A New Commission
A man called and asked if I could reproduce this image of his wife’s logo as a small sculpture for her birthday. I am thrilled about the prospect of working on something that is outside of my traditional style. I’ll keep you posted on the outcome.
An Update on Number Two in The Edition of The Life-Size Newsboy Bronze
The Meyer Gallery in Utah contacted me about the edition of the life-size bronze Newsboy. Their client wanted to buy one in the edition to honor the Tabor City Tribune and the former editor/publisher Walter Horace Carter. They inquired to see if the Newsboy could be recreated with a replica of the Tabor City 1953 newspaper announcing their winning of the Pulitzer. That is where the idea of changing each newspaper for the rest of the newsboy life-size bronze edition came from.
According to the 1953 Tabor City Tribune newspaper that was sent to me, they were the first weekly paper to receive such an honor and shared it with Whiteville News-Reporter. Both papers were chosen for their crusade against the Ku Klux Klan, quite an impressive and courageous accomplishment, in this artist’s opinion. I am thrilled to be a part of this place in history.
The client sent me a copy of the paper. I had to modify the design of the newspaper so that it would translate to bronze, but was able to keep the look, headline and masthead of the paper. To recreate this paper for the bronze a wax is poured for each of the papers that are a part of the sculpture. There are some under his arm, one in his hand and some at his feet. Each must be carved in the wax to represent the new paper and headline. Here you will see the copy of the newspaper, my marker layout, the wax and how all of that transferred into the details of the bronze papers. Of course the back of the paper remains as I created it with the tribute to Skinney and others based on the historical article written by history professor Vincent Digirolamo.
I am still waiting for photographs of the placement of the sculpture and official comments.
Follow the newsboy category to see more photographs and to read more about Horace Carter, Tabor Tribune and Tabor City. I am happy to announce that there are several articles coming out about this piece of artwork and its placement. I will be interviewed by Press Time on Wednesday. This is wonderful because there are 8 more in the life size edition left for purchase, and I would like to sell them.
I’ll post more about the publicity later.
A New and Improved Website?
I’m always amazed at the amount of time that some office and marketing things take. I am in the process of revamping my web page. Who would have thought it was so big with 180 plus pages, some that many people cannot get into unless they happen upon them.
The process is a total restructuring of the design, new content, an update on artwork a forum to help individuals with their creative endeavors and more interactivity. I hope it is done pretty soon as it is taking up entirely too much of my time. It is however something that has been long due as the site has been the same for quite some time. One can tell by the copyright notice on some of the pages, many pages say 2001!
In Loving Memory of The Studio Dog- Chas
day he passed he had a horrible fever. To
cool himself off he stayed here. Tilly the
turtle’s babies came and climbed on him.
We had Chas for about 9 years. He was 10 years old. We acquired him because of an ad in the Greensheet that said. “retriever needs home.” The people looking for a home for him said we were the only family that told them, “Come and take a look at our home and see if this is a place that Chas would like to live.” They did. Chas came to visit and never left. He also came with some treats and a yellow plastic flower pot, that up until moving to our home was apparently his playmate. He never paid any attention to that flowerpot after moving here. His previous family taught him a trick of shooting him with a gun, and Chas would pretend to fall over dead. It was funny. He really had no other tricks,oh. yes, he did like to turn circles when the food came out. Emmy, our other dog and he got a long famously. I’m sure she will miss him.
TILLY AND CHAS
When Tilly- the turtle came to the yard there was a love affair between the two for quite some time. They have tried to work out their differences in their two year relationship.
on a regular basis.
FOSTER UNCLE
Chas helped us with many different foster dogs. He always made them feel welcome and tolerated hair pulling and nips from all of the puppies. Some even sat right in his bowl. Being foster parents to puppies for the Homeless Pet Placement League was easier for us humans because Chas took such good care of them.
He loved the dog park and would always wander off with a “yodee od doe” type of mentality. Sometimes I would find him looking at all of the people wondering where “we” had wandered off. When finding the pond in the middle of the park he would not swim, but instead would put his old body into the water and sit for a spell.
and found the puppy from next door sitting in his
food dish.
On Monday April 30th Chas went to dog heaven. I am certain that he is with our other dogs, Casey, Bess, and Conan. We did not know that Chas had cancer and quickly went down hill. The last few days I would find him sitting in the creek, his head resting on a water fall, the water trickling round his body. If I were sick, that is where I would like to be.
He will be missed. We love you Chas.
Our Foster Puppy Was Adopted
Our foster puppy was adopted Saturday. She went to a good home and was adopted with another puppy, so Boots has her own puppy!
A Real Dog For a Bronze Boy
My husband and I regularly foster animals for the Homeless Pet Placement League . Basically we take care of the dogs, make sure they are healthy and then take them to the adoption place, Petco on Shepherd on Saturdays. This little gal is Boots, and we have been fostering her for several weeks now.
When she arrived and would come into the studio, she loved to sit next to the Lucas sculpture. I thought it was strange. She would even plop right on his bronze foot. I moved all of her toys and blanket next to Lucas and would joke that Lucas has a dog.
I talked with Lucas’ mom just a few days ago and told her this story. She said that Lucas had always wanted a puppy, but she never got around to getting him one.
My husband said that when the Lucas sculpture leaves the studio to be delivered to his mom, Boots will probably get adopted.
Portrait Bust
It is always exciting to watch the process of sculpture from start to finish. Here is the final of the latest sculpture that I have sculpted.
It will be presented at the end of this month.
Goodbye Florencia- I’m Looking For a New Apprentice.
My apprentice, Florencia must leave the studio for a time. I am hoping she will be back and she has stated she will be in on weekends when she can. I was happy to hear her say that the studio was not only a wonderful place to work, but a sort of creative refuge. I feel that way, and the surrounding area with pond, stream, turtles and fish also aids in that.
I have been sending out press releases to schools, summer is a good time to find a junior or senior student who loves art. Feel free to pass this along to those you know who may be interested.
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Houston Sculptor is seeking summer apprentice.
This job consists of working in a real art studio with a master sculptor as well as in the foundry for bronze casting when necessary. Work is figurative. Your duties would include anything from smoothing clay, helping to make armatures for life size sculpture, assisting artist with working waxes for the bronze process and clean up. The work can get dirty. Desire for art and a summer commitment is the only prerequisite.
This is not a paying internship however there are sometimes bonuses involved and the learning experience and exposure are invaluable. The artist’s studio is located just north of the 610 loop off of shepherd. Hours are flexible, we can work around your schedule if you can committed to at least 5-10 hours a week. Upon completion of the summer the artist would be happy to write a letter of recommendation for the student for college or job.
If you would like to see some of the artist work or look at how other apprentices have helped check out the blogs listed below.
https://creativesculpture.com/blog/
http://www.dickhathaway.blogspot.com/
Artist’s web site is located at https://creativesculpture.com
Please contact Bridgette at
Bridgette@creativesculpture.com
And put Intern/Apprentice in the Subject headline. Be sure to let me know when you are available and your desire. If you are under 18 we will need to meet at my studio with your parents and they will be required to sign a consent form.
A Trip To The Foundry
If you have read my blog then you are familiar with this part of the bronze process. After the bronze is cast and the pieces are welded together I am asked to come to the foundry and look at the metal. Marker in hand I go over the piece and look for any blemishes or things that might need a little work, perhaps some clarification. I like to bring the clay bust with me so that I can compare the two. My apprentice came with me and we had a wonderful conversation with Miguel at the foundry. He is always a delight, and then a quick stop over at Ben Woitena’s studio to see how his work is coming along. I especially enjoyed our conversation as we compared figurative sculpting to the type of work that Ben does. Here is a link to see Ben’s work.
After these minor details are taken care of the bronze enters the patina stage and is mounted. Soon this sculpture will be home.
Jeanine’s Life Mask
Last year when I was contacted by Jeanine’s parents they sent her life mask to me. It was taken when she was about ten years old. They wanted to know if I could cast her image from the mask. I have documented this in the book, “Bringing to Life the Spirit of the Deceased- A Sculptor’s Journey.” It was strange to look into the life mask. It felt like I could look deep into Jeanine. It is also odd… when you shoot a photograph of a life mask or the inside of a mold, you never really can tell if it is something that is concave or convex.
This is a wonderful thing to have. I have included photographs of the life mask, as well as the cast.