So when you start welding it together you really have to work it.  Make sure you have it clamped to a flat table, or it will warp again with the heat from the welding.  But there are many tricks to getting it back the original flat shape.

Ocean State Veterinary Specialists is a state of the art, 24 hour clinic for all kinds of pets, even the exotics.  I had a great time meeting everyone there.

Thanks Kristi

2010

His book “Catching the Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness, and Creativity” was a big inspiration to me.  He talks about the importance of meditation in our lives, not just as an artist, but as a way to get more out of life.

It is a kind of auto-biography about experiences in his life and his views on art and process.  I wanted to share some videos that talk a little bit about this.  It is expanded in his book.

I was fascinated to read about the David Lynch foundation-”In today’s world of fear and uncertainty, every child should have one class period a day to dive within himself and experience the field of silence—bliss—the enormous reservoir of energy and intelligence that is deep within all of us. This is the way to save the coming generation.” David Lynch

“The David Lynch Foundation a 501(c)(3) organization, was established in 2005 to fund the implementation of scientifically proven stress-reducing modalities including Transcendental Meditation, for at-risk populations such as underserved inner-city students; veterans with PTSD and their families; American Indians suffering from diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and high suicide rates; homeless men participating in reentry programs striving to overcome addictions; and incarcerated juveniles and adults.”

Check out the website!

Understanding anatomy is a good resource to have and can take a while to get the hang of.  I don’t regret my studies, but I think after the first couple of years I was getting stuck on it, thinking just about anatomy.  What I started to realize was that understanding form is just as important, if not more.  Understanding form helps you describe what you see or what you want to say.

For me, I like to study the animals in their natural habitat. When you see the form move, influenced by it’s function, it gives you so much more opportunity for choices than what you will find in a book, photograph or stuffed specimen.   Even with a human figure.  If you really look at the model the muscles and forms are constantly moving and changing.  If you were to take only one photograph you would only see one instance.  You want to give yourself as many possibilities as you can for understanding.

The object is not to copy what you see.  By understanding the figure; you can then exaggerate and invent your sculpture to better describe your ideas.  You need to know the rules before you can break them.

After you get a good understanding of anatomy and form, you can use them to help you with your compositional ideas and imagination.  It is a hard, but important balance.   The only way you can find this balance is by producing work.  Lots of work.  The more you do the more you’ll understand and the further you can go.  When you look at all the work you produce you will start to see certain patterns.  Such as things you like, things you don’t, what you might want to do different, etc.  You wont know these things unless you have the work to go off of, and teachers and peers need to see this too to get an idea of who you are and what you are trying to do.

When it comes to conceptual ideas, everyone has their own process.  These are just some ideas on what I have learned about the figure, human and animal.  It is a difficult subject to talk about, because there are many different levels and everyone goes down their own path.

Check out her website followtheblackrabbit for more of her work!

Unfortunately they are very endangered, some say they are the second most endangered species in Africa, because of man.

It was great to be there for long periods of time because that is when you really start to see them.

They are related to the wolf.

Zoo-Roger Williams Park Zoo

Observing animals in their natural habitat is best, but zoos can be a good resource as well.  Just keep in mind that most animals may look and act different in captivity.

When I sculpt at the zoo, I make observational decisions about their proportion, texture and anatomical forms.  Then I can use the sculpture for reference later in my studio.  This is one step in my process.  I also do  a lot of historical research to get as much information as possible.  All of this work consciously and subconsciously combines with my own abstract ideas and helps me to create my own design, like I did with Zarafa.

I brought some extra clay this day, so the kids could sculpt along with me.  I really enjoy watching the kids get excited about art and nature!

Photos: Kristi Kinsella

Thanks to Roger Williams Park Zoo

Oh, my dear brother, sometimes I know so well what I want.  I can very well do without God both in my life and in my painting, but I cannot, ill as I am, do without something which is greater than I, which is my life-the power to create.

And if, frustrated in the physical power, a man tries to create thoughts instead of children, he is still part of humanity.

And in a picture I want to say something comforting, as music is comforting.  I want to paint men and women with that something of the eternal which the halo used to symbolize, and which we seek to convey by the actual radiance and vibration of our coloring.

Portraiture so understood does not become like an Ary Scheffer just because there is a blue sky in the background, as in “St. Augustine.”  For Ary Scheffer is so little of a colorist.

But it would be more in harmony with what Eug. Delacroix attempted and brought off in his “Tasso in Prison,” and many other pictures, representing a real man.  Ah! portraiture, portraiture with the thoughts, the soul of the model in it, that is what I think must come.

Once the plaster copy was complete we took a day to transport it from Pennsylvania to the Bronx in New York City.  It made it safe!

Here is the molding process

Brian Craig-Wankiiri welding up the armature and Sabin Howard, Brian and I plastering the figure.

Back to the studio.

We didn’t have much time to stop while we were working, but I was able to get a few video clips on my new phone.

Websites:

Sabin Howard, Brian Craig-Wankiiri

Because it is on loan, of course I could not take any photos, but I highly recommend the show.  It is well worth the visit.  Drawing is an important tool for sculpture and painting, and is an art in it’s own right!  You can figure things out such as compositional design, color and form, before you commit to the bigger final piece.

Below are some images I took at the National Gallery in Washington, DC.  There is a lot more work, but I wanted to show some of my favorites.

Also there was another drawing show,

“The Body Inside and Out: Anatomical Literature and Art Theory
Selections from the National Gallery of Art Library
July 24, 2010–January 23, 2011″

Many Renasaince artists disected or participated in dissections of cadavers to get a better sense of anatomy and proportion. They have a bunch of these drawings on display.