Meanderings of a Maine Artist... sculptor Cynthia Smith

Menage a Trois ... Clay, Plaster, & Bronze

9/26/2012

A number of years go I went to a teachers' workshop hosted by the Portland Museum of Art in Portland. One of the activities that we participated in was an experience in working with self-hardening clay. We were given a small handful of the material, and asked to make something. I started out forming a face that, after I played with the structure of the mouth, then morphed into some sort of split personality. As I looked at the clay, I felt the challenge to take it a step further - to create the faces of 3 different characters within the structure of the original face that would reveal themselves as the piece was rotated in front of the viewer's eye. I really enjoy a challenge, so I did end up with a face with 'multiple personalities'.
I later took a mold making class and used the original clay piece to make a rubber mold with Brush-On 35 ( from the Smooth-On Company) to make a plaster cast. I was never one to let a good mold stand idle, so I eventually used it to cast the piece in bronze. I liked the result, but upon reflection, I must say it may have been misnamed... perhaps 'Menage a Quate', or perhaps even 'Cinq' !

'Menage a Trois'.... 3 views... 4"h

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Evolution of an Idea ... the 'backstory'

9/21/2012

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The idea for this portrait in bronze started simply - I made a wax cast of my face from a *mold that I had taken from a plaster life mask of myself. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it, but knew that it would have to be supported it in some way. Extending the neck was a start to solving the support problem, but I also needed to find a way to finish the back side of the face in order to bring the composition full circle.

As I looked to the wax mask for answers, an image slowly started to emerge from the back side of the mask - the natural contours of the inside surface of the wax cast seemed to contain the vague suggestion of a human figure. As I added wax to bring out the form, the prominence of the sizable buttocks and the extreme bend of the back immediately appealed to my sense of humor. I saw the figure back-bending behind the face and my mind was off and running... I would shrink the figure's head and elongate the the limbs to emphasize the illusion of depth in the space behind the face. Support and composition problems solved ... with the added bonus of a surprise 'ending'. I have my own explanations and interpretations of the piece, I leave viewers to come up with their own.

* Note: The mold for this face mask was also used multiple times to create my clay 'Portrait of the Artist'. Image can be viewed in the Ceramic page of the Sculpture section of my website, as well as in the Slideshow section.

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Pod Cast Update... Fumed & Finished

9/16/2012

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The "pod bugs" cast in bronze that I discussed in my September 1st blog entry have now been completed. I created a blue-green surface patina by fuming the pieces with a combination of ammonia, vinegar, and salt.
I began by drilling holes in the tops of 8 small blocks of wood. I would use these to keep the pieces above the level of the fuming liquid by inserting the small bronze extension that I left under the foot of each bug leg into the hole of each of the wooden blocks. After setting the elevated bugs in the bottom of a tall plastic lidded container, I then poured equal portions of ammonia and vinegar, and a tablespoon of salt into the bottom of the container to a level of about 1/2 inch. The lid was then snapped on tightly and the pieces were fumed for 10 days. (I did add additional ammonia and vinegar after 5 days to "perk up" the fuming process.)
When the desired color was achieved, I removed the pieces from the container. After allowing them to dry thoroughly, I coated them with a coat of clear satin polyurethane to seal the patina. The final step was to attach the pieces to the wooden base that I had prepared. I put 5 minute epoxy into each of the 4 holes that I had drilled into the wood for the smaller bug, inserted the extension under each foot into the appropriate hole, and held it in place until the epoxy set. Then I repeated the process for the larger bug. The piece is now complete and headed to The Maine Art Gallery in Wiscassett.

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Modification and Reconfiguration ... the Plaster Mold

9/11/2012

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I am currently working on a wax that will eventually be cast in bronze. The idea for this piece came from working with plaster molds on 3 earlier pieces. The first was a *ceramic piece, 'Stair Triptych'. It consisted of 3 separate sections that incorporated a combination of Escher-like stairs and doorways that were juxtaposed at various angles. This led me to the thought of making a bronze piece that combined a series of similar units. I modified the design of the 3 stair modules and cast 3 new molds to use for making multiple waxes. The result was my *bronze, 'Relief '. The molds were utilzed again in making the base for my *bronze piece 'Stilt Walker '. Even as I completed these earlier works, the concept for this current piece was formulating in the back of my mind....bend these modules into a sphere.

I am now about halfway through the construction of the wax sphere. The wax modules are hollow and have flat bottomed sides when they come out of the mold. I bend them gently around a basketball while they are still warm and cut the bottom edges into gentle curves to improve the fit. I also trim the edges so that each piece on the sphere will be at a slightly different angle. Then comes the very slow process of attaching the modules to each other. Now that I am halfway through this process, I will not be able to use the basketball as a framework to work on, and the attachment process will get a bit trickier. The final challenge will come when I finish the sphere and have to start gating it... multiple angles and overhangs - yikesI

*Images of the above mentioned artworks can be found in the Clay & Bronze Sculpture sections of this website.

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Art Appreciation ... the Artist's Perspective

9/6/2012

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Long ago I started the habit of documenting my artwork with photographs. I originally just took a photo of the finished piece, but then started to record the steps I took to create each piece as a reference for future work. Eventually I
added multiple views from
multiple angles, trying to
capture the essence of the work, as well as the image.

The photographs that I take from unusual angles best reflect my creative process and my vision of the work ... how I see the piece as I work on it, and how I
hope it will be seen by
others. I want the viewer to experience the interaction
of the rhythms in the form, as well as in the spaces in and around the form. If the image in the photograph mirrors the image in my eye, I have
achieved my goal.

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Pod Cast ... Getting the Bugs Out

9/1/2012

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Pod, seeds, & twigs

Although I generally work in wax when creating a piece that is going to be cast in
bronze, I also like to explore a variety of combustible found objects and materials.
I find they can provide both familiar and unusual textures and forms, as well as having the potential be transformed into something totally new and unique.
I found some interesting pods among
the dried flowers at an arts & crafts store. They were 5 sided and had a woody exterior that had a variety of textures. One end of the pod was pointed and the other had an extended 'collar' where the pod would have been attached to a stem. I also found some lotus flower seed pods that each held many oval seeds. By adding four bent twigs from
an old lilac bush, I ended up constructing a long legged, pop-eyed, snout-nosed bug.

Pod Bug

I liked the creature I had created, but knew that it wouldn't last unless it was cast. The attachment locations for the legs on the underside of the
bug were not very secure because the interior of the pod was very 'pithy'. The resulting bronze cast of the piece was successful in capturing the details on the surface of the pod and the legs - and the legs were firmly attached. This initial 'test bug', combined with a sizable bronze frog and two antique wooden croquet stakes, then became my sculpture 'After Dark' (see photo on bronze sculpture page of website). The success of the first pod bug led me
to make and cast two additional bugs. After I patina them, I will mount them on a piece of weathered wood (see
image below) to become the sculpture 'Guardian'.

P.S. There may also be a few pod 'birds' in my future...

Bronze Pod Bug Guardian...11"h

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Menage a Trois ... Clay, Plaster, & Bronze

Evolution of an Idea ... the 'backstory'

Pod Cast Update... Fumed & Finished

Modification and Reconfiguration ... the Plaster Mold

Art Appreciation ... the Artist's Perspective

Pod Cast ... Getting the Bugs Out

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