Goddesses All - Hope

These are (probably) the final photos of the sculpture that I call  Goddesses All - Hope

She is dedicated to those brave women (and men) that have battled breast cancer.

I am both humbled and inspired by their courage, determination, spirit and will.

Without further ado

And a special thanks to the fur people who aided me and abetted me in this process.

First to Irma for not lending me her pretty little scalloped toed foot.

And finally to Reg who, without any sculptures to eat, has turned his paws to strangling Irma.

Thanks for watching!

Experimenting with Paper Clay ctd. - Goddesses All - part III

Still hanging in there. I had no idea that goddesses could be such a pain in the patooty.

Anyhoo....I did a little surgery on that uber masculine face...with a bread knife! 
The current plan is to add paper clay to build up and smooth out the sawed off areas with the ultimate goal being a more goddess-like face.



But first the arms. I tried the first arm on for size; more bread knife action was needed to hollow out under the arm pit and also the inside part of the arm nearest the arm pit so it would hug in closer to the body. Then it was wired in place.


I have been deliberately leaving the hand and wrist naked (no paper clay) until I get the arm positioned permanently and then I can fool with positions before adding the clay.  It does firm things up considerably.

With all this messing about cracks had begun to appear at stress points.  Without even trying I had created a Crack Ho!

Not to worry. I contacted Dr. Phil and asked him to send his team to perform an intervention. The family all wrote letters to her; we cried, threatened and blew our noses, she tried to storm out but the paper clay had stiffened up so she didn't make much progress. Finally she agreed to have treatment with the hot glue gun.

While I had it out I glued both arms to shoulder joints and head to neck.
Here is a close up of the now paper clayed hand glued to the leg.







Now it is on to hair and eyes.  I still have not found a large enough base that will support her.

See you later.

How do you Solve a Problem like Maria? - Life sized Paper Clay head - part I

For some time now I have been threatening to remake Maria - the life sized doll I created and dressed in indigenous costume while I was in Ecuador.

I call the remake project (which may or may not include some ball joints at elbows, knees, shoulders, and ankles for ease of posing)
" How do you solve a problem like Maria".  You are humming it right now, aren't you? You will be humming it for days now.  :-)

I slapped her together rather quickly so I am not proud of how she turned out.  On top of that she and infant son Jose traveled in a rather undignified manner to Canada.  Maria lovingly cradled Jose in one arm and my computer in the other as she sat wedged into a cardboard wardrobe container.  Miraculously all survived the trip, even though the box was torn open to reveal a disheveled but still smiling Maria.  I always marvel at her ability to smile in the face of all life can throw at her.

Perhaps someone suspected a body was hidden in the container? It would give you a start to see this "person" staring out at you from a shipping container!

I didn't want to pay for an extra seat for them and Maria has never forgiven me for that.

Here we see Maria cuddling Jose in my living room. Yes I do live in a simulated Gypsy Caravan cum Berber tent. Bite me.

Sadly Jose succumbed to one of my charitable endeavours. Parts of him live on in various stuffed bunnies, cats and dogs which will find themselves at the Salvation Army Family services around Christmas time.  I featured some of these in an earlier blog post.

So anyway...I had been wrestling for a long time with how to make a plausible face and hands for life sized dolls. The soft sculpture just doesn't cut it for me with faces, and hands are difficult at the best of times.

When I discovered paper clay I thought this may be the answer to both problems.

In these photos you will glimpse my cat Reg; a great fan of flour in its many delicious forms.

Here we see him sampling the initial layer of flour and water and newspaper strips that I had positioned  on a Styrofoam head form  (used for styling and storing wigs.)

Sigh............. it is not easy being an artist when your fans eat your work when your back is turned.  Unless you are the Cake Boss.

PS It has come to my attention that some initial nibbling that I blamed on Reg was actually the work of a mouse.  Said mouse lured by the delicious aroma of flour and newspaper entered the house and was dispatched by Irma this morning.   Here she is having a cuddle with Brother Reg. Thank you Irma.

 
The following are photos of the prototype head.  I intend to make a much older Maria this time. Having nubile young beauties watch me do yoga in my living room only serves as a taunting reminder of my own aging body. 

Here Reg contemplates the best way to open the container of flour and water.  His usual method is to knock it off the counter and let it smash open all by itself. Voila! Instant snack. And healthy at that as I used Whole Wheat flour.

I am attempting a pleasant twinkly eyed but wrinkled elderly woman.  If I have to age Maria has to too.

Good to see a photo so I can correct the wonky eyes, add some jowls and more wrinkles.  It is easy to get lost in the details and not really see the piece as a whole.

Here is what came next.  Eyes a little more aligned.

 Below you can see the initial layers of paper mache at the back of the head. The front is the only part where I have smoothed on some paper clay so far.  I have split it apart for easy removal from the form. And it may end up that I only use the mask portion.
?Quien Sabe?

Still requires a lot more jowls,a turkey neck, ears, insertion of  acrylic eyes, eye lashes and brows, maybe teeth, hair and finally paint.

Note to self: don't forget to pierce her ears for earrings.

I will keep you updated on the progress.