Writing
What Is It About Hands?
of her hand.
What is it about a hand that is so intriguing to me? Being a kinesthetic person touch has always been important, as a sculptor they are the tool that I use the most the venue from which the passion, empathy and love comes through my subject into my heart and is to be shared with others.
I have done studies of hands, sculpted them, and created some odd pieces surrounding the hand. Actually they are my most contemporary sculptures. Hand L was one. I found an old window, took a study of a hand that I created and secured it to the window. My daughter, then about 4 years old, had magnetic letters. I glued the purple L in the hand. Get it Hand L! Through the glass in the window I Xeroxed my face peeking through gingham. It was a strange piece, and I am not sure who bought it, but I know when they did they loved it! I thought about creating an entire series of sculptures with hands, similar to Hand L.
Last week I had to fly to the North East because my mother was ill and my family needed me. I had purchased hand casting materials and had it on hand, no pun intended, incase this type of trip should happen. I packed the alginate, and knew I would have to have some plaster, as alginate molds will disintegrate quickly and you must cast within 24 hours or sooner. I thought it might be a good idea to also pack some hydrastone though I was not sure if the airline would allow large baggies of white powder to go through in my suitcase. Low and behold my suitcase was 5 pounds over. I beamed the attendant, “ I know what ways 5 pounds.” You should have seen her face when I took out the baggie of white powder. I told her what it was and talked to four other security people about taking it on the plane, everyone said, “take it out of your carry on, put it onto of your shoes, they will know what plaster is.” Yeah right. They confiscated my hydrastone. The head guy said, “I don’t know if it is plaster.” My sister suggested that I should have gotten a cup of water and taken a few minutes and mixed some up for him- hindsight! I was a little nervous they might detain me and then my poor mother would be waiting in the hospital, so I did not push the matter.
Besides taking care of mother, I was a casting fool. I have a great cast of my father’s hand, and one of my mothers hand. I also cast my nieces’ hand along with her fiancé’s. My mom and her significant other also let me cast their hands together. Everyone was a trooper.
I had the hands sent UPS. They have yet to come. But I can’t wait to get these. They will be one of my prized possessions.
Gary Staab, Staab Studios
Gary has learned to combine his passion with art and claims, “I’m still in love with Lucy.”
An Artist Interview
created for Best of Artist’s and Artisans web site
By Bridgette Mongeon © 2007
It is wonderful to be able to mix your passion and your art. Gary Staab of Staab Studios has not only accomplished that, but he has also learned how to make a living doing so. Gary’s passions are art, biology, and natural science. He was first introduced to the concept of combining his passions in a liberal arts college when the class was drawing a diorama at the local museum. It struck him that someone had to prepare the exhibits.
He states, “I always liked making stuff,” and turned his Hastings College studies into a directed study with a focus on art and biology. Soon Gary began to learn from the best at the Smithsonian Institute and the British Museum of Natural History. His work spans sculpting a flea to a T-rex and everything in between. Each project that comes through his studio is different and offers a new challenge. Most of his works are one of a kind, and many of the works, even the very large ones like the 40 foot Sarcosuchus imperator, or super croc that lived 110 million years ago are part of traveling exhibits and must be made to be disassembled and reassembled—seamlessly.
When asked what his favorite sculpture is, Gary is like most artists combing through their mind for the personal connection, weighing each creation, but he found himself drawn to his most recent creative endeavor. “I’m still in love with Lucy,” he states. Lucy, an Australopithecus Afarensis or 3.2 million year old walking primate is part of the traveling exhibit “Lucy’s Legacy”. Gary received a cast of Lucy’s bones and in three months time painstakingly created this wonder of science. He reports that at least a quarter of his time is spent on research, but knows a great deal of his work is interpretation.
“When restoring extinct animals, you can’t be afraid of being wrong.” Gary reports that there are so many scientist and such little material that this has taught him to have a thick skin, to do the best he can, and then trust the one scientist that signs off on the project. He built Lucy from the bones outward and describes forensic art as a science and a rather mechanical process, layering on muscle to a designated point, putting eyes just so. The body came to the artist much easier than Lucy’s portrait bust. As analytical as the process can be he still wants to, “…make it breath as much as I possibly can.” It is when he steps back from the details of the process and realizes it has become real, this is the part he describes as being emotional. “It is a living breathing being, that is the exciting part of restoration.”
Gary has created work for National Geographic Society, the Smithsonian Institute, and Walt Disney animation, as well as a host of others. He has had the privilege of studying fossils, bones, and casts that many paleontologists would love to see. And he is involved in many interesting projects from the Ice Man to the most recent projects in his studio that he wrapped in secrecy. He simply states, “They are two anatomically modern human skulls that are 10,000 years old.” The rest, he reports cannot be discussed.
In his career he has had great adventures such as being invited on archeological digs and measuring crocs in Costa Rica. He spends endless hours studying anatomy and his research also consists of dissection when necessary. The process of creating the super croc documented on the Staab Studio web site states, “To help aid in the understanding of how the musculature system works with the skeletal system, Gary dissected several modern crocodilians.” The study of anatomy is important for restoration, “Knowledge of any living animals compliments the prehistoric,” states Gary.
Each project Gary speaks about appears to be invigorated with a deep respect and a passion. Gary Staab, who for eighteen years has combined his passions for art and science, asks the same question he did when he began, a question that is combined with an infectious, inquisitive nature, “What did this thing look like when it was alive?”
All Day Out Of The Studio?
I was not sure how I could spend an entire day out of the studio at an all day seminar on software. How could I justify it with deadlines overhead? Still the software is something I have worked on for about 20 years. Wow it sounds strange to say that. I even saw people that I knew from over 20 years ago when I worked in the advertising business. You could tell us from the rest in the bunch because we were the ones with the grey hair sitting in the front of the room because of our poor eye sight!
Some areas of this software I have never worked in because frankly I don’t know how. My fear of the unknown part of software and the frustration of learning- we all know it. So I opted for this free symposium on Quark Xpress. I picked out the clay from under my fingernails and cleaned up headed off to a day of lectures.
Hey the food was great, and it was free and I did learn. i was especially interested in the web tools and quarks interactive designer. I quickly suppressed the urge to learn more about interactive designer when I found out it cost an additional 199. How I will find the opportunity to do something with the rest of the knowledge that I obtained is yet to be seen. That would mean more time away from clay and writing. It was a long day yesterday but I’m back today and it feels good to be back to the studio.
Contributing Writer for Sculptural Pursuits?
I was thrilled to have found the magazine Sculptural Pursuits. The editor and I have been e-mailing and if all goes as planned I will be a regular contributing writer for Sculptural Pursuits and be contributing to the Artful Business Column. I am thrilled to be able to share. As an artist and in business I have shared a great deal of information on the business of art in a weekend workshop. (I still do present this workshop. If you are interested please contact me through my website.) Now the readers of Sculptural Pursuits will be reading all of my wonderful hints. I plan on creating a portion of my new forum that we are building and dedicate a section to the Sculptural Pursuits articles that I write. Individuals can ask questions, post comments and suggestions for further articles. I also will try to provide further material for the users. That is once I get my site updated, which is as I have said before, a herculean undertaking! Funny thing is the first article Sculptural Pursuits has asked me to write about is creating a web site!
If you would like to subscribe to Sculptural Pursuits you can do so on their website.
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!
Sample Chapters And A New Relationship
The book chapters that need to go to the printer are done and sitting here waiting for the proofreader. These are just the chapters for the proposal. There are many more to work on. Every spare moment will be spent working on getting the book ready. I am thrilled with the content and incredible things I have learned by writing “Bringing to Life the Spirit of the Deceased-A Sculptor’s Journey”
The sculpture bust posted on December 26th is on hold. I will be making this man look younger. This should be something to document. Stay tuned.
On to Mr Hockett. Blessed, blessed, blessed to be working on this sculpture. I write in my book that I develop a relationship with the deceased through this process. I look forward to developing a relationship with Mr Hockett.
Upside Down Christmas Party-The Tree
An upside down Christmas party must have an upside down tree, but there is more to our upside down tree then just hanging it from the ceiling. We ask each of our guests to decorate our tree. They do this with something that is on their person, in their car or found objects. Anything goes. Below you will see just some of the things that are on our tree. On the top of the tree, which is the bottom is a shark that squeaks. Why? Because we can. The shark has been with the celebration for a long time. One of my sculptures look very intrigued with the idea of a shark ornament.
The tree seems to have a strange affect on the guests.
Upside Down Christmas Party-The Ornaments
Some of our tree ornaments. It is a crazy tree.
* Plate with found objects
* Actors guild card
* real ornament
* cut out of Illustrator Bob Pharr
* Cassette Case
* name tag
* circle thing
* vip valet park service ticket
* blue bat
* pills wrapped in celephane
* greeting card
* tissue bows
* Socket
* red plastic wine bottle wrap
* plastic ring “10” off drugs”
* playing card
* Pickle?
* Fork and Spoon twined with beads
* Skeleton
* Faom cup
* throat lozenger
* business card ( from manny santos, producer of my artist documetnary created by PBS)
* Jazzersize coupon
* folded CVS receipt
*towlet
* cut out wooden Jesus
* birthday candles stuck in candy holder
Upside Down Christmas Party-And A Birthday Cake
My daughter was so sweet. She baked me a birthday cake from scratch! Carrot cake, one of my favorite. My birthday was Wednesday, but she was not in town and as you may have read I spent the day on my knees cleaning the floor of the studio. I loved the cake. So did everyone else! Florencias boys, trailed in as soon as the cake was cut. They were perfect gentleman while at the party and when bored with the grownups found sitting in the living room watching tv, quite entertaining.
