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.
Alice In Wonderland Gets Bigger and Smaller Digitally Instead of With Mushrooms
PRESS RELEASE
Alice In Wonderland Gets Bigger and Smaller digitally Instead of With Mushrooms.
In Lewis Carroll’s book, Alice in Wonderland gets bigger and smaller by eating a mushroom, cake and elixirs of sorts. In sculptor Bridgette Mongeon’s Wonderland, the characters are changing size—digitally.
The Evelyn Rubenstein Park of Bellaire, Texas has commissioned the artist to make eight-foot tall characters placed within the scene of the Mad Hatter Tea Party. Estimated date of delivery of this bronze is just over a year away in fall of 2016. “That short time frame is a monumental task at best, but the digital tools make my job easier and faster,” states Mongeon. The name of the sculpture- Move One Place on is what the Mad Hatter beckons before everyone changes places in the story. The artist hopes visitors to the sculpture will be prompted to do the same.
The artist had worked on the creating and selling of the design for three years before she and the park finalized the paperwork. This happened on July 3, 2015, the day before the 150th anniversary of the beloved story of Alice in Wonderland. She explains that her process of creating the digital models for the pitch to the client needed to be quick, as she still had not secured the commission. Mongeon first used Daz, Poser, ZBrush, Mudbox and Photoshop to create the virtual digital scene that won her this commission. Once the idea was sold to the client, the artist moves to traditional clay to finalize the designs and make them her own. The Mad Hatter, Alice, and March Hare are then 3D scanned using the NextEngine 3D Laser Scanner. “I love my NextEngine Scanner. It is a bit of work to get good scans, but it saves me time and money to have a dependable, affordable, scanner that I can use right in my studio.” The digital files are once again changed and modified by the artist using MeshLab, Meshmixer andZBrush.
One would think it would be senseless to have a 3D print of the figures if you already have a clay version at the same size. But Mongeon says that having the 3D print created by 3D RP in California was very valuable in her creative process. “The clay is fragile and hard to handle. Also, creating things like a tiny cup and saucer and a pocket watch were much easier to create digitally than trying to sculpt a half inch cup with soft clay. The digital model helps me to refine the design further, and the 3D print puts all of these elements together and gives me something to refer to when the large sculpture comes to the studio.” Mongeon claims that in her workflow she goes back and forth between digitally and traditional sculpting as much as Alice goes between big and small in the Lewis Carroll stories.
The NextEngine scanner was not the only scanner used in translating the art into a digital world. Mongeon was elated when Evan Lee of Super Solid 3D offered to come in and scan some items using an Artec Structured Light Scanner. “I’m hiding 150 small elements in the scene of The Mad Hatter Tea party. Yes, the project in itself is a huge undertaking and I must be mad as a hatter to decide to create and hide these elements. But is fun to create them and it will be even more fun to find them,” states Mongeon.Super Solid 3D used the Artec scanner to scan a portrait that the artist created and that she will use as one of the hidden elements. (The crying baby in Alice In Wonderland turns into a pig.) Super Solid 3D also scanned Mongeon’s mother’s chair that she will use as the Mad Hatter’s chair in the scene. She is working with Zbrush artist Johannes Huber to work in Zbrush, modify the chair and hide even more elements of the story.” I loved the results of the Artec Scan. One day I might like to try it on my own, however I fear the Artec scanner is over my studio budget at this time, though I am elated to see the results.”
Mongeon uses more tricks in her wonderland of creating to make Alice and her Friends grow to eight-foot tall. She turns the digital files are into Gcode and Computer Numerically Controlled or CNC Mills out the foam at Synappsys Digital Services in Oklahoma and Across the Board Creations in Canada. The pieces then travel back to the artist’s studio. Mongeon documents the carving of the characters and the “hare-raising” event in a recent YouTube video as she reassembles the monumental foam hare.
Once again, Mongeon will use traditional processes in her workflow. She now is carving the foam and adding detail to the sculpture with a fine layer of clay before the scene goes through the lost wax method of bronze casting at Shidoni Foundry in New Mexico. She will continue to document her process of creating the sculpture titled “Move one Place On” sharing it online through her blog and the Finding Alice Sculpture page on Facebook. Once the project is complete she will write about it in a new book.
Mongeon enjoys sharing her process with others. She hopes it will inspire artists to combine the processes and go beyond what the technology is presently doing and what other artist have done. She has written about the processes of incorporating digital techniques in her own studio and the studio of many artists around the world in a new book titled 3D Technology in Fine Art and Craft: Exploring 3D Printing, Scanning, Sculpting and Milling
Bridgette Mongeon has much more to do and share with the creating of the sculpture “Move One Place On.” Stay tuned, she will be sharing her process along the way as she goes further down the rabbit hole.
Press Release- Buffalo New York
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 2, 2015
Former area artist involves Buffalo in a curious adventure celebrating Alice in Wonderland’s 150th Anniversary.
This year the world celebrates the 150th anniversary of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. Sculptor Bridgette Mongeon, a former area resident of North Tonawanda and Kenmore, has cause to celebrate as the artist’s notoriety is growing with Alice.
Bridgette is known for her bronzes of children, and her sculptures of such entertainers as B. B. King, Willie Nelson and Bill Monroe. Over the years, her work has gotten bigger. She has been commissioned to create school mascots such as the larger than life Prairie View Panther for Prairie View A & M Texas, and a fifteen-foot tiger for Grambling State University, Grambling Louisiana. Her work has also been a bit “out of this world” as she will be creating a sculpture of Neil Armstrong as a gift to Russia. Bridgette states that her newest commission of a monumental sculpture of the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party is the most curiously creative and wonderful adventure of all.
To see a larger image, click on photograph.
Tea party for eight- no reservations necessary! The Jerry and Maury Rubenstein Foundation commissioned the sculpture, in honor of their mother, Evelyn. The scene will be a larger than life size bronze that the Bridgette will install at Evelyn’s Park in Bellaire, Texas just outside of Houston.
Bridgette uses both traditional sculpture and digital processes to create her artwork. She has dual cause to celebrate as she is also debuting her new book, “3D Technology in Fine Art and Craft: Exploring 3D Printing, Scanning, Sculpting and Milling
information about incorporating 3D
technology in the traditional sculpture studio.
Bridgette titled the sculpture, “Move One Place On.” The title is what the Mad Hatter beckons at the tea party. She hopes visitors will develop a tradition of shouting the proclamation and change places at the bronze table as they visit the sculpture.
Bridgette is as passionate about education and literature as she is about sculpting, writing, and technology. “I love inspiring others.” States Mongeon. She is writing a new book documenting her process of using fine art and technology with Alice and her friends.
On September 30th, she will be inspiring the youth of Kenmore West as she visits her high school to speak to the students about the combination of art, literature, technology, math and science. She will also invite some of the students down the rabbit hole. She 3D scanned her grandmother’s (Tekla Shipman from North Tonawanda) antique teacups using a laser scanner. Then she sent the digital file of a teacup to the students of Kenmore West. Kenmore West’s art teacher David Rogalski will help the students to enhance the flowers on the teacup digitally using a digital sculpting program called Mudbox. Members of the maker space, The Buffalo Lab have volunteered to help the students if they need assistance in enhance the teacup before it is 3D printed. Upon completion, the students will send their collaborative artwork to Bridgette at her Texas studio, and she will add their cup to the tea party scene before she casts the sculpture in bronze. Mongeon loves the idea that the kids can feel like they played a part in this bronze sculpture.
The Texas sculpture will have even more connections to the Buffalo area. A friend of Bridgette’s posed for the body of the Mad Hatter, but Bridgette will pull from the reference photographs in memory of a beloved family member. Her former brother in law Jack Rzadkiewicz of Buffalo will be her inspiration for the Hatter.
In honor of the sesquicentennial, Mongeon is also creating, and hiding 150 different elements within the scene, inviting park visitors on an interactive journey. If you arrive at the sculpture with your lunch and the best dinning experience is occupied you can begin the treasure hunt searching for the 150 elements. For example, if guests look carefully, they may find a small Humpty Dumpty hiding, and the waiting White Queen tucked into the bronze “bark” legs of the table and benches. (Note the face of the waiting white queen is in memory of another Buffalonian- the artist’s mother, Barbara Ingersoll.) The sculpture and Evelyn’s Park, located in Bellaire, will be a “destination spot” for visitors to the Houston area. Lewis Carroll fans worldwide will come to experience the endearing story of Alice in Wonderland.
Besides her inspirational presentation at Kenmore west, Bridgette will be speaking at Penn State Behrand, and then returning to the Buffalo area. The Buffalo Lab Maker space in The Foundry will host a lecture by the artist. There she will show her work, the new book and the Alice in Wonderland project. The lab will also have some demonstrations of the 3D printing process and tours of their facility. Join her on the curious adventure Thursday October 1st at the 7:00 pm. The Buffalo Lab is located at 298 Northampton St, Buffalo NY 14208 inside The Foundry.
You can follow the project of creating Alice on the artist’s blog at http://www.creativescupture.com/blog or at the finding Alice Facebook page.
–For more information about this press release contact Bridgette Mongeon 713-540-3201
Bridgette@creativesculpture.com
–Watch this YouTube Video to see the sculpture and process https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1J821vwkr8
–For information about Evelyn’s Park http://evelynspark.org/
–Evelyn’s Park press release
___________________________
Interview Questions
How long have you been an artist?
Ever since I could pick up a crayon. My first commission was at Grant School in North Tonawanda. I was in kindergarten; the teacher gave me the hall bulletin board to create a scene of Santa and reindeers. It was tremendous pressure because I wasn’t sure I could draw a reindeer from memory. The teacher found the reference for me to work from which confused m. If she had pictures of reindeers, why did she need me? I write about this experience a lot.
Where did you live in Buffalo?
We moved around quite a bit. I lived in North Tonawanda in the Herschell home owned by the family that built the carousels. I loved that old house. We lived in Tonawanda for a short time, Grand Island, Kenmore and the West Side of Buffalo.
Where do you live now?
I live in Houston, Texas.
Do you still have family in Buffalo?
My parents have both passed away. I have several cousins and immediate family in the area. I have a sister, Becky Gillen in Grand Island and Bill Mongeon lives in Gasport. I have two nieces Rachel Dluhy and Kate Rzadkiewicz. I’m coming to Buffalo for Kate’s wedding, so I guess she will be Kate Fogelsonger. She is the daughter of Jack —my inspiration for the Mad Hatter.
When you lived in Buffalo, did you receive inspiration in your career?
Oh, my word yes! The novels I am working on are full of experiences from my childhood.
My first introduction to art was through my teachers at every level. I am eternally thankful for their dedication. I mention that in my dedication of the book.
The Albright-Knox art gallery gave me something for which to aspire.
But, it was more than just the art galleries. It was Delaware Park, and the richness of the woods and streams surrounding this area, and the cemeteries- especially Forest Lawn Cemetery near Delaware Park. I try to visit there every time I come home. I’m a nut about cemeteries, and Forest Lawn has a piece by one of my favorite sculptors—Harriet Frishmuth.
The Seaward Johnson sculpture of the newspaper reader on Niagara Street probably influenced my career as an artist. That is exactly the type of work that I love to create— bronzes that interact with the community. The Mad Hatter Tea Party at Evelyn’s Park has that in spades, or should I say “hearts.” Oh, how I wish I could receive a commission to create something like that for the Buffalo area.
In your art education in Buffalo, did any one teacher stand out?
Absolutely! Debbie Lloyd was my teacher at Kenmore West. She went over and above the call of an art teacher. She helped me through some very difficult times and in the end, we became very close friends. I love her dearly and have her in my book dedication.
You are not necessarily an educator, but education seems to be important in what you do.
Yes, it is. I love the opportunity of helping others to reach their goals. I’m obsessed with sharing information and in creating community. Those things seem to drive everything that I do. I love that I can educate through my speaking engagements, writings and podcasts.
I also want to work with an art mentoring program. I looked and could not find one. So, I created my own. I’m presently mentoring a young man. I would love to be involved in a progressive education art mentoring program. I’m sure I could do it through distance learning. If there is anyone who is interested, please let me know.
I was thrilled to be a part of 3DCAMP Houston as the cochairwoman for two years. It was a tremendous amount of work, but it was great. I helped in education, developed community and gathered resource for my book.
What started you into 3D technology?
I was married, and my husband was doing 3D graphics as a medical illustrator. He brought me to many conventions that introduced me to the technology. I kept my eye on it and wrote about the technology for Sculpture Review in 2007. Soon after, I developed a graduate degree around 3D Technology in Fine art.
Another thing that pushed me to 3D technology was an injury. Artists like dancers, require their bodies to create their work. Bruce Beasley, a well-known sculptor, describes it in my book as “dancers bodies”. We injure ourselves through the very thing we love. About five years ago, after many years of pushing around clay, I developed some pretty good Popeye forearms. However, I lost all the use of my right hand, I had surgery and am very careful, still doing massage, therapy and use my interns for repetitive work, but when it happened I thought my career was over. That is when I fully embraced 3D technology into my own work.
When sitting on a panel last month, “Hand vs. Computer” at the National Sculpture Society meeting in Philadelphia, I met an artist who had a stroke. He said he was interested in my book because he hoped he could one day create again. I wept. Because of my temporary loss, our encounter was a very personal experience.
Should my career keep going in the direction that it is, I have considered being involved in a scholarship program. I would love to create something for young artist/writers/musicians, especially ones with personal difficulties.
Do you work alone?
Sometimes, but with a project like Alice or the Grambling Tiger, I will find interns from the neighboring schools, high schools, and colleges. We can have up to 10 people working on a project that come and go throughout the week depending on their schedules. I long to have one young artist that I could nurture and would then work for me full time. I do have an intern that has worked with me on quite a few projects. Allison Gonzalez is not a sculptor, but she is the best “rusty right arm” any artist could hope for. I also long for an office assistant- with all I do I need someone to keep me straight. Until then… I have an imaginary assistant named Elizabeth.
Podcasts? You mentioned podcasts, what are they and where do people find them?
Well, I have been podcasting for years. I love it, though it is time-consuming, especially the editing.
INSPIRATION GENERATIONS
I started podcasting years ago with the Inspirations Generations Podcast. I podcasted with my daughter and mom “Three Generations of Christian Women.” Mom sat on the phone in her assisted living facility in Amherst. She had a powerful spiritual ministry helping hurting women throughout Western New York area, but when her body turned against her, she spent most of her time in a chair or bed. My daughter, Christina Sizemore, who lived in Oklahoma at the time, would call, and we would talk about different things, mostly of a spiritual nature. That interaction gave my mother a purpose in her last days. We did that for nearly three years. I am so thankful I did this. I can listen to my mom, anytime I want, though many of the podcasts were not just with mom. Her health would not permit it. So we podcasted with others like Billy Grahams daughter Ruth Graham, the figure skater Scott Hamilton, a monk in Taize France and numerous authors, comedians, etc. The podcast can be found on iTunes and on my gift collectibles webpage at godsword.net.
ART AND TECHNOLOGY PODCASTS
In the last year I revived the Art and Technology podcasts that I started during my graduate degree. I now interview the artists and vendors from around the world that I have featured in my book, and who are pushing the limits of the technology. These podcasts can be found on ITunes and on the book’s website at www.digitalsculpting.net
You mentioned novels. So, you write more than nonfiction?
Yes. I probably have about seven books that I am writing at any one time. What makes it difficult is that they are all different genres. I’m very diverse. I love writing young adult and middle grade. I have a few books in the works; they are highly reflective of my childhood in Western New York. Another novel that is complete is about a young girl whose mother sculpts deceased loved ones, and the strange occurrences that happen surrounding that. I base this story on a lot of my experiences of sculpting the deceased. That is another area that I am known for. I love helping people with their grief through my art. I also wrote a nonfiction book on the strange things that happen when I am sculpting deceased loved ones that include the science, empathy, and emotion of the process. It is a fascinating subject, and I have also lectured on from time to time.
I also have a few children’s books I have written. I’d love to do more of those now that I am a grandmother. My biggest hindrance in getting these published is that I detest looking for publishers. With all of my diversity, I could spend a great deal of time tracking down the right publishers. I desperately need an agent that is diverse in the publishing field.
Many people ask me if I would consider self-publishing. I love the idea, but my books are stolen from the Internet weekly. I love the freedom of copying the link and sending it to my editor to get it to their legal department. I’d go broke tracking these down myself.
I love helping other artist/writers/and musicians market their work and have written about this throughout my career and speak on it whenever possible. I decided to pull from some of those writings and create a book that is a series of essays. This idea was sparked recently by the death of B. B. King. I realized it had been nearly 30 years since I sculpted him and he gave me my start as an artist, calling me his “personal sculptor.” I needed to record these adventures along with some of my epiphanies in my creative life. I’m excited to be working on that project—in my spare time.
What books have you written?
I was coauthor on Digital Sculpting with Mudbox: Essential Tools and Techniques for Artists
with author Mike de la Flor. I contributed to Mike de la Flor’s book The Digital Biomedical Illustration Handbook (Charles River Media Graphics)
You sound very busy, what do you do for fun?
Well, I love what I do. Getting paid to play in dirt and write is extremely rewarding. I have a 2-year old granddaughter, and I love the entire experience of learning through play and exploration. However, it is extremely stimulating creatively; I want to sculpt her, paint her and write books for her.
I am a ferocious reader- and listen to audio books like most people listen to the radio.
I am a gardener, but I realized that the word “garden” is also a verb, an action. I don’t do that very much anymore, as I walk through my gardens to my studio. I spend most of my time near my pond and stream that I created in my backyard. It is a way for me to have a little of that western New York memory in my Texas backyard.
I also dance. I assist with salsa and bachata at SSQQ dance studio in Houston. When I’m not hauling around sculpture, dance is what I do 2-3 times a week for exercise. Besides, being a sculptor and writer is a lone experience. Assisting with dance is my interaction with others. Dance is my “water cooler” experience.
A writer and a sculptor, is that hard?
When I was young, I thought I had to choose one over the other. I was also singing in the chorus and played the guitar, so that made it even more difficult.
There are two muses, over the years I have learned to play them one off the other. I say, “I will be finished with this book writing and be able to get my hands dirty again. Ah, but once I do, this lover, “writing” will taunt me just as my sculpting lover is now. Yes, having an affair with another creative process can keep your creative passion on fire, but it might be less heart wrenching to be in a monogamous creative relationship. Ah writing and sculpting muse you each vie for my attention and I am blissfully and heart wrenchingly caught in between.”
I always tell students that one of the most important aspects of my career as an artist, was being able to write. I write about my work and what I know. I create press releases. It is an important skill.
What is your education?
I have always claimed Kenmore West as “My high school” even though, technically, I was only there for a few months. I was one of the kids that fell through the cracks. I left home at the age of 15. NY had a law that said you could not work past 9:00 p.m. if you were under age—stupid law. It forced me to quit school. Of all of my accomplishments, I wish I could have added graduating from Ken West to my list. Alas, I cannot, but my heart is there, and I will always be thankful for the quality adults that touched my life during that very short time. Frankly, I’m not sure I’d be alive without their help. But that is another story, one I hope to write in a novel one day.
Later, after moving to Texas, I brought my portfolio to the Community College and they accepted me into their program on my portfolio alone. I originally went into advertising and public relations, a choice that has benefited me in my career as a fine artist. I left the community college for full-time employment and soon after found sculpting. Later in life, I finished my bachelor’s degree at Vermont College. It was an unusual program as you could design your studies. It was distance degree program with a one-week residency twice a year in Vermont. I loved the progressive education, and it fit my personality perfectly. I am self-motivated to a fault. I continued with a similar program at Goddard College, also in Vermont for my Master of Fine Arts in Interdisciplinary Art (MFAIA). I had a dual focus in my MFAIA. It was important for me to receive enough credits in both areas so that I could teach, if I wanted, though my art, writing and speaking keep me busy full time. I structured my degree around 3D technology and fine art. I believe I designed one of the first degrees with this focus. The other focus of my MFAIA was creative writing.
The best part of traveling to the North East twice a year for my undergraduate and graduate programs is that I made a point to stop in Buffalo. I will forever be thankful that I had such quality time with my parents before they passed.
What is in your future?
I’ll finish the sculpting on Alice this year. The sculpture will be at the foundry for several months. Then I’ll spend a month in Santa Fe where I’ll check the metal and work with Shidoni foundry. While in Santa Fe and in between metal checks and the final patina, I’m scheduling some speaking engagements in New Mexico and Colorado. When I’m not doing either of those things, I’ll park myself in an inspirational location looking at the wonderful Santa Fe landscape, and I’ll write. I see myself doing a lot of that as I am writing two books around the Alice in Wonderland sculpture. The fist, Finding Alice- The Process is very similar to 3D technology in Fine Art and Craft: Exploring 3D Printing, Scanning, Sculpting, and Milling. However, instead of focusing on artists around the world who use the technology I will be focusing on the process of creating the sculpture “Move One Place On.”
The second book is The Finding Alice- Field Guide, it is written in rhyme and riddle. It will give hints to the 150 hidden items in the scene. I’m thrilled about writing this one, as I love writing for children, and this gives me a reason to stretch those creative muscles.
Unlike many artists who work in their studio and sell their art at art shows or in galleries, I work from commission to commission. With the incorporation of the digital technology, I can create twice as much as I could before I used that in my studio. I’m never sure what commissions are around the corner. I have a few life-size commissions pending after the completion of Alice. Though they have broken ground for the Neil Armstrong sculpture in Russia, they are still trying to raise the money. www.unitedinspace.com so that is on hold. I’m always open for new commissions. I have publicly told the town of Clarence I would redo the sculpture of Lucy, but I have not heard from them. Other than that, I’ll wait to see what comes. It is not often that an artist has such an incredible opportunity to create something like the Mad Hatter Tea party. I do hope I find another client that would love something as fanciful and fun as this project, my dream would be that this would be in Buffalo.
I hope to get over to Europe. I have been invited by the Digital Stone Project for the last two years but have had to decline as I kept thinking Alice was coming through. I write about the digital stone project in my book. It is a residency where artists stay in Tuscany for a month. They pick out marble from the stone quarry and then create art using CNC milling and a robotic arm at Garfagnana Innovazione.
In my book, I have featured so many artists and vendors from across the pond. I would love to spend a couple months, one in the Digital Stone Project residency and another traveling, speaking and seeing the incredible art I featured in the book. Besides Garfagnana Innovazione. There is Estudio Durero in Spain. They create 3D photography for the blind. Factum Arte in Madrid, is creating so much with 3D technology and fine art it would be a wonder to see it in person. There are many different companies and artists in the Netherlands such as Joris Laarman, another artist I featured in the book and who has had lots of publicity of late for his robotic 3D printing of metal and the bridge that is building itself. I’d love to get over to Austraila and see Symbiotica at the University Of Western Australia, they combine artists and scientist to create some very strange and intriguing art. I have podcasted with Oron Catts at Symbiotica and featured him in this book and other articles. There are many pioneers who have been using 3D technology in their fine art for many years. I have come to know them, long distance. I would love the opportunity to see them and perhaps share with their universities.
Do you have artwork in Buffalo?
The sculptor has publicly offered the newsboy to the Buffalo area if funds can be raised to cast and deliver the sculpture. She will donate her portion.
No, it is on my bucket list, and I have left instructions in my will. Of course, I would be elated to have something at the Albright-Knox. I have publicly said, on more than on occasions, that I would donate my portion of the newsboy sculpture to the area if I could find a backer to pay for casting and shipping. Maybe I should set up a Kickstarter for that. I have no idea where the sculpture would go, but I can tailor the newspaper he is hawking to depict a period in history. I’d also love to have a public piece along the Canal in North Tonawanda, since that is where I was born.
My mother is buried in Mt. Olivet Cemetery. They don’t allow sculptures in her portion of the cemetery. She is buried on St. Francis drive. I have often dreamed of creating a large sculpture of Saint Francis that would reside on Saint Francis drive or in front of this cemetery.
Maybe I’ll find an art patron or business, who loves Buffalo as much as I do, and can see the possibility of collaborating on a wonderful interactive piece for Buffalo. If you know of one, tell them I’ll clear my schedule and be ready to start in 2016.
I LOVE TEA! Thank You Salada and Lipton- Come Join The Tea Party
I’m a tea drinker. I know many in the world are passionate about their coffee, but as this coffee cup says, “As For Me Make Mine Tea!”
I guess it is appropriate that I have been commissioned to sculpt the Mad Hatter tea party. Tea is in my blood. So are tea cups, tea pots ,and everything tea. More on that later. I grew up on tea as a kid and love it as an adult.
Now, don’t bring me any of your fancy tea bags in pretty boxes, there are only two teas I will drink. I grew up on Salada in the North and drink it when I visit Buffalo, and when I moved to the south, I turned to Lipton.
For me, tea is associated with many of the warm fuzzies in my day. Writing in bed, a walk through my garden and chat with a friend. I bring tea bags in my suitcases, backpack and purse. When playing grandmother at my daughter’s house and spending the night I have two things I have requested. I need a place to put my toothbrush and a place for my tea bags. If my children want me to come, they know they must have tea.
With all of that said, You know I absolutely have to have a Salada Tea bag and a Lipton Tea bag as a part of this monumental bronze sculpture.
You may be following along with this bronze project on Facebook. Perhpas you are one of the many that are trying to record and know all of the 150 secret elements of this bronze. Here are two more hints to the 150 hidden items I am placing in this scene in honor of the 150th anniversary of Alice in Wonderland. There will be two tea bags hidden in this scene. I have contacted both companies and let them know they will be included. I also plan on 3D printing these tea bags out on a 3D printer, then they, like the other elements will be embedded in the clay before it is cast in bronze. So, is there any 3D printing company out there that would like to help me by 3D printing some tea bag labels for me? If so, please contact me! Please note I will need to request that the 3D printing company film the tea bags being printed because I’m sure these tea companies will want to see the technology at work.
I hope both tea companies will take part in passing the word. With Salada, I have asked them for some help. You see Salada always has a saying on the back of a tea bag label. My question to them and other lovers of Lewis Carroll. What saying would be on the back of this tea label at the Mad Hatter Tea Party?
Stay tuned as I have much more to share about tea in the future. And please, there is no need to remind me of the accuracy of history. I know the history of tea, and I know that there were really no tea bags 150 years ago, I am an artist, and I love these teas and it is my sculpture. I guess that is what others mean when they say I have “artistic license.”
Note: there are other “tea” related hidden items. Ooooo this is so much fun.
Lipton, Salada, please feel free to invite six guests to this tea party when it is done. If you decide to do this let me know. They will become a part of the coveted thimble invite. More on this later. I will provide the finger sandwiches, and you can provide the tea at the most interesting dining experience and the most famous tea party in the United States.
Side note: Do I collect tea things? Well, because I use them yes. But it seems that this new project is bringing a desire for Alice related tea items. A dance friend gave me this lovely Lewis Carroll tea cup. I saw one at the Harry Ransom Center that had a Cheshire cat on it that appeared and disappeared depending on the heat in the cup. I wanted it, but I was so busy getting ready for my lecture at the 150th Anniversary celebration of the North American Society of Lewis Carroll I never purchased it.
I do plan on making tea related items that will be associated with Alice in Wonderland, this project, and tea.They will be for sale so stay tuned. But first, I have a monumental bronze sculpture to finish.
For more information about this project watch the video below and follow the progress of this project on the Finding Alice Facebook Page. I love to hear people’s suggestions and comments.
Updates On Alice- Take A Seat And Get Ready
July 19, 2015
“Begin at the beginning,” the King said, very gravely, “and go on till you come to the end: then stop.”
― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
I reported in the last post on the Mad Hatter Tea party project that the project actually began 3 years ago. Things may look like they are now moving slowly in the studio, but, there is so much work going on by many people concerning this project from all over the World. In the overall picture we are way ahead of the game.
√ Digital designs approved by client
√ Photo sittings with Alice and the Mad Hatter
√ Collect other reference material.
√ Maquettes sculpted
√ Maquettes (small clay sculptures) scanned using the Next Engine laser scanner, revised in the computer and sent to CNC Milling Companies.
– IN PROGRESS
1. Maquettes enlarged- Updates on these very soon, they are at Synappys Digital Services in Oklahoma and Across the Board in Canada. They should start coming into the studio in about 7 days.
2. I am purchasing materials and get the studio ready. We may just have a very special company helping me to “set the table for the most creative dining experience.” More on this soon to come.
3. Hire on interns and get them ready.
The studio will soon become very crowded. I can visualize how crowded by seeing the bases that are being built by my incredible son-in-law and resident handy man Bill Sizemore. I love that “family” energy is all over this project. Before anything can be sculpted- rolling bases must be made. Each of the pieces the table, the March Hare, Alice, The Mad Hatter, the pedestal and every bench must have a rolling base so that the I and my interns can roll them into place, work on them ,and then roll them to get them out of the way again. The studio is small and it will be close quarters as interns maneuver around art.
Welcome Johannes Huber to the team. Johannes is a digital artist using ZBrush. I’m going to count on Johannes a lot in the up and coming months. There are many different hidden objects that I have created or am creating digitally that will be in the scenes. I will count on Johannes, to either rough in a design or clean up my designs as I move through creating 150 elements in the scene. Most of those things will be for 3D printing. However, Johannes has a
very big part of the project right now. He is helping me with the Mad Hatter’s chair. Remember I’m writing a book on the creating of the Alice Project. It is similar to my book 3D Technology in Fine Art and Craft: Exploring 3D Printing, Scanning, Sculpting and Milling
The Mad Hatter’s Chair.
As you can see in the original photo shoot of the mad hatter, the chair is tipped. I decided to use a chair that was my mother’s and have it scanned. Digital Designer Evan Lee from Super Solid 3D came to my studio and scanned my chair using a Artec Eva and Artec Spider structured light scanners as well as a few other things for the Alice project. Evan needed to try out the scanner as he is working with The Center for Advanced Computing and Data Systems (CACDS) at the University of Houston (UH). They use the Artec 3D scanners to work in collaboration with local museums and UH art historians for research into new data and computational techniques in the study of art. I was delighted that Evan wanted to try it out on the alice pieces. This scanner certainly will help the pieces change shape. I guess you can say in my story Alice and her friends change shape digitally instead of using alixers and mushrooms.
I have never seen this scanner work and it was good to get to see the results. Now we must make that scan workable and make it our own. Johannes will help me with the digital file. The chair will eventually go for CNC milling on A CarveWright Machine. I can’t wait to show this process, as I’m very intrigued with the CarveWright. I featured it in my previous book and am thrilled that it will become a major tutorial.
Visual Arts Alliance Invites All To Come on a “Curious Adventure”
Speaker at the Houston
Visual Arts Alliance meeting.
The Visual Arts Alliance– Houston Invites all to Come on a “Curious Adventure”
It will be a curious lecture at the Visual Arts Alliance on Saturday August first. Houston, Texas sculptor Bridgette Mongeon is the featured speaker, and she will be bringing a few of her friends from Alice In Wonderland.
Bridgette is the author of a new book coming out this September —a “#1 New Release” on Amazon. The book titled 3D Technology in Fine Art and Craft: Exploring 3D Printing, Scanning, Sculpting and Milling
Though Bridgette is a traditional sculptor, she will be talking about how she uses digital tools in creating some of her sculptures. She will display how technology is changing the traditional process of bronze casting. Attendees will see art that artists can now create that, up until this point in technology, could never be create before. She will also share her progress on the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party.
You will be sworn to secrecy as she divulges some of the secrets about some of the 150 elements that she is hiding in the Mad Hatter Tea Party scene created in honor of the 150th anniversary of the beloved story of Alice in Wonderland.
She’s delighted to exhibit the work of artists from all over the world who she features in her book and that are pushing the limits of the technology. It is an inspiring lecture that is bound to leave artists scratching their heads while wondering about the possibilities and saying,
“Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” ( White Queen reminds Alice in the story “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”.)
So if you are a curious artist, a lover of Alice In Wonderland stories, or interested in entering a new world of all sorts of possibilities join Bridgette and the Visual Arts Alliance as they jump down the rabbit hole, Saturday, August 1 at 9:45 at the Print Museum 1324 Clay St. in Montrose.
For more information about the Artist
visit her website at http://www.creativesculpture.com
To be a part of the Alice in Wonderland Sculpture
visit the Finding Alice Page on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/FindingAliceSculpture
And to find out more about the book and listen to online podcasts from the artists, visit the book’s website at http://www.digitalsculpting.net
If you would like a “teaser” about the Alice project, checkout this YouTube video.
If We Use Technology Can It Still Be Called Fine Art?
This month I was invited to the National Sculpture Society conference to talk and share about my new book 3D Technology in Fine Art and Craft: Exploring 3D Printing, Scanning, Sculpting and Milling
I was not sure what I should expect. I’ll post more about the question and comments later, but I thought I would share two pages from my book in which other artists have expressed my opinion much better than I. I’m delighted that the incredible work of Erwin Hauer is in my book. I originally had seen this quote at SIGGRAPH many years ago and new I had to use it in the book. Erwin’s work is being brought back to life by the use of technology. The other quote is from Sophie Kahn. One of the questions asked of the panel is if you scan someone and 3D print them is it still called art? Sophie’s quote from the Gugenheim Museum conference on art and scanning seems to tell it perfectly. Some people also commented about Barry X Ball’s work and so I’m including that page as well.
The other quote I used was originally from an article by Christiane Paul called Fluid Borders and was said by Keith Brown. “Art should, in any case, transcend the medium. Technique always has been and probably always will be confused with art. ” ( Page 44 of 3D Technology in Fine Art and Craft… chapter A World Turned Upside Down.)
The book is available for preorder and comes out in Sept.The publisher is Focal Press.
So, I’ll pose the question to you… If you use a computer in your process can you still call it fine art?
Alice Project- How it Began – Getting Ready to Jump Down The Rabbit Hole
In 2011, I was contacted by Amy Freeman of Freeman Design Associates who was working with Jerry Rubenstein on signage for the newly named Evelyn Rubenstein Jewish Community Center. The Rubensteins were looking for an artist to create a bronze sculpture of their mother for the Jewish Community Center. If you are interested, I documented the creation of Evelyn on a website blog. The Rubensteins and Amy came to my studio, and we all hit it off. At this time, the Rubensteins were also talking about a possible second sculpture of Evelyn for a park. My focus was on the sculpture for the Jewish Community Center, but I was curious about this mention of a sculpture for a park.
Over the many visits to my studio, Jerry and Linda would share artwork and artists that they discovered, I assumed they were ideas for the park. One such piece was the Alice In Wonderland sculpture in central park. Over the years, I have received numerous photographs from the Rubensteins of this sculpture, but I have yet to see it for myself. My wheels began to turn about Alice. I was delighted to find that the story and illustrations were in the public domain, I was even more delighted to find that the story would be celebrating 150 years in 2015. I immediately purchased an The Annotated Alice,Diliberto Photo and Design helped. We had so much fun searching for all of these elements and putting them together in this very classy package.
presented it along with the book to my client. Securing a great commission
like this take a lot of time and finesse.
I have sculpted quite a few deceased loved ones. It is my specialty, and I develop a certain connection to the loved ones. Last year the Texas Country Reporter came out and created a wonderful segment on this part of my artwork. You can see it on this YouTube video. You could say when doing this type of artwork…I develop a relationship with the deceased, and though I had never known Evelyn, I became friends with her as I created the sculpture for the Jewish Community Center.
sizes. 1. digital sketch for client to get the feel for my idea.
2. Digital sketch enlarging characters 3. The clay sculpted
maquettes added to the scene and sized proportionately
to each other. These last scene is the truest to how the
large scene will look, but it continues to morph and change.
Not long after beginning the sculpture of Evelyn in 2012 I began to create digital designs to present to the Rubensteins. I had several designs that I spent hours on and never presented. The one design that had me was Alice. I just kept coming back to Alice.
The interesting thing is that, originally the Rubensteins did not want just a random sculpture, they wanted another portrait of Evelyn. Over time, I think Alice and her friends won the heart of the Rubensteins. Or maybe I’m just a good sales woman, I’ll never know, but this sculpture as it has morphed between my client and I, will be a destination spot when people come to Houston. Visitors will enjoy the interaction and the most coveted dining experience in Texas. I think Evelyn would be proud for all that it represents, family, imagination, literature, creativity, and fun.
Over the next three years, I modified the designs, and Alice grew from a life-size sculpture to a monumental sculpture with the mad hatter being 8 feet tall. At one point we talked about making the table much, much larger to accomodate more guests, but instead brought it down to this intimate size. Originally I had designed the sculpture to be a mix of materials-bronze and faux bois. Faux bois is concrete that is made to look like wood. The table and benches would be this faux bois. The first designs of the project were going to be a collaboration of myself and two master faux bois artists Donald Tucker and Cindee Klement. The work of these masters is nothing less than yummy, but the client changed the material desiring all bronze. Maybe one day I will see the mix of these two mediums, but it was back to the drawing board one more time.
In the last of the project designs, I had created and suggested an additional sculpture of Evelyn on a faux bois bench petting a large grey poodle. The Rubensteins had just lost their long time furry companion and because I love dogs and also specialize in pet memorials. I thought this might be a good addition to the park. I still hope that one day this additional piece will be added to the park. I loved the idea of Evelyn sitting back and watching everything that was taking place in her special wonderland, and I thought kids would love to interact with the dog as much as the other art. But budget and time were an issue, and we narrowed it down to the characters, table, benches, and podium with the book. To sculpt all of this in such a short amount of time is still a massive undertaking. Be sure to watch to see how I do this on both this blog and the Finding Alice Facebook Page
The idea of hiding things in the wood was an early decision of my own. At first I was not going to tell anyone. When I found out it was the 150th anniversary of the story, the “150” becomes a personal challenge for me. Plus after reading the annotated Alice I realized there were so many hidden things in Lewis Carroll’s original story that I have much from which to choose. I’m delighted to be writing two books on this project one about he process from start to finish and documenting all of the technology used in the creation. The Alice Process book will be very similar to my new book coming out in Sept called 3D Technology in Fine Art and Craft: Exploring 3D Printing, Scanning, Sculpting and Milling
The other book I will create, after the sculpture is done being sculpted and off to the foundry, is a field guide written in Rhyme and riddle. It is about the 150 hidden elements. Note: this does not mean just 150 hidden things. There are meanings behind the pieces that are a part of the hidden elements. So, take out your the Annotated Alice,my blog and to the Finding Alice Page to see how we progress from here. If you have not seen the YouTube video on the project, it describes some of the ins and outs of the project and technology better than can be explained right here. Get ready… this should be a curious adventure. Thanks for coming down the rabbit hole with me.