Life, death and resurrection

The transition from the initial clay sketch, to plaster, then to the bronze cast, is summed up by sculptors in the saying that: clay is the life, plaster the death and bronze the resurrection.

Although the plaster cast does not have the sheen of wet clay nor the luster of bronze, it nevertheless has its charms; as can be seen in today’s picture of Annabelle’s reclining figure.

No turning back

I have spent a lifetime disappointing those who have bought my paintings and then come back for more. The disenchantment comes about because I can no longer paint what I painted in the past. Had I been able to paint Caribbean palm fringed beaches ad infinitum I would, by now, be a millionaire twice over. But creativity is not about repeating what has been done before. This year’s paintings are subtly different from last year’s paintings and far removed from the paintings of thirty years ago.

Today’s painting is of Road Town, the capital of the British Virgin Islands. It was painted exactly thirty years ago. Feast your nostalgic eyes on it, for I cannot repeat that period even if I wanted to. I intend to keep moving on and leave you to catch up with me.

There’s time for me yet

Louise Bourgeois, whose twenty-foot spider was the show piece at the opening of the Tate Modern, didn’t find fame until she was in her eighties. At 73 in a few days’ time, there’s time for me yet!

Has luck would have it; I can’t rest on my laurels. Yes, I’ve had a few successes along the way, yet nothing to get complacent about. I still haven’t achieved the vision that haunts my mind’s eye. But I’m still working on it. With my water colours of the female nude I feel that I am almost there and if I can allow my sculptural figures the same freedom...who knows?

I write this with a glass of rum in my hand at the end of a hard working day. Perhaps, as Charles Morris (1745-1838) recommended in his poem The Toper’s Apology, I’ll fill my glass again.

“Tis by the glow my bumper gives

Life’s picture’s mellow made;

The fading light then brightly lives

And softly sinks the shade;

Some happier tint still rises there,

With every drop I drain –

And that I think’s a reason fair

To fill my glass again.

My muse, too, when her wings are dry

No frolic flight will take;

But round a bowl she’ll dip and fly

Like swallows round a lake.

Then if the nymph will have her share

Before she’ll bless her swain –

Why that I think’s a reason fair

To fill my glass again.

It is not often that I’m in the picture, but here I am contemplating the molds for the torso.

Transformation

Following on from yesterday's post, today’s picture shows the transformation from clay to plaster. What you are seeing is the waste mold being chipped away from the plaster cast. The initial “flicked” coloured layer acts as an early a warning device. It tells you that you are within a faction of an inch to cast.

So far, so good: a near perfect cast!

Take the shoes from off thy feet

When working from the nude I keep in mind the biblical quotation: Take the shoes from off thy feet for the ground you are about to step upon is Holy Ground.

Here, given life, is the final clay sketch for Annabelle’s half-life-size reclining figure.  

Working at the speed of light

While searching through old press cuttings I came across an article by the Sunday Times art critic, Waldemar Januszczak titled, “Working at the Speed of Light”. In the article he gives credit to the artists who paint fast; among them, Michelangelo.

I first realized a speedy brush stroke…to be a true guide to an artist’s talent…when I had a chance to examine Michelangelo’s handiwork on the Sistine ceiling from close up during the chapel’s restoration…It was the speed of his brush strokes that amazed me…In the scene of God creating the earth, the world and its vegetation was the work of seconds. Adam’s famous penis was traced with a single cocky outline. All over the ceiling there were astonishing displays of painting at breakneck speed. Never have I seen clearer evidence of artistic genius.

The entanglement of lips, arms, breasts and hands in today’s painting was thrown down just before Annabelle had to rush to catch a bus home. After an hour of holding the reclining pose for her sculpture, the sweet release of rolling over signaled the end of the session. But, as often happens, it’s the rolling over that reveals a transitionary position that cannot be contrived. When I catch that illusive moment out of the corner of my eye, I beg my model to hold it right there and give me time to work at the speed of light.

Now you can run for your bus!

Behind the scenes

Between clay and cast, there is lot that goes on unseen behind the scenes. Today’s pictures give you an idea in what is involved in taking a mold from the clay torso.

The mold is called a waste mold and for good reason. It is a one-off and must be finally broke into a thousand fragments to release the subsequent plaster master cast. The steps are as follows:

(1) Brass shims are inserted into the clay to give the necessary divisions. In this case, a three piece mold.

(2) Fine Casting Plaster, mixed to the consistency of cream, is them flicked over the clay. The process is achieved by dipping a hand into a bowl of plaster and flicking with the fingers. The process has not changed since the time of Michelangelo. This layer of plaster is no more than a quarter of an inch thick. It is tinted for reasons that will become clear later down the line.

(3) A thicker layer of plaster is then troweled over the figure, level with the shims. Steel reinforcing rods are added to give extra strength.

(4) When the plaster is fully cured, hard wood wedges are driving into the seams to separate the mold.

                       

                       

 The above may sound easy but three days of skilled work is involved. There are scores of intricacies at each step. If anything goes wrong, all is lost. Up to a hundred years ago sculptural mold making was a specialized trade unto itself.

The final picture shows the front section of the mold immediately on removal from the clay. The surface clay is dragged with the mold and hence lost in the process.

A blow-by-blow account of casting the master plaster cast from the waste mold will follow in later posts.