Big, Bold, and FEARLESS
While sculpting “Doubt Kills The Warrior,” I kept returning to the torso and how it held the core of the movement. I was inspired to focus on that part of the piece at a grand scale. I wanted to concentrate on the essence and axis of the movement, illuminating that at the center of everything lays risk, release, and making oneself visible.
Highlighting a small section of a form has been a theme of my work forever. It all comes back to focusing on the quintessence of form, movement, and beauty. The geometric windows in my architectural work, like “Cradle,” “Rolling Hills,” and “Progression of Four” all have been an exploration and variation on this theme.
Cradle
Rolling Hills
- Progression of Four
Between the scale and the gesture itself, this piece is really about being fearless (which may ultimately be the title of the piece)—open, exposed, grand and expansive.
More to come...
When it Rains, it Pours…(this is a good thing)
A LOT has been happening lately! I just won a prestigious award from Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine at the California Art Club's 101st Annual Gold Medal Exhibition for my life size piece Doubt Kills the Warrior -- I procured a new gallery in San Diego called McNabb Martin Contemporary Art (MMCA) with the help of my new marketing rockstar, Ryan Crowley -- installed a piece at Pacific Sotheby's International Realty office in San Diego -- AND a beautiful two-page spread was just published in the April issue of American Art Collector ...if I could take a breath, I would...but sculpture and life goes on!!! Here are just a few (a lot) of pictures of the highlights of my last few days:
Doubt Kills the Warrior just installed at the Autry National Center - the show is up through April 22nd, 2012
The Gala opening Saturday night - a fabulous event
My muse, Sara
Jena (without whom I could do nothing) and my Dad
Mom and Dad
My Team
Here I am receiving my award for excellence in sculpture from Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine - they honored me with an incredible advertising opportunity in their prestigious publication which has national and international distribution
My proud parents
Isn't my fabricator a stud? Thank you Nick Petronzio for everything!
The morning after - the artist brunch
NOW, Chapter 2
Here's my new Gallery MMCA, in Little Italy in San Diego. Make sure if you're there, drop and and visit, it's a beautiful space with a wonderful owner and staff
Ryan is 6'5" just to give you sense of scale - each one of these pieces is ceramic and weighs about 75 lbs - it was a fun installation
Through the Fire could not have found a better new home
Relaxing after the installation, with Pat McNabb Martin
And relaxing with Jena and Ryan - my TEAM!!!
Another good day...
Here's another quickie - also in San Diego
I installed one of my all-time favorite pieces, Rolling Hills, at Pacific Sotheby's
It's a difficult piece to install, everything went smoothly, they loved it, and it's terrific exposure
and LASTLY, I am THRILLED to share a beautiful two-page editorial in American Art Collector, in the April 2012 issue
So Thank You Everyone who came to the Autry or saw my facebook posts and congratulated me (or those who didn't know about it but would have) -
To Work or to Blog…
Clearly it has been a long time since my last post. This is not for lack of content- sometimes I feel like there is a gun to my head to both create work and find the time to share it. Wouldn't it be great if you could all just come by the studio, have a glass of Prosecco, and have your own experience from time to time.
In any case, I am now working on an enlargement of an element from my life-size piece 'Doubt Kills the Warrior' (formerly known as 'Sara'). It is the heart of the piece that embodies the core of the movement: "Axis."
I've never built an armature in foam before. My friend and artist, the awesome Nick Petronzio, is helping me. It has been quite a learning process. Many (most) sculptors are now employing laser technology to enlarge or reduce sculptures. This is not a choice I was interested in at all. Even when I sculpted 'Doubt', I made a decision to sculpt the hands 10% larger than life-size; first of all because I love hands, but more importantly because when you look up, they are way above your head, and would appear smaller if they were true to scale. These and many other kinds of aesthetic decisions cannot be made by a machine.
Here are some early progress shots - so far I have about 900lbs of clay on her. It's just the beginning, the sculpting hasn't really started.
Paint on Clay
In the past few months I have been experimenting with different ways of dealing with ceramic surface. I've often been dissatisfied-as have my students-with the outcome of glaze. It can be too glossy, cover too much texture in the surface, and can be unreliable. Here are some recent pictures of my own and student pieces with acrylic polymer patinas and oil paint. I've also been experimenting with ceramic materials like terra sig, engobes, and mason stains. Those pictures are still to come.
Here's my own piece...a small one of Sara...
Here's my student Molly and I standing around her newly painted torso...
These next three pieces were made by my student Marsh Drucker, who's been experimenting a lot with paint, and getting some fabulous results!
For anyone interested in taking a class, new 8-week sessions are starting at the beginning of October at the following times:
Saturdays 10:30am-2:30pm
Wednesdays 6:00pm-10:00pm
Thursdays 10:30am-2:30pm
For more about classes, check out my Sculpture Classes site and join my Facebook studio group!
For all the Figurative Artists Out There…
I came upon an article in the New Yorker that is the most wonderful thing I've read in a LONG time! Not that there is a need to justify what I do, but I must admit I have felt defensive in the climate of art critics and the movement of modern and contemporary art away from honoring craft and toward the 'less artisanal, but no less demanding--conceptual, historically conscious, made of mind and thought.'
So read this article Life Studies-What I learned when I learned to draw by New York art critic Adam Gopnik. The change in his perspective and the way in which he reveals this year-long journey is refreshing, literate, funny, and personal. Here's a taste--a favorite paragraph:
We stopped for coffee afterward and I asked Jacob why, given his skill at seeing and showing the world as it was, he never wanted to draw the particulars of this world as it is, the world that we found ourselves in, where people met at endless dinner parties. He drew his kids beautifully but without their iPods and Gameboys and Vitamin Waters. Why not draw as a novelist might write, with the appurtenances and accessories of this time?
He looked at me and seemed almost angry- 'No, that's--you've so absorbed the premises of modern realism into your head that you can't see past it. Why didn't Michelangelo draw people buying fish, instead of nudes and gods? He was looking for some idea of beauty, rooted in this world...that didn't need an ipod to justify it. He really had an idea of timeless beauty. Why is beauty less interesting to you than journalism?'
Also, check out this website - figurativesculptors.com.
It's a new site that sculptor, Denis Grace, has launched just for the love of figurative sculpture. This site creates a network and community of figurative sculptors and serves as a much appreciated resource for these artists, art lovers and collectors . I know what it takes to build and maintain a website and he's doing this all for no charge. I want to thank and salute him for his efforts!
In the midst of it all / Harmony
First of all...be warned - This is a REALLY long post with LOTS of cool pictures!
In the midst of the sculpture and mold of Sara, new classes beginning, my daughter graduating from Columbia NEXT WEEK, I've been working on a big commission for In Bloom! An opportunity came my way that deeply resonated with my passion for giving back to families in crisis. Some of you are familiar with the concerts that David and I have held to benefit Upward Bound House. So when I heard about In Bloom and their connection to HCS Family Services it was right in my wheel house. HCS Family Services is a compassionate human care organization serving low-income individuals and families since 1937. During the selection process I had the choice to either donate an existing piece, or work with a sponsor. I chose the latter, and Whole Foods chose me!
After submitting concept proposals, this one was selected. I've been working at a large metal plating factory, designing, constructing, and finishing this piece! The process has been UNBELIEVABLE. More complicated than I ever imagined. The definition of Murphy's Law. It was finally crated today and is on its way to Chicago. The installation and opening event will be the week of May 16th (the same day Sophie graduates!), so I'll miss that moment. The sculptures will be on display throughout the summer, with a closing Gala Art Auction Charity Event in September. Part of the proceeds will benefit the families that HCS works with. If you're in the Chicago area this summer stop by at the Oakbrook Center to experience In Bloom yourself.
Here's a peek at the process of creating Harmony!
Here's where the fun starts. I began with a globe creating relief with a acrylic medium. My intention was to plate the globe with copper after this pain-staking process.
I tinted the ocean areas in order to be able to see the brush texture.
Added pumice gel medium to increase the relief of the continents.
Beautiful,right?
Unfortunately when it was filled with foam, before plating, we discovered that the glossy surface on the globe made all the paint fall off. So.....
I had to start over from scratch. This time it was all about Bondo. Instead of acrylic gel mediums the materials switched to glass beads, catalysts, power tools and spray booths.
Simultaneously I was working on the figure at the foundry. I needed to make the feet fit around the globe, and create fabric to drape the figure.
I looked everywhere for the perfect branches and finally found manzanitas on Ebay. The structure of the manzanita tree is beautiful and exactly what I was looking for. I put them in my kiln for a week at low temperature to dry them out first before they were to be plated in copper.
Finally the bronze was cast from the wax (known as the lost wax process). This is what bronze looks like before any kind of patina has been applied.
And here she is being fitted on the copper-plated globe for the very first time. It worked!
At this point everything moved over to Brite Plating: You probably have something in your house that came from there if you have a doorknob or a light or a metal table...you name it.
Alan and Landon and a team of thousands became my champions from this moment on....
Then came fabrication of the stand, refinement of the fit of the feet, more coats of copper, and the whole process of patina on the globe.
This was a cold patina. We started with a dark base to bring out the texture in the surface.
Then I added greens on the continents and used first ammonia, then stable blues on top for the oceans, then sealed everything with permalac.
Next came the patina of the copper-plated branches and the bronze figure.
These are huge dipping vats filled with chemicals. OMG
She was hung upside down through a hole in her foot which is actually part of her structural engineering (thanks to the genius of Landon Ryan.)
If this were a video, you could see that she went down into the vat and came up, which is why she is now a different color...Dark...
Darker...
Darkest!
At the end, she is blown dry with an air hose.
And here come the branches...
Here is the stand that will go into the ground. The bottom will be filled with concrete for extra weight. There will be stakes embedded in the concrete since the piece will be installed in grass. It will be oxidized black. It's going to be awesome!
And finally the globe is fitted onto the top of the stand for the first time...Very exciting!
And there she is, on top of the globe, for the very first time. Each stage is a landmark!
The first patina on the branches and the figure was just a base. Then I rubbed everything down to expose the highlights..
To apply the Cupric Nitrate (green) patina, the bronze is heated with a torch
The chemical is sprayed on and reacts with the metal. The highlights still show through, which gives the sculpture beautiful dimension.
And then the very last thing...the branches are soldered into the hands of the figure.
And then finally , for the first time, all the elements went together and the whole concept was actualized.
In the time it took me to write and post this she has been crated, made her way safely across the county and arrived in Westmont, Illinois, to be installed next week while I'm in New York. If you're near Chicago, please go check it out at the Oakbrook Center and send me a picture. I'd love to see it installed!
My friend Harry Berman
Last week I went to see my friend Harry Berman – a master ceramicist.
He owns and runs Berman School of Ceramic Arts.
He taught me the bulk of what I know about firing and building large. He went to Chouinard Art School (now CalArts) in the late 60s and studied with Ralph Bacerra. Some of his classmates were guys like Adrian Saxe and Peter Shire. He started building kilns and loved it. In fact, when I got my big kiln (I can stand up inside of it) 15 years ago it was Harry who tweaked it out for me and put special fittings on the door and customized it in a bunch of other ways. When he was in school he was making big pieces that blew up. John Mason invited him over and explained the concept of firing slowly. The big "X" was already at the County Museum by then. He told him it was fired for two weeks. Based on what John Mason told Harry and what Harry passed on to me, I very frequently do 5-day fires. Most people think I'm crazy, but I've NEVER lost a piece.
John Mason (United States, Nebraska, born 1927) Red X, 1966 Sculpture, Stoneware, 58 1/2 x 59 1/2 x 17 in. (148.59 x 151.13 x 43.18 cm) © LACMA
Ralph Bacerra: Profile of a Ceramic Artist," Ceramics: Art and Perception (magazine), No. 15, March 1994 by Jo Lauria
Peter Shire (http://www.artscenecal.com/)
We talked about working with paper clay which I've been interested in experimenting with for awhile , and now am really excited about. I thought I would try to work hollow, but the deeper I explored other people's working techniques, the less compelling it has become. Conceptually I work from the inside out - not the outside in - which is what working hollow is all about.
He also offered me tips on a new clay - Hopkins white, which I am going to try, after years with my favorite clay WS O and some more cool armature tips. I loved having the opportunity to be back in the studio where I learned so much and to continue to exchange information with other artists. It doesn't happen enough.
So, if you ever want to take a ceramics class and you live anywhere near North Hollywood go check out the studio. Harry's the greatest.
Sharing the Process
If you open the dictionary and look up the word "muse" Sara Streeter's name should be there. There is a reason she has worked with so many extraordinary artists and magical work has been created as a result of their collaboration.
The relationship between artist and model is intimate and sacred – it certainly has always been for me. It's the nature of being a figurative artist to go deeper and deeper into essence – not only into what a model looks like but what she feels like. And what she brings is everything. There are no words really to express the gratitude I have for the process I am engaged in with my dear friend and collaborator, Sara.
Please, if you have a chance go see this exhibition called a little show for sara by artist Frank Minuto. He has been working with her for several years and is presenting a show of work dedicated to her. I had the privelage of seeing images of several pieces in advance of the exhibition. She was given chalk and blank paper and danced to the Rite of Spring while she created the work on paper with her own body in response to the music. He then produced the photographic images of her merged with the work she created. They are shockingly beautiful beyond description.
It will be this Sunday at Angels Gate Cultural Center.
Thank you Sara for who you are and what you give so generously.
courtesy of Visual Art Source http://www.visualartsource.com
Sacred Space & Time
There is something magical that occurs between me and the woman I am sculpting. Of course, the years of having my hands and eyes in the clay lend me to trust the process in a way that I am able to be completely present. For that I am grateful.
On the second day of working together it became even clearer what this piece is about for both of us. The integration of opposites, being at a crossroads, exposure and vulnerability, containment and release – so many things that are deeply personal to each of us. We understand each other. She brings her whole heart and it is expressed in her movement.
This piece is moving inordinately fast. Even I am surprised. I feel like I'm being led. I started out thinking I was just going to do a torso but before you know it there was a portrait and I'm moving up into the arms – maybe even arms and hands – a full floating figure.
Here is the progression of day 2 with Sarah:
Art & Architecture
There is a Killer house on the market for only $17.5 mil at the top of Mulholland with a view of the entire San Gabriel Valley. My dear friend Pattee Stayrook of Art O'Rama curated the artwork (including 4 of my pieces) in this house for sale. My work has never looked better! The designer is Rose & Chang and there will be a viewing opportunity to bring friends and collectors on December 4th between 4-7 pm – let me know if you want to come. It's BEAUTIFUL!
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