Laying it bare

I don't often lay my soul bare for the whole world to see.......but I have in this new piece.
It's called "Memento Mori - Ben Lomond 10th June 2014". I've included a few w.i.p. photos that show something of the process I use in putting something like this together.

Raw materials

Playing with arrangements of elements

the almost-completed piece

Another angle

Detail - the sleeping head

Detail - bottom compartment

Elin

New from my studio this week............This is "Elin". These pictures show some of the steps towards her completion.

The ennui of waiting for clothes!

Done and dusted!

I finally got the ferro-cement sculpture I was working on finished and installed - it is at Goaty Hill Vineyard for the month of October (ArtEntwine) and can be viewed there along with the other eight.....they are dotted throughout the wineries grounds - all different and diverse. I also have some small works on display at the cellar door of Tamar Ridge Winery. Having got that monster out of the way, I can move on to other things....

Sneaky Peeps

Soon to be installed...........

...........and a new smallwork "Aoife".

Pollocked!

Fun throwing paint around, Pollock-wise, like this...........first head completed - second one well on the way.

From one extreme..........

The last piece I completed was very small (featured in my last blog post).......now I am working on something at the other extreme. This is HUGE! Ciment fondu. Or ferro-cement if you like. It sure keeps you on your toes working at both ends of the size gamut. The hardest part of working on something like this is getting the structure of the underlying mesh layers (which are all "stitched" together with wire) right. It is time-consuming and painful, but worth it for the joyous fun of slapping on the cement mixture!

Hugo

This doll was a commissioned piece - the challenge was to make a doll that resembled the boy in the movie "Hugo" (based on the graphic novel The Invention of Hugo Cabret). My "Hugo" is quite small at 30 cms (12"), so getting the clothes to fit properly and look right was the biggest challenge with this piece. Although I took a fair amount of time making "Hugo", I really enjoyed the whole process and I'm looking forward to making a companion piece - the automaton. Now, that WILL be a challenge!