and ready to post

4. New Armature - Already completed 3 weeks ago

5. Portfolio of Photos

It is very important that I stick to a set schedule with this next piece. I mentally believe that I can complete a sculpture in 8 weeks. Now I just have to prove it to myself.

Progess and Prespiration

I love Thursdays! I am looking forward to the next three days of being able to focus entirely on StudioBurdick. When I work during the day I am so tired by the time that I get home that I have meager and very sub-inspired juice to give to sculpting. And by the time I eat and walk Mia, talk to my husband, do laundry etc.... I have learned to celebrate even a half hour of evening sculpting. This has been a productive week through. The gentleman from the foundry WAS out of town last week and finally called me back. He was very polite and professional so I set up an appointment with him for next Friday. I plan on looking at photos of First Bond with him and well as some of my more detailed previous work. I need to know if he is capable of producing the work that I want and well as a good patina finish. What his average lead time is. Expense. All that good stuff that will help me move further along with my business plan and finally give me an idea of what final cost will be. I should talk to the potential foundry in Canada and the one in Spokane before meeting. Just so that I am a little more educated about what the competition can provide. A foundry in Seattle would be an excellent find if it does meet the criteria.

The last few nights I have been working on the detail of the upper hand on First Bond. I have put in at least an hour each night. I feel really good about what I am accomplishing though am surprised and trying not to get discouraged about how long these details are taking. I keep telling myself..After I make it through this one, the next one is going to go so much smoother and the next after that. I am just still paving the road. : )

My sculpting hero is Bernini. His work has the amazing ability to wow and inspire me and then make me feel very small and inadequate. I try to focus on the wow and inspiring part of that but sometimes.......

Bernini's "The Rape of Proserpina" in one of my favorite sculptures. The skin seems so soft and pliable under the griping hands. The fact that those details are carved from stone without the benefit of being able to use a soft clay medium totally wows the socks off me. I aspire to be able to produce that effect of soft "give" in my pieces.

Accomplishment Log

I intended to log all hours I spent sculpting and list accomplishments and lessons learned after each session. Alas .....Life. This weekend it was a fallen tree in the back yard (tears of sorrow :( but I saved a beautiful twisted piece of trunk so I can make a seat or end table) and two lunch appointments that I forgot... as well as double booked. I need to pull it together!

On Friday I sculpted for an hour and a half in the morning then grabbed my adventurous sister to seek out the un-responsive Foundry. I discovered nothing. The place looked uninhabitable and kind of like a great set for a horror movie. Curious. Unlike the horror movies, we did not attempt to wander around back and peer in any windows. Maybe he is just taking a much deserved vacation. I then called a few more foundries and discovered that they don't do artistic figurative bronzing. I might have to expand my search to Canada, Oregon and Eastern Washington. I put in another two hours of sculpting to end my Friday.

The entire day of Saturday was spent cleaning up tree debris. I did hear back from my mold casting contact and it sounds like I will be able to have a mold made and a plaster cast poured by May 1st. Very encouraging. So I have one more week to finish the details on First Bond before I meet with this contact and hand her over.

Sunday I felt much more relaxed and I sculpted for an hour in the morning, rearranged my living room, went to one of the forgotten lunch appointments, (Todd remembered this one, fortunately) and then ended my evening with another hour of sculpting, this time on my little attitude torso.

Current feeling: good, confident, in control, and wishing I was home finishing up those details!
Current action: walk to Tully's for a coffee and some investing advice from my latest book. : )

Perspective

Sometimes I get so deeply involved in the details of a piece that I can't see my huge glaring mistakes. I had been working on a little torso for over a year...very sad... and finally had to stop because I just could not turn the corner from "off" to fantastic. I continued to struggle like this, sculpting in spurts, for another year. I could not understand what I was doing wrong and why my piece looked so completely wrong. I was very frustrated and kept mentally harassing myself because I could not muscle through it. Not helpful at all. Finally, I put the piece on the shelf and started exploring my ideas for First Bond. My passion started to flow again and I was off and running.

One day, while working on my little pregnant sculpture, I started to struggle again and my sister took one look and immediately diagnosed the problem. It was too skinny. Hooray for a fresh eye and an undefensive perspective!

In the last few weeks I have learned that with sculpture you just can't muscle through it. For one thing, as you work the clay, it warms up and becomes more pliable. Not that great when you are working on minuscule details often found on fingers. While I hate to stop before I am satisfied, I will be much further ahead if I just stop, put it away, wait for it to cool and for my perspective to readjust. When I mix tired with frustration I become the worst slasher/ hacker. I make hasty decision and can ruin weeks of work in minutes.

Another lesson, I have learned is that it is beneficial to have several pieces going at once. When I am frustrated with one I can move to another. This helps me to see each piece through a fresh eye.

For example: after my enlightening realization that I was sculpting too "skinny", I looked at my first little torso that I had given up on and saw clearly why she was so off. She was completely emaciated! I was focusing so hard on premature belly details that I couldn't see that my massing wasn't complete. In the last three days, when ever I have need a break from First Bond and details I just switch to my little attitude torso and start laying on some much needed pounds. I've included a before an after picture of her which I think speaks volumes. I have also included a progress picture of First Bond which unfortunately is not quite done yet but I think becoming a little more elegant and balanced.

Progress and distractions

I spent an hour and a half last night working on First Bond. I worked on the butt to leg connection, the curve from the back around to the belly connection and then the back of the arm connection to sh older and scapula. I feel very positive about what I accomplished and am looking forward to really pulling these details together tonight.
On the business front, I emailed my mold making contact this morning with no response and have called my first foundry option twice to try and get an interview for tomorrow morning. No response there either..... hmmm. Either they are really busy doing what they do best or they really don't want work. In any case, I think I will get directions and just stop by the foundry, appointment or not, tomorrow and see what info I can gather.

I love progress. : )

Reward through effort

I started out thinking that in writing about my sculpting I was going to write about beautiful things. Yes....Sculptures are beautiful. But the act of sculpting..... it is beautiful, inspiring, invigorating and work. Hours and hours of work. Sometimes those hours go by like flash. Every place I lay my clay down seems perfect. My fingers fly. Thumbs pulling through the different body movements, fingers rolling and placing little clay strips, ...around and around the body I move and the little figure takes life before my eyes. Then there are the hours of frustration and second guessing and endless raking of clay off the figure only to re-applying it in a different spot.

There is a fine balance between this struggle and the heady rush of positive progress. I must learn to welcome this struggle and celebrate it because only through it will I find improvement.

From now on I will use this blog to document my progress and thoughts as I move forward.

I am currently still finishing the details on "First Bond". This Friday I will meet with at least one Foundry to discover if they will be a good fit with my work and get an idea of casting cost. Yes.. the moment of truth. : /

I was thinking yesterday about what first inspired me to want to sculpt.

I walked into Sculpture 101 thinking, "This might be the biggest waste of time but hey..maybe I can make something useful, perhaps a birdbath.." Instead, I saw a poster on the wall of a sculpture that completely captivated me. The energy was SO strong that it still makes my heart race whenever I see a photo of it or even think about it. It is Powerful. "Fighting Stallions" by Anna Hyatt Huntington. That a work of art could emit such energy and evoke such a strong reaction fascinated me. From that moment forward I was hooked. I knew that I wanted to create sculpture that hummed with energy. A life of of its own. This is what pulls and draws me. It is not about capturing a photographic likeness. It is about capturing life.....how we live and what we feel. The emotion and energy the courses through our living bodies captured in solid medium. Captured but not frozen...just vibrating.

I have not been to Brookgreen Gardens, home of "Fighting Stallions". Yet. One Day. : )

Release

I feel good. I made my deadline. I released my creation. "First Bond" is no longer an idea and a dream inside of my head but a physical reality. She is not perfect.....I expect her to grow and tighten a little more...but the emotion and energy is there.

She will now be seen by a panel of jurors where perhaps they will also sense this emotion and it will move them to action. I have no idea what type of action, but I have released the ball... now it can roll. I am squinting out of the mouth of my tunnel and the world is shining, bright and white. I cant quite make out what it holds for me but I know that my options have just expanded and I am excited.

The premise of my art is that every pregnancy is unique and it is during those nine months that the true mother to child bond is formed and relationship begun. It is very quiet and pure time, powerful and full of emotion - not yet clouded by the reality of feeding and changing schedules, audible cries and physical weight. My mission through my art is to capture and express this emotional bond between a particular mother and unborn child and create a unique, lasting portrait. For me the sense of touch is very powerful and can often speak louder than words. I love sculpting hands because they convey so much visual energy and emotion. Thus...the interaction between the Mother's hands and her belly is truly the key inspiration behind each sculpture. It is an intimate conversation unique to each mother and child.

Restless Rain

Lunch Break. I should be walking right now but it is raining. As a true Seattle native I don't own an umbrella. Of course. : )

I snapped a photo of Mia yesterday snuggling on the daybed and all morning I have been clicking on the photo and wishing I was home with her.... sipping a fresh cup of coffee and sculpting.

The other day Mia was relentlessly chasing Jessie around the house. Running from one end to the other.....Mia barking and Jessie hissing and swiping. Truly like siblings fighting and tormenting each other. I finally had enough, took pity on Jessie and locked Mia in my Studio with me. There was a moment of silence and then Jessie's little white paws flashed under the door looking for her playmate. What an innocent little instigator.