Wednesday, January 24, 2018

Back to Clay for a While


One of the wonderful things about working in a variety of media is working a while in one then, when it seems like a good time for a change, moving to another.

So, I've begun making a group of small clay figures.  These are the O'Hare sisters in various stages of sculpting.  I took this photo to illustrate the process.

I always begin with the head.  In this case, I made all three heads before I proceeded because I wanted to be sure they were the same size.  The next step is to add the dress which is basically a cone (as in the finished rabbit on the right) or a stack of two cones, like the partially sculpted rabbit on the left).

Next I close off the bottom of the dress by putting a slab of clay inside, about 1/2" up from the hem of the skirt.  At this point I have a hollow form, so I need to be sure to remember to poke a hole in the bottom.  Then I add the arms.  At this point, I like to let the piece rest overnight under plastic.  The slip I use to join pieces is quite a bit moister than the clay, so letting the piece rest allows the moisture to even out and strengthen the joins.

Next I attach the legs to the slab on the bottom of the dress being sure not to cover up the vent hole.  I used to have my pieces balance on their two legs (or on the two legs and the tail for long-tailed animals like foxes, but I've concluded that it's better to have a base.  The base simply makes the piece more stable, and I sure don't want to sell someone a piece that's easy to tip over and possibly break.  I stamp my name in the bottom of the base, and the sculpting's done.

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