It's that time of year again...time to get artwork ready for the annual 10x10brunswick Benefit Art Exhibit & Sale. This incredibly well-organized and supported show is put on by the organization Arts Are Elementary, a Maine non-profit that provides artist residencies to every elementary school class in Brunswick. The show features the work of over 125 artists. Each piece submitted by the artists fits the 10"x10" frame format and is priced at $200. The artwork will be available to view online starting September 4th. The sale date is Friday, September 30th (6-8:30 PM), but the show will be open for public preview Thursday, September 29th (5-8 PM) and Friday the 30th (12 noon-3 PM) at the Curtis Memorial Library and the St.Paul's Church Parish Hall.
 Impressions on 1st clay slab |  Plaster poured into mold |  1st relief removed & cleaned |
I created two fish themed plaster reliefs for the 10x10 last year that were very well received and led me to continue to explore other variations utilizing similar forms and techniques. (See my blog entries for 8/10/15, 8/29/15, 9/27/15 and 10/15/15.) This year I used the same wooden fish templates that I made last year, but this time I used a length of textured cord to create the stems of the underwater vegetation. The cord allowed me more flexibility in positioning the stems. I was also able to use short sections of cord to help give a feeling of more depth by making the stems appear to go behind some of the fish.
 2nd slab placed into mold frame |  2nd relief removed |  2nd relief |
I impressed two different compositions onto two separate slabs of clay. One had multiple impressions of just one fish interspersed between wavy vertical leafed stems, and the other had multiple images of the two different fish facing off between leafed stems that were slanted. The slabs were set into mold frames and covered with about 1/2" of plaster. After the plaster hardened, the molds were opened and the clay was removed from the cast plaster reliefs. The clay residue was rinsed off the plaster and the casts were then dried in the oven. The final step was to paint each piece with Graphite Gray acrylic and then mat them (see blog entry 8/29/15 for matting process). Ready to be delivered to Brunswick!
 En Masse |  Vis-`a-vis |
Update: Both of these pieces sold. Another very successful event put on by Arts Are Elementary in Brunswick!
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