Stephani Stephenson on sun 18 jan 04
Nina
One thing that might prove helpful is to use thin plastic food wrap.
Lay a piece of it on the clay, on the area to be compressed, formed or
finished,
It is light and flexible enough for a small piece of wrap to be held
over the eye, or around nose septum.
Use fingers or tool appropriate for the size and shape of the form or
indent
and glide the tool around the form,pressing, compressing lightly
This compresses the clay, while also cleaning and reestablishing the
contour or relief.
the plastic wrap allows the tool to glide without sticking, and the
wrap also contains the clay underneath, leaving a nice compressed,
smooth surface.
I use wooden tools for this, often small rounded dowels or regular
potters tools, or even dulled pencils, whatever the size and angles of
the piece require.
For large pieces, plastic wrap laid on the clay , then compressed ,
stroked or rubbed with fingers is a great way to true and finish up the
surface of the clay with out marring it or adding too much water,
even if you later re work the surface for decorative purposes
and yes, sculptors who work in clay, and who come from a sculpture
background rather than a
Ceramic/pottery background , do quite readily use fill materials such
and 'cold ' finishes to finish and repair pieces.
Actually you might be surprised at the amount of epoxy, putties,
fillers, Bondo and the like, used by well known ceramists
in sculptural work, large scale work, etc.
sincerely
Stephani Stephenson
steph@alchemiestudio.com
Kathy Forer on mon 19 jan 04
On Jan 19, 2004, at 12:37 AM, Stephani Stephenson wrote:
> and yes, sculptors who work in clay, and who come from a sculpture
> background rather than a
> Ceramic/pottery background , do quite readily use fill materials such
> and 'cold ' finishes to finish and repair pieces.
> Actually you might be surprised at the amount of epoxy, putties,
> fillers, Bondo and the like, used by well known ceramists
> in sculptural work, large scale work, etc.
It's not just that, but the working of the clay itself which is
distinctly different. I think it may be more about seeing and
perceiving than about form or material and its elegant stylization or
its primal force.
An eyelid is a part of the eye which is part of the face, part of the
head.
It's not eye, eye, nose, mouth, ears, hair, details details! And as one
teacher implored, "don't lick the sculpture!"
Not to dis Luchessi too much, but I much prefer the approach of Edouard
Lanteri (1848-1917) in his Modelling book series.
Look at heads from Africa, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Oceania, Greece, Germany
in the middle ages, Italy, France, China, India, modern and
contemporary, look in the mirror!
Your lovely eyelashes are as much a shape as the lid beneath. And they
fracture that shape. Look closely at a della Robbia, there are some
excellent, scaleable images on euroweb:
http://gallery.euroweb.hu/html/r/robbia/luca/ Eyelids are not pasted
on....!
Off my soapbox.
Kathy
http://homepage.mac.com/kef/PhotoAlbum6.html
claybair on mon 19 jan 04
Stephanie,
You made me realize that I had a functional
standard set in stone that I was transferring
to sculptural.... fixing a crack, flaw etc. with
non-ceramic filler made me consider the
sculpture flawed and a second that should
be priced accordingly.
Sculptural pieces frequently have
mixed media components... wood,
metal, cold glazes etc....Duh!!
Thanks for the mental floss!
BTW What a great idea...
I will try the plastic wrap!
Gayle Bair
Bainbridge Island, WA
http://claybair.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Stephani Stephenson
For large pieces, plastic wrap laid on the clay , then compressed ,
stroked or rubbed with fingers is a great way to true and finish up the
surface of the clay with out marring it or adding too much water,
even if you later re work the surface for decorative purposes
and yes, sculptors who work in clay, and who come from a sculpture
background rather than a
Ceramic/pottery background , do quite readily use fill materials such
and 'cold ' finishes to finish and repair pieces.
Actually you might be surprised at the amount of epoxy, putties,
fillers, Bondo and the like, used by well known ceramists
in sculptural work, large scale work, etc.
sincerely
Stephani Stephenson
steph@alchemiestudio.com
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