Whoops, a break. And now we’re back.

So I accidentally took two weeks off. First I was tired from Paul’s birthday weekend adventures in NYC. Then I was busy. Then I was not motivated to write anything. Then I was sick. Whew.

Since I’ve been “away”, I started a new piece. A self portrait, which has me all “a way” about it. I love sculpting figures, despite rarely getting a chance to do so anymore. Portraits are not my thing though. Usually it ends up looking like a second cousin of the person I’m sculpting. I am not generally interested in sculpture for the sake of translating direct observation only, so I get bored, impatient, annoyed, etc.

I personally tend to work more intuitively and would rather get the “feel” of the person (it sounds bit woo woo when I put it like that but bear with me). In my animal work I’m most often going for “emotional portraiture” which often captures more clearly what I’m after. However what happens when we turn the lens on ourselves? Can I get observation and emotion? Ahhh it’s a bit of a winding path here. I started off enjoying the process, but very quickly I’m up against a wall of what I think I look like and what’s true (measured literally by calipers or more loosely by the looks on the faces of my loved ones). I see myself as this wide jawed stoic figure with better eyebrows and hair than I know I have. I have a hard time finding softness and beauty in myself, which is interesting to observe. So it’s become this inner battle, made real, between my actual self and my perceived self and I am fighting on all fronts. It’s truly wild when thinking about it like that. I just posted a quick video of the piece and immediately afterward cut back into the nose and structure of the face. We’ll see how far we get but that’s when I’m at for now.

Studio Update

I loved my little desk corner of my home studio. It got me through teaching online during at 4 different schools during a pandemic and became a place to display all my favorite little things. However, it required putting on mental blinders, because if you stepped back….

…this is what you got. Exposed heating duct which dripped condensation in the summer…all over my desk. An uncovered, uninsulated wall, which leaked cold air in the winter. I am pretty good at managing to work amidst chaos but because all of my studio spaces at home have some desperate need of work that needed to be done, this is where I decided to start.

I took down the fabric “wall” and insulated a bit more. We were going to build this out into a cabinet or something but I decided I’d rather just have the blank wall space.

Once the wall was whole-ish again, I started to build out the soffit and then began the spackling process.

While working on that wall, I also decided to include the bay window where I sculpt. This has been various forms of casting and/or sculpting areas but recently I’ve been working at a table on the left side because the light is so beautiful. The right side is usually some weird pile of plaster or molds or random unidentifiable chaos.

I decided to paint this nook black and will eventually gold leaf the tiny fancy ceiling, but another day… I included this chair that I love but we had no great place for and perhaps my favorite thing of all, a tiny table for my coffee in the morning. (On a recent job site for a commission, I saw these tiny brass drink tables and became obsessed. Now I have my own tiny brass drink table…for fanciness.)

And while I’m still in the process of resetting my desk and all my favorite things, I am so happy to not have giant holes in the walls all around me. It so true that the space around you can greatly affect how you feel and this already feels so great. As I get older I am (slowly) learning the lessons of what to do first before settling into a space, rather than just working around things. Anyway, here’s to making new things in the studio!

Studio // Work in Progress... (Like drywall...not art)

Looking back through images of studios past (HERE and on my old blog) always has me a bit nostalgic… Spaces where we create can be magical, and I always wanted that for each space I’ve had as a studio.

My old studio on Amber Street 2008 - 2012 (ish?)

My current studio(s) have been utilitarian since we’ve moved in… I’ve made my spaces within them but am battling one leaky corner and another wall that never quite became a real wall. This month I’m trying my best to tie up all my loose ends in the space and make it feel like my studio…and not just the room in the house that I’m allowed to make messy.

Here’s some process so far:

Before: Fake fabric wall while I decided whether to build this out as cabinets or leave it a wall. Exposed duct work. Hot mess.

Getting closer… Walling in the walls. Building a soffit for the ductwork.

Drywall. We are already beyond this initial ugly phase but I don’t have any updated photos. I love spackling but hate sanding.

I think making a space your own is so important to the creative process. It sounds a little woo woo but if you feel happy and comfortable in a space, of course it will be easier to create there. I’m also looking forward to getting some online classes filmed in here once I’m done but more on that soon.