Teacher, Gazing in Wonder

I decided to challenge myself to making a representative work of someone I know, aswell as admire. This is more difficult than it first appears as you end up being influenced by all those little factoid imaginings and personal history about someone, when the objective is always to leave as much out as possible. It is sometimes easier to build an image up from nothing, than to distill from complex experience. The work is life-sized and the final casting (upper left) will be mounted on a stout pedestal.

Al out-of-doors

I've hung the finished bust facing West, towards an unkempt woodlot echoeing sounds of jays, hawks and coyotes. The work is sprayed with several layers of commercially available paint to bring out a metallic patina as an experiment to see if its appearance and physical integrity will be maintained throughout the coming Winter.

I hope the stern look of this rural poet can keep the wind and snow at bay.

Young, Gritty Al

This is an imperfect, partial cast of the late poet Al Purdy. I have learned just enough from my mistakes in this process to make the next sculpture that much better. For instance, there was no need to create a barrier dam when I first administered the silicon, nor was it necessary (or advisable) to pour on the mixture immediately. But the ciment is approximately 1.5 inches thick on all sides and weighs over 20 Kilos. In the near future I will be painting the sculpture a uniform charcoal grey, and I am planning on hanging the work outside, encorporating grapevines into the final piece. More to follow.

Al Purdy or Bust

I have recently completed a clay bust of the late great Canadian poet Al Purdy. I decided to work with Al as his birthplace is not far from my studio, and I have enjoyed his work at important moments in my life. Myself and a friend were reading his work aloud on stage at a pub, the very night he died.

In this first image, I have prepared the work to be cast. The bust is tilted slightly and ringed in half with a halo of Klean Klay to create a dam, prior to the application of liquid silicone. Several layers of silicone need to be applied during this process to build up enough strength to make a durable 'negative' mold. Once both sides of the image are set, a heavy layer of plaster and burlap will be added as an external skeletal support, like an eggshell. When these sections are dried thoroughly, they will be seperated and the internal clay removed. The functional destination for this process is to create a reusable mold for making a positive cast in ciment fondu. Wish me luck...tbc.

"George Orwell, thinking" March 2008

I did my first clay pieces nearly 20 years ago, and I have always wanted to return to the traditional form of portraiture, even though I'm sure that stylistically, it is entireley out of fashion. There really is nothing to compare to a well-rendered contemplative likeness.
I completed this clay portrait of author George Orwell during a one-day public demonstration of the technique. I chose Orwell (Eric Blair to his mother) simply because I think he would be astonished at how right he was about so many things on our contemporary earth.
I hope to add a few more images to this line of creation in the coming months, including some cement castings of clay originals.

"Pickpockets live in Olsanske"

"Pickpockets live in Olsanske", acrylic on canvas, 71x41

There is a police station just inside the southern gate of this Prague cemetery, perhaps for good reason, as many guide books will tell you to beware of thieves and pickpockets in the most unusal of places. Several of the crumbling tombs and mausoleums are obviously inhabited by more than ghosts of the Habsberg Empire; just peeking inside a broken window you might see a collection of shopping bags and some sort of rough sleeping accomodation neatly organized next to the partially open crypt. But my heart really started pounding upon hearing the tireless rustle of the magpies scurrying under the ivy like rats, the tough looking widows tending graves, men wandering aimlessly (more aimlessly than an artist?) between the headstones, the noise of the unseen traffic and streetcars filtering through the green light, and the historical sense that you are always being watched by the faces of the living and the dead. It was 10 a.m., broad daylight and I didn't lose my wallet, this time. Imagine what it would be like at midnight after the gates are closed.

Another Prague Moment

"near Kafka's grave" acrylic on canvas, 34"x60", 2008

A uniform green ocean of English Ivy and tall, lanky beech trees create an orderly walk, when you are searching for the grave of the great writer, Franz Kafka. His stone is ultimately disappointing for such a well known figure of literature, (except for the dates listing his siblings, who were killed in the Holocaust). The journey through this most Easterly part of Olsanke Cemetery is made eerie by its filtered green light, but still calming for its seemingly perpetual existence throughout such a trying period for Jews in Europe; especially since many of the stone-dates have lives ending in the 1920s and 30s, followed by a long absence in representation, until the dates start to show the latter half of the 20th century.