Let it be known that on May 19, 2008 at around 2:45 pm I found Jenna!

There is a point that I try to reach with each of my sculptures. No matter what the subject, if it is from life or a sculpture created in memory of someone. The point I am speaking of is their appearance. The moment that I have coaxed them from the clay.

I have her. The ahhha. My husband has come into the studio at least 3 times in the last 24 hours and said , “it is looking like her.” But there is a moment for me, the moment was with her chin, I added a little clay and then I looked at her and she looked right back at me. TAAA DAAA! The moment never ceases to amaze me.

This element is very important to me, even if there are changes that occur after this moment it does not matter. It is a settling within myself the connection between subject and artist has been formed.

Another thing. When sculpting you can get so involved with the details, lets use for example an eye. But unless you can do both, be involved with the details and often pull yourself back and see the entire picture then you may work a long time on something only to find that it really never went with the entire picture. I have been thinking a lot about that. Somehow there is a metaphor for life there. The small stuff, the details are important, but work on them as you keep looking at the entire picture. Don’t lose site of the entire picture. The details make more sense that way.

I’ll try to post some pictures soon.

This presentation always happens with the face. I have worked diligently for the last 24 hours with Jenna’s head in my lap, turning her every direction. Here is another metaphor for life. If you are not sure how things should be, turn them upside down and take a look, you often will see things that don’t fit or are out of place.
All it is takes looking at things from another direction.

I have reattached Jenna and can’t wait to begin pulling her all together. Got to go, its very exciting.

Welcome to the studio Jenna!

It came to my attention that Jenna will be created in 90 days. Not that I counted on a calendar but that along with starting the Jenna sculpture and needing to have them both by the trip to Vermont on August 24th. I am also doing a new sunday school class with my sunday school. For those of you who don’t know I am a teacher, or what I call facilitator of a senior citizen Sunday school Class at my church. I say Facilitator, because most those people have a tremendous amount of wisdom and I don’t feel I can easily say, “I am your teacher.”

anyway, we are going to read the bible, yes the entire bible in 90 days! Cover to cover. It was suggested by our pastor and is really a program that was developed and that we are using. I have read the entire bible, but never cover to cover like this. So As I travel to Vermont with the Jenna, and Dick Hathaway sculptures I will have this other accomplishment as well.

Jenna,
Dick Hathaway
and the bible in 90 days!

The Jenna sculpture and I played all day, or should I say most of the day. I picked up the Jenna foam armature from the supplier. I will go into this process in more detail at a later date, as I have written about it recently in a national magazine and cannot write about it for a few months. ONWARD

The foam had to be modified look more like Jenna and that meant new tools! The foam makes a mess, but I kept my air tank on to blow myself off, and the vacuum nearby. I cover the foam with hot wax to seal it and keep the grit from getting into the foam. Then it is covered with hot clay that is melted in crockpots. I worked until about 10:00pm trying to get the basic shape of Jenna and added a fake butterfly just to get the “feel” of her. Before I ended I started on her face, that is the element that “captures” her. Jenna’s mom sent wonderful material to work from. This is so important when doing posthumous sculpture and it is vital when you are doing children. They change so quickly that often parents send reference material that is from several different ages and makes my job very hard. Not so with Jeanna. I have video, photographs and much more. I am sorry I have not posted the photograph of her face. I’ll post more later in the day. Once again I am aiming for an approval on this sculpture by next week. I need to do that in order to bring her to the northeast with the Dick Hathaway sculpture.

For the next two weeks I will be working on the new sculpture of Jenna, please see previous posts. Tomorrow we will be picking up her armature in Austin. Then this weekend begins the process. Though I welcome the apprentices help. I think I will ask everyone not to come to the studio in the next few days, so that Jenna and I can have some quality time. I expect by this time next week she will be close to being finished. Yes, this is a quick turn around for a life-size sculpture.

The photographs are xeroxed and enlarged
I have Jenna music sent by her parents
I have her beautiful dress and some of her toys.

Jenna’s grave site service was last weekend. It is appropriate that we should begin to bring that angel to life through this work of art. A creative endeavor made possible through the love and assistance of her family. The play date is set!

The box of persona effects is set out on a black piece of velvet. My chair is pulled up to the table as I ponder the photographs. The chair is my own daughter Fisher Price wooden high chair, something that she used as a child and I continue to use in my studio. It is my gauge for weight gain and width of my own hips. “I wonder what Jenna’s high chair was like?” I wonder a lot about Jenna. The moment I sit down at the table and pick up the items, the emotions begin.

I put in the CD sent by Jenna’s mom, songs that she played to, and songs that will be played at her service. ” An now the time is near…” My Way is playing on the CD and as I look at the pictures of the family their happiness. Then the gateway is open between the connections I have with Jenna’s mom and the tears and sadness begin to flow. My heart aches to hold a child I have never known.

I have gone through this process long enough to know this is a very strange occurrence, picking up the feelings of my client that are opened up because of our emotional bonds (see former posts).

It has taken me years to learn how to control the emotions, during the process of sculpting posthumous sculpture, as they feel they are mine, they could quickly overwhelm me. “Not mine.” I hear myself whispering deep inside, but just enough.

I feel as if I am testing the waters, allowing myself to touch and be touched, but only enough. Learning to say ” not mine” has given me sanity in this process. First I must recognize the feelings as not my own. Some people term this “Psychic empathy”. I don’t know what to call it, I just know it is there, and I now know how to work through it. I have written a lot about this in the book. I really do need to find a publisher for that book.

29.9 inches long. This is a measurement that has been given to me by Jenna’s mom. How tall is she while she is sitting? I look for pictures of her standing up, or being held standing up and then for her sitting down. My husband, also an artist comes down as I show him my sewing tape with 29.9″ marked off. We examine the dress, my brain switches gears and I am in another part, no emotion, just proportion, compare, compare, compare. We have decided 19 inches while seated. With this number the foam armature and structure can be built. I expect to be sculpting Jenna by Monday or Tuesday. The armature will be here and the Richard Hathaway waxes will be at the foundry. I can’t wait to play with Jenna.