Coming Together
There are so many elements to this sculpture. There is the man, the chair, the cushion, the floor, the placement of the hands and arms, and the creases in the chair, the folds in the pants. We keep putting things together and creating and then taking them apart and working on them.
Continuing our work on the Praying Man for Dallas Baptist University. You can find their project blog on Blogspot.
interact with the cushion and the mans body?
What is the mood that we are after?These are things
I continue to work out as we progress.
Dear Lord Please help me to bring
Your spirit into this piece.
and other hand. Now things begin to come together.
I Have To Hand It To You!
I love sculpting hands. I have always loved sculpting them. Interestingly enough, if I am doing a life-size sculpture of someone, it is not only their face that must be spot on, but their hands as well. I have a strong attraction to hands. Is it because touch is so important in what I do? Someone asked me if I would create a hand sculpting tutorial. I certainly will, and will add that link here as soon as things slow down.
Continuing our work on the Praying Man for Dallas Baptist University. You can find their project blog on Blogspot.
of my parents hands. Both mother and father have gone on to
be with the Lord. If ever you visit my studio, ask me about
the piece of art I created with these casts and what it means to me.
Flipping Out!
OK well not flipping out, it is more like flipping over. Another thing that interns help me with is smoothing the clay. Often times I’ll work late into the evening, adding clay and taking away, and they come in the next day only to have to clean up a mess and smooth out the clay. Slowly we begin to add the details into the sculpture, the folds are a key to making the sculpture look like it is real and has action. They take a lot of work.
and begin to smooth out the details.
Continuing our work on the Praying Man for Dallas Baptist University. You can find their project blog on Blogspot.
A Really Big Shoe!
Continuing our work on the Praying Man for Dallas Baptist University. You can find their project blog on Blogspot. I love reference. It is important for me to have something to look at. This shoe reference came from Sears. Yes, I bought shoes so that we could look at their shape.
holding the praying man up. Though he is in foam with
his head on he is top heavy.
on this rocker.
Meanwhile… We had an entire crew working on fabricating a rocker.
Getting Ahead
it is covered with wax and clay.
Continuing our work on the Praying Man for Dallas Baptist University. You can find their project blog on Blogspot.
Heads are always created separately from the body and then added to the sculpture. How is it added? I pound long rods through the head and body. Though I am working on it in another location of the studio, the interns are adding wax and clay to pieces, and we are pulling them together. From time to time, I’ll add the head to the body and step back. It is necessary to make all of the pieces in proportion to the others. A perfect head that is the wrong size compared to the body is totally useless. So, I am constantly checking proportions by putting the head on and then taking it off again to work on it.
Originally the chair in the sculpture was going to be created in wood; however, my vendor surprised me with a foam chair. It was ok for positioning, but later another helper would create a wooden chair from scratch. It was a real team effort on this project.
for the facial expressions of a praying man.
for the facial expressions of a praying man.
praying man come together.
But where are his feet?
The Foam Arrives
Today is my birthday and as a gift the foam has arrived to start sculpting on the project. There is still much to be done with the foam. We have to put all of the foam pieces together, shave, and sand down what I don’t want, and cover the foam pieces with wax.
The vacuum gets a good workout.
Looking For Interns-ASAP
I have several projects coming up, and one in house right now. I’m looking for interns to work in the studio. Can work evenings or daytime.
I have tried to outline what the process of being an intern in my sculpting studio consists of. I have also given links to projects so students can become more familiar with the process.
I have a large Internet presence and often create “project blogs” for my clients to follow along with the sculptures as I create them. They are also a great educational tool. I’ll list some posts below, but if students are interested they can visit the project blogs to see how I work.
This is a digital model of the intended sculpture.
- My personal blog is https://creativesculpture.com
Some of the project blogs are
- http://www.erjcc.blogspot.com/
- http://www.gramblingtiger.blogspot.com/ This is on of the projects we will be working on
- http://www.prairieviewpanther.blogspot.com/
- http://www.dickhathaway.blogspot.com/
- https://creativesculpture.com/texaspress.html
- http://unitedinspace.com/ This is one of the projects we may be working on
What I need:
* Physically capable bodies to work on sculpting two projects, possibly three. The first is a life-size praying man, the second is a 15 foot tiger that is climbing on rocks. I’m including a digital sketch of what that looks like. I may also have a sculpture of Neil Armstrong for Russia. All of these are bronze that are created in traditional process of sculpting with clay. This is very physical work.
* Knowledge of figurative sculpting is not essential. I will take passion over knowledge any day!
* I would like atleast 20 hours of work per intern, but if they need to do less I will use more interns working less hours. I just need to be sure that I can schedule them.
* I AM READY TO GO TODAY! NEED HELP ASAP!
* A commitment. Please- I have deadlines and need to have people who can honor those deadlines. The internship needs to be important to them.
What the students receives:
* Interns will be educated in the process of figurative sculpting. They will also learn about the lost wax method of bronze casting. I am also open to talking to students about working as a commissioned artist, and the digital process in the traditional studio. All of my interns love the encouragement that they receive working in my studio.
* I can use students for possibly the holiday break and the next semester. If they are interested in a longer relationship that is a possibility.
* I’m happy to provide documents for school credit or letters of recommendation for the interns.
* A paid internship is a possibility. However, I need to see the students abilities first. I also would rather work on a bonus system- payment at the end of a project rather than an hourly wage, but if payment is necessary for the internship with the school let me know. I can work this out.
Here is what students will be doing.
PUTTING TOGETHER ARMATURES
The clay I use is a wax based clay that needs to be melted and put on the foam armature that we put together. Here is a blog post about armature building for the Prairie View A & M Panther http://www.prairieviewpanther.blogspot.com/2011/09/update-countdown-begins.html Or the Evelyn Rubenstein Sculpture for the Evelyn Rubenstein Jewish Community center. http://www.erjcc.blogspot.com/2012/02/pulling-pieces-together.html
ADDING WAX AND CLAY
The sculpture is covered in foundry wax and then wax based clay. The clay is heated up in crock pots and applied. It is a bugger to smooth and interns are often smoothing this out with torches and tools. Some more blog posts about this process http://www.prairieviewpanther.blogspot.com/2011/09/update-sculpting-like-mad-woman-day-4.html http://www.erjcc.blogspot.com/2012/03/working-diligently-thumbs-up-and.html
ONCE APPROVED- THE SCULPTURE ENTERS THE FOUNDRY STAGE
If an intern feels like the above is grueling work then they have not seen anything. The mold making process is brutal. Many foundries actually do this part of the process, but artists must learn this as it can save quite a bit of money. The interns will be taken through the entire mold making process. Because we are working on different pieces, different types of mold making will be used for different parts of the sculptures. The sculpture, once perfected and approved, must be cut up into many, many different sections. You can read about the mold making process on some of my project blogs. The panther had over 32 mold pieces. Here are some of the many posts about mold making.
WAXES
Though this is often another part of the foundry process I use interns to help me clean waxes. This expedites the projects and helps me to be sure the bronze will turn out how I want it. Cleaning up waxes for the foundry processes is an art. Each intern will learn how to use the tools and be working with me and the foundry to create these pieces. The foundry is local and I will introduce the students to the foundry and their process. When they are available they can come to the foundry with me for approvals and to see how the job is coming along.
That is about it.
If a student is interested they should let me know their intent and availability through e mail. I can be reached at this bridgette ( the at sign) creativesuclpture.com. Please put INTERN in the subject line.
Thanks for passing the word I hope we can find some students as I believe this will be a great experience for them.
Bridgette Mongeon
There are also some links on my blog about interns
Getting Started- A Floor
are well on our way to the beginning of this project.
When you have many interns on a project, there are multiple things happening at the same time. After roaming and searching for just the right texture for the floor of this sculpted scene, I have found wood that will work. I prefer to have a wooden base rather than a sculpted base as the floor gets much use from moving things on and off. One of my interns comes in and makes a rolling base for the sculpture and the floor. James, another intern spray paints the base a brown color. I like to have everything the same color as the clay that I am using. It helps me to see the projects as a uniform piece and offers less visual distraction. I also think it helps the client to see the sculpture. James also fills in the cracks.
some aspect of Christmas celebration during this
holiday deadline. It comes down later when I realize
the interns are getting dangerously close to the drying tree
with the torches!
Continuing our work on the Praying Man for Dallas Baptist University. You can find their project blog on Blogspot.
Upside Down Trees And Dedication To Chairs
Upon my arrival back to Houston, I realize that the next few weeks, which also happen to be holidays, will be extremely busy. I warn my family that I might not be able to do much during the holidays.
We have already planned The Upside Down Christmas Party and Art Show. It is a tradition for the studio. We hang the tree from the ceiling, and it is decorated from anything on your person, in your car or found. The party is pretty much planned, and the visiting artist has their work hung.
The first part of the DBU job takes place in my computer and not in the studio. I’m up in the office on the computer gettings files ready. I know once the party is over we will have our physical materials to create this work of art.
The first job is to create a digital model of the sculpture so that I can have it enlarged quickly. My traditional vendor for this project is Synappsys Digital Services in Oklahoma, but on such a quick deadline, I decide to use a local vendor. Mental note: never use a new vendor on a tight deadline.
My job while working in the computer is to sculpt the folds so these will translate into the foam when it enlarged. This will save me lots of time when sculpting.
The chair is also recreated digitally. It was originally going to be milled in wood. I cannot even list the amount of problems we had in recreating this beloved chair during the holidays on such a tight deadline. I will end with saying it was with determination and an act of love that this chair came into being.
milling foam.
Welcome Interns And Others- Introducing Our Team
For each project, I create I put out a call for interns. Some of the interns that work on my projects have worked with me before. Other interns are usually aspiring art students who want to learn and have new experiences. Here is my list of my helpers for the sculpture for DBU. If you are an art student at DBU and live in the Houston area and are interested in interning during your summer break, please feel free to contact me.
James
James is a student at Houston Community College. An international student from the Philippines, James is a registered nurse who is now following his heart as an artist. James is a wonderful asset to the studio. He is industrious and has a passion for “fixing things.” So far I have 3 torches, a compressor and a couple tools that are in better working order because of James.
Antoinette
Antoinette is in the Industrial Design department at the University of Houston. She is a hard worker and has the key element I look for in interns, passion and commitment. I tell interns,” I can teach them what needs to be done, but passion and commitment are something that you must have. “
Ephraim
Ephraim is the youngest of the interns, but with the holidays he is excited about getting to work with clay. Ephraim is a high school student from Carver Magnet School
Allison
Allison is a regular intern. She has worked with me on the Panther Project for Prairie View.
Shirley
Shirley is an assistant sculptor on the project. She is trained a bit more than the other interns, and I count on her for specific jobs. She too helped with the Panther project.
OTHERS
Bill
Bill is my son-in- law and he can be counted on for helping me put things together. He is going to create my floor.
Christina
Christina is my daughter. She has worked with me her entire life, and though she is very pregnant I can always give her some clay and a sample shoe and say, “rough this in.” Chris’ claim to fame, “my sculpting is in the shoes of a lot of mom’s projects.”
Mike
My husband, Mike does not help in the traditional studio , though I have to say he has rallied to my aid with the problems with the rocking chair. God bless my husband. Mike’s forte is my digital and computer problems. He fabricated the digital chair, and helped with other aspects of the project.
ART STUDENTS
If you are interested in learning more about internship in my studio here are some blog posts about what it entails.
What is an Internship?
Looking for Interns ASAP
Summer Sculpture Internship