Younger bust

Here is the continuation of the previous portrait since I have changed models.  I learned a lot about the differences in the ages of faces by changing from an older woman in her fifties to a younger model of age fifteen. The area around the mouth in particular, the jaw line and they eye areas are so very different.  In a younger person, the eye sockets are more filled. The mouth is full. The muscles around the mouth are plump. The Jaw line is cleaner.

Teenagers are lazy! That’s the most important lesson. I have to wrestle this girl (my daughter) out of bed at two in the afternoon. She gets to sit there and read a book, but she’d prefer to lie down.

Sculpture Bust

Here is the very beginning of a larger than life portrait bust in clay. I had about 2 hours with the original model and, even though I think it would have been very nice looking, because she is a beautiful woman, she is in her 50′s and I realized I wanted a more youthful face. In this picture I just pulled off the plastic and started reducing along the jaw line and making changes. …and now I have a new model!

My daughter is going to pose for this portrait. She works cheap and can read a book while I sculpt!

Gifts of Gold

My daughter, Brooke Marchesseault, represented Martin GT Magnet Middle School in the Wake County event called Gifts of Gold  with a sculpture she made of a jaguar.  Yes, that’s right, a sculpture.  In this event, each art teacher from each school in Wake County can enter a single student. This was a great honor.

I had never laid eyes on this sculpture of hers until last night at the show. It is beautiful. She worked from a small, flat photograph and produced a prowling cat. in clay. She used underglazes to create a gorgeous, spotted coat on her jaguar. 

The show is currently on display at the Raleigh Memorial Auditorium on South Street. I’ll post a picture of the sculpture as soon as I’m able to take one.

I’m so proud of her.

smile

 

Here is a quiet little moment with the tiny smile of an eight-year-old girl. I sure wish I had a model for this because I very much want to be good at sculpting children.

I’ve been working on this sculpture during our kitchen remodeling project. We finally finished laying tile on the kitchen floor and it’s gorgeous. That thing that irritates me so much about my husband…his grueling, torturous perfectionism, is also the thing that after the project is done I’m most proud of him for. My hands ache from handling the porcelain tiles and trying to scrub thinset off my fingertips, from scouring the tile again and again to remove the grout film.

I have a toaster oven and a microwave to prepare meals with. The fridge is in the ice-cold garage.  I have to be near starvation to risk exposure to the sub arctic temperatures.

You never know when you may be called upon at 5:40am from your warm, toasty bed to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  The jelly’s in the garage. NOOOooooo….

Seeds

When I dreamt this one, I wasn’t sure how to make it. It took me a while to figure it out. “Seeds” came from a dream, but I think also it may have been inspired by a Japanese sculpture we’ve had in our family since I lived in Okinawa as a child. I’ve made a lot of changes. I will post images of the Japanese sculpture soon.

There is a full female nude under the fabric on this one. The lady who modeled is really quite beautiful in real life by modern standards.

I’m not entirely done with the hands and a few other things. I was stumped for a long time by the birds because I don’t know much about birds. I’m sorry to all of you bird sculptors out there for my humble attempt.

I have a lot of dreams left to sculpt.

Banana Noire

  This is what happens to your banana when you go to Slovenia for too long, sweetheart. We’re trying to hold out the best we can, but I don’t think your banana will still be here when you get back honey. Come home soon.

The birdhouse massacre

What mother wouldn’t love such a gorgeous, hand painted birdhouse from a wonderful, two-year-old son?  He worked hard to paint these perches bright red. I love this thing. I’ll save it forever.  Birds never moved in… This is my favorite birdhouse in the world.

Troy’s baseball season is starting up soon. He’s going to be eleven in a few weeks.

Murals make a million smiles

We had a lot of fun at Kingswood Elementary in Cary, NC working on these murals with artist, Kelly Sari. I was lucky to be able to volunteer for this project. There are eight panels in all with each representing native species of fish and sea life in various areas of North Carolina. I believe every student at Kingswood participated  with sketching and painting.

In some areas of the mural panels  you could see drippy dots and Kelly  said it was really important to leave these because they  were made by kids from special ed classes. She wanted to make sure every child in the school could come back and see their contribution. These will hang in the Kingswood Elementary Media Center.

Kingswood’s PTA raised money to pay for a grant that allowed Kelly to come to Kingswood and do this project with the kids.

Winterpast Farm

Late to pottery throwing class because her llama trailer wouldn’t fit in the parking garage at NC State??? I heard this and I knew a future good friend had arrived. She’s a single mother of four who keeps emus, goats, llamas, chickens, dogs, geese…I don’t know how she does it, honestly. Mary Droessler, welcome to the blogosphere.

Little red boat on a vast green sea

  No doubt this boat is heading to Where the Wild Things Are. I was thinking about a day in preschool art class when we watched an episode of “The Dinosaurs” . The baby dinosaur knocked a bowl of oatmeal on the floor. He exclaimed, “Look what I made!!” then he looked into the camera and said, “Art.”

Afterward, one 4-year-old child spilled his snack on the floor and he started to get upset but then instead he said, “Look, I made Art!”. A girl next to him said, “But it’s not good art.” We laughed and laughed.

Where do these precocious little artists and art critics come from and how did they wind up in my class?