Archive for September 2015
Headed to My Home Town To Speak- I’m So Excited
As my recent posts have said, I’m headed up north to speak. I’m especially excited that I will be speaking at my high school- Kenmore West, in Kenmore, New York. I have even found a way for the art students of that high school to get involved with the new monumental bronze sculpture of the Mad Hatter tea party. I am working on this in Texas, it is receiving world wide attention. It will be great to have the students of Kenmore West involved.
They will be creating one of the tea cups on the table. Actually they will be helping me to bring to life my grandmother’s antique tea cup that I scanned using the Next Engine Laser Scanner. More on that later.
I’ll also be speaking at Penn State September 28th at 7:00 and then my last gig in Buffalo is at the Buffalo Lab on the first of October to speak and have a book signing. October 1st. 7:00. Here is the press release that is coming out of The Foundry, Buffalo Lab and Ken Ton School district. They did a great job on collaborating. Penn State- Behrend has also done a great job. Thanks to you all.
PRESS RELEASE
Artist/Author Behind Highly Anticipated “Alice in Wonderland” Sculpture to Provide Engaging Educational Experience at Kenmore West High School and Buffalo Lab
The world is celebrating the 150th anniversary of Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland,” and a nationally known artist, sculptor and author is bringing local students and artists into the celebration with her work on a one-of-a-kind monumental bronze sculpture capturing the iconic Mad Hatter’s tea party.
Bridgette Mongeon, a native of the Ken-Ton area, has been commissioned by the Rubenstein Foundation in Texas to create a monumental sculpture that will include an eight-foot-tall Mad Hatter, Alice, and March Hare in attendance. There will also be plenty of space for children and adults to join the characters at the table for a picnic and the most curious of dining experiences.
On Sept. 30, during a visit to Western New York, Mongeon will engage art students at Kenmore West High School in a cross-curricular educational experience that combines art, literature, technology, engineering, math and science. She has also been invited as a guest lecturer for adults interested in learning and jumping down the rabbit hole of art and technology during a visit to the Buffalo Lab, a community workshop space at The Foundry, located at 298 Northampton St., Buffalo, NY 14208, beginning at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 1.
Mongeon combines both traditional sculpting processes with cutting edge computer and printing technology. A key part of her work is 3D modeling and 3D printing, an important subject for today’s art students at Kenmore West High School who benefit from the school’s advanced art programs and imaging technology.
Students in art teacher David Rogalski’s classes at Kenmore West will also have the chance to contribute toward the highly anticipated sculpture. Students will use 3D scans of antique teacups and tackle the extremely challenging task of enhancing the intricate decorative floral designs in a 3D environment using a software program called Mudbox. The sculptures will then be 3D printed and added to the scene before Mongeon sends the sculpture to Shidoni Foundry in New Mexico for bronze casting.
Mongeon is known for her bronze sculptures of children, as well as entertainers such as B. B. King, Willie Nelson and Bill Monroe. She has been commissioned to create school mascots such as the larger-than-life Prairie View Panther for Texas’ Prairie View A&M University and a 15-foot tiger for Grambling State University in Grambling, La. She will also soon be creating a sculpture of Neil Armstrong commissioned by Kindness Without Limits Education as a gift to Russia.
Mongeon’s work on the tea party sculpture coincides with the release of her new book, “3D Technology in Fine Art and Craft: Exploring 3D Printing, Scanning, Sculpting, and Milling.” In the book, she describes the digital and traditional processes that she and other artists all over the world are using in their art. She will incorporate these same processes in her sculpture of the Mad Hatter scene, using tools such as the Next Engine 3D Laser Scanner and digital sculpting programs such as Mudbox and ZBrush.
“You could say that Alice no longer needs mushrooms, cakes or elixirs to grow,” Mongeon said. “These tools help me generate a digital model that can then be crafted using computer numerically controlled (CNC) milling machines. Alice and her friends grow to eight feet tall with technology. I then carve on the large foam pieces, adding a fine layer of clay and more detail before making molds that will be shipped to Shidoni Foundry.”
The installation and unveiling of this sculpture in Evelyn’s Park in Bellaire, Texas, a suburb of Houston, is scheduled for late 2016. Guests can try to find more than 150 hidden elements, including characters such as Humpty Dumpty and the White Queen, which will be carefully and covertly positioned throughout the scene. Many of these smaller items the artist will create using these digital tools. The highly anticipated sculpture is expected to make the park a tourism destination for visitors of Houston and lovers of the works of Lewis Carroll.
Just as in the story, the sculpture titled “Move One Place On” beckons visitors to change places upon their visit. Mongeon hopes visitors will develop a tradition of shouting the proclamation and change places at the bronze table as they visit the sculpture.
The sculpture has additional connections to Western New York. The likeness of the artist’s mother, the late Barbara Ingersoll, was used for the hidden White Queen. For much of her life, Ingersoll was involved with a ministry that helped hurting women in Western New York and Canada. Also, the inspiration for the Hatter comes from another family member, the late Jack Rzadkiewicz, a postal worker and Buffalo native. Finally, the likeness of the artist’s adult daughter, Christina Sizemore, who lives in Houston but works for Western New York’s Feel Rite Fresh Markets, was used for Alice.
“I love to have this personal and intimate family connection in the piece,” Mongeon said.
###
IMAGES ARE AVAILABLE
__________
MEDIA ADVISORY:
Nationally known sculptor, artist, And author will be guest lecturer at ken-west/Buffalo Lab, Providing an engaging educational experience tied to highly anticipated Monumental “alice in wonderland” tea party sculpture
When & Where: 8 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 30 in the Kenmore West High School Auditorium, 33 Highland Parkway, Buffalo, NY 14223, and 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 1 at Buffalo Lab in The Foundry, 298 Northampton St., Buffalo, NY 14208.
Who: Bridgette Mongeon, a Western New York area native and nationally known sculptor, artist and author. To commemorate the 150th anniversary of Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland,” the Rubenstein Foundation of Texas has commissioned Mongeon to create a monumental sculpture of the Mad Hatter’s tea party for Evelyn’s Park in Bellaire, Texas. The sculpture will include an eight-foot Mad Hatter, Alice, and March Hare, and provide seating for children and adults to join the characters at the table. The highly anticipated sculpture is expected to make the park a destination for tourist and lovers of the endearing works of Lewis Carroll. Mongeon sculpts traditionally and incorporates cutting-edge digital technology that she wrote about in her recently released book “3D Technology in Fine Art and Craft: Exploring 3D Printing, Scanning, Sculpting, and Milling.”
What: Mongeon will engage Ken-West art students in a cross-curricular educational experience that ties directly into their work on topics such as digital modeling and 3D printing. Students will have the chance to contribute by assisting with the decorative 3D floral patterns on a tea cup that will be a part of the bronze table setting at the Hatter’s tea party Mongeon will also speak and engage artists at Buffalo Lab at The Foundry the following day.
Why: Mongeon and her sculpture have many ties to the area. The inspiration for some of the characters come from family members who have lived their entire lives in Buffalo. She is returning to educate and inspire. She will enhance the educational experience of students in Ken-Ton’s advanced art programs and provide examples of how topics such as 3D digital modeling are used in the profession. In addition to talking about traditional sculpting techniques, she will also give students the chance to play a role in a one-of-a-kind, internationally known sculpture that is poised to become a tourist destination.
Speaking in Erie PA and Western New York
I’m headed up to the north next week. Won’t you join me?
SPEAKING SCHEDULE
Monday Sept 28. 7:00 p.m. I’m scheduled to speak at PennState Behrend, and I am delighted to share my new book 3D Technology in Fine Art and Craft: Exploring 3D Printing, Scanning, Sculpting and Milling
Wed Sept 30. 8:00 a.m. I’ll be headed to my home town of Buffalo New York and not only speaking to my high school, but the kids are helping me with one of the tea cups that will be made into a bronze and placed on the table of the monumental sculpture of the Mad Hatter Tea Party that I am creating. They will be using 3D technology and 3D printing to achieve this. I’m delighted to have this participation and make this art into a learning experience. Here is a press release for the Buffalo Trip.
Thursday Sept 31. 7:00 p.m. I wanted to have a place in Buffalo to present to the grown ups. On Thursday I’ll be at the maker space called Buffalo Lab 7-9 298 Northampton St, Buffalo NY 14208 inside The Foundry. How fun to have a book signing and a special lecture in my home town.
Please help me pass the word by posting this to your Facebook and other social media accounts
A Visit With Evelyn And A New Project In Her Memory
It has taken me nearly three years to get over to the Evelyn Rubenstein Jewish Community Center and take pictures of the sculpture of Evelyn. But just because Evelyn’s sculpture is complete it does not mean my connection to this woman is over. On the contrary. I have been working for 3 years to create a fitting tribute for her for a park in Bellaire, Texas. I am happy to say that the signing of that agreement took place in July of 2015 and the sculpture is well under way.
Evelyn’s Park is located just inside the loop at the former location of Teas Nursery. The expected date of the opening of the park and the completion of phase one is Summer 2016.
Gamma’s artwork. I was so excited to introduce her to Evelyn.
She now knows who is responsible for the marvelous park
where Gamma’s newest creation will be placed.
Groundbreaking with my grand daughter and Jerry Rubenstein
Evelyn Rubenstein. Follow along on the Finding Alice Fcebook page.
Date of installation is scheduled for November 2016
On To A Mad Hatter
The last blog post updating the Mad Hatter Tea party sculpture project was August 7th. This was just days after the foam for the March Hare came in. Much has happened in that short amount of time. Keep an eye on my sculpting blog or on the Finding Alice Facebook Page. I have created a notes section on the Facebook page with all of these updates.
Many people walk into the studio and say, “Wow, everything is coming along so quickly.” I look at the entire project and think that it is moving slowly. That is because there is so much to do, and so many people to manage while sculpting. Plus, it all depends on me, so I am pulled in many directions. However, I can’t complain. I am getting paid to create a Wonderland. Let’s see what we accomplished in the last 30 days. Below is some of our accomplishments this last month. I talk a lot about my process of creating using digital and traditional. If you are interested in learning more about this process, I have a book that is coming out on the 28th of this month called 3D Technology in Fine Art and Craft: Exploring 3D Printing, Scanning, Sculpting and Milling
The March Hare
Here I am fooling around with the tea cup of the March Hare.
I really can’t wait to get back to finishing this table.
The March Hare came in around August 7th. He had to be dry fitted. We made an internal armature, and he was mounted. After that, I had much hand sculpting to do. Because I revised the digital model in the computer for 3D printing, more detail was made on the digital model than on the Alice and the Mad Hatter figures. This detail was reflected by Synappsys Digital Services that provided this CNC (Computer Numerically Controlled) Foam. Still, there was a tremendous amount of sculpting to do.
It is like putting a puzzle together.
Slices are glued together and carved.
After the carving on the foam, a layer of wax is put on the sculpture. This seal the foam. Then finally a layer of clay and more detail is added to that. I put together the video of the CNC milling and dry fit and love watching it. As of this date, the March Hare is nearly complete. I’ll save some photos for next month or follow along on theFinding Alice Facebook Page.
The Table base
the table. After all I have to hide
150 elements in this entire scene,
so plan on finding quite a few of
them in this table base. I covered
the foam with foundry wax to seal
it and give it a different texture.
I really love this foam.
We worked on the March Hare this month, but I also carved the massive base for the table. The base was designed and carved in foam from Duna USA. It is a new foam for me, and I absolutely love it. I’ll be writing more on that foam later. Then, a layer of wax and finally a we added a layer of paint to that. The paint is the same color as the clay we are using which will cause less visual disturbance when people come to approve the sculpture. I almost hate painting the art as I love the color of the wax on the foam, and this wax color will be more true to the patina or color in the bronze. We will be putting the table away for the time being as we proceed with the other figures.
The Hatter and Alice
The Mad Hatter was delivered, as was Alice. They were huge crates, and it was like Christmas when opening them. Originally we were going to work on Alice first and then the Hatter, but the order of this has been changed.
of Alice and the Mad hatter.
The Workers
We had a team of six interns working this last month putting in various hours. I hope to post more about these wonderful people in up and coming posts. Interns come and go throughout the day and so that means that means I am working pretty much two shifts.
warehouse and is quite large.
I guess in hindsight we have accomplished a lot considering we also had a couple other small jobs in the studio.
What have we hidden? I think a more appropriate question is where will you hide things? Sculpting the table allowed me to create many nooks and crannies. One of the last things to do on the table was to trace the table base onto the table top. I need to know how it fits together so that I know places to hide things under the table as well. I’m thinking of places all of the time, and, for the most part, will create these smaller items last and hide them within the pieces that we sculpted. Of course there is something to be said about buttons and tea cups. Well, I guess that is your hints for now.
