In the Studio Today

Images of tagged sculpture ready for packing and Red Boats, just out of their bath.

After going for a much needed and very nice run this morning I ran a few errands and took care of some laundry and dishes, I then finished making additional hanging brackets and they are now painted. I then drug out eight of the Red Boats, a very popular show item, and gave them all a bath.

After that I felt good about what was done and spent a few hours working on the train engine for the next show. It still needs a ton of work but I did get some stuff done and I feel the final solutions to some of the formal issues are beginning to peak through.

Now I will start wrapping stuff for travel. I feel as if I am ahead of schedule and that's good, but there are still many details to take care of. For example, I need to get all the installation tools and supplies together, including but not limited to, fishing line, bolts, screws, drill bits, sand paper, cleaning tools, a knife, portable drill and saw, paint for touch ups, brushes, etc... Rain is on the horizon for tomorrow so I will probably go and wrap some of the outside stuff first...

Not Exciting (but important non-the-less)

Today was another full day in the studio. I started the day with a pretty expensive trip to the Depot. I needed to get hardware for hanging 'boats' as well as plastic and other stuff needed for the trip to TN. Back home I oiled the Swamp Shack, did some repair on some broken stuff and pretty much spent the rest of the day making hangers, brackets and other hardware necessary for horizontal wall mounting of some of the 'boats'. Making the stuff is not hard but it is repetitive, I have plenty of good tools and steel, it just takes lots of time to customize them to each boat. It went better than expected and I hope to make more tomorrow, should go faster.

I really have to start wrapping stuff for travel. Now that's going to be a real pain... I'll admit I am ready to see this show up. I need to get back to some of the new work I am interested in, like making more swamp shacks and such. That is what is getting me excited these days and I want to finish the engine (I need to 'cause it's due at the end of the month). I was just invited to do another solo exhibition with a stipend up in North Carolina in October, I'll say more later when everything is ironed out.

Tomorrow is more studio work... To be continued...

Today in the Shop

Working on the Swamp Shack.

Inventory

It's been a crazy busy week. Luckily for me this next week is spring break. On top of that the weather has been perrrrrfect; mid to high 60's and sunny. I have moved all the finishing outside and got an assistant for the day. Bryon and I worked all day, he cleaning and oiling steel and cast iron works, me applying finish with my spray gun to wooden boats, among other things. A lot was accomplished. Today I did inventory, lost a few things I had on the list and found a few that I forgot to put on. Friday is trailer loading day and we drive all day Saturday. My friend Taylor will make the trip north-east. It should be a fun and interesting journey. The show will get installed on Sunday and Monday. It will be nice to see all the sculpture in one place and out of my house!

This Week in the Studio

Or more accurately, several weeks in the studio...

In two weeks I head off to Cookeville Tenn, for a big solo show at Tennessee Tech University at the Joan Derryberry Art Gallery, the home of the famous Appalachian Center for Craft. Right now I am furiously working at fixing, cleaning and refinishing the works that will go into the show. There are many pieces in this installation and I have a ton of work to do. On Saturday I will have a student assistant come by and help with oiling many of the steel pieces to get them nice and clean for the show. I have been doing some 'boat' repair and alterations as well. I like to make subtle changes to each show and repair work offers me the opportunity to do so. In some cases I am taking out old wood ribs and changing them for copper wire ribs, the colors work well for me.

I am also working on a sculpture for the "All Aboard" Exhibition celebrating the anniversary of the Train Depot in downtown Hattiesburg. Eighteen or so artists were invited to create any sculpture that involves trains, tracks, stations, or any imagery related to trains, etc. This sculpture is due two days after I get back from my four-day trip to install my work in Tennessee. Basically that means I have to finish it before I travel in two weeks. Yikes! I have a lot to do! These images show various stages of still unfinished engine, or abstraction of an engine. No wheels yet and I am still working out the 'basket' on the back. Lots to do.

And finally, as an update to the ferro-cement test; I have put on a couple of coats of finish layers and done some sanding. The surface is getting very smooth, need to do a lot more sanding, but all will have to wait until I get back from Tennessee, to much other stuff that needs to get finished first.

Ferro Finishes

So today I decided it was time to start experiments with the finishes on the ferro cement test shape. I have been doing Internet research and found a few folks who describe using silica-sand (AKA flint silica) to make a slip out of the cement. Color is, or can be, added at this time into the mixture. The slip is pained on and then when it has set it is sanded down and the process is repeated until a silky smooth surface is achieved. I am guessing at the ratios and tried a 2:1 mixture of silica:cement. I also didn't have acyclic so I tried some gouache I had. I applied it to my test object after it I made sure it was damp.

What I will look for is,
- how fast it dries
- how stable it is with all this stuff added
- how easy it sands
- how quickly I can re-coat
- how many coats I will need to get it smooth.
It's all an experiment and we'll see how things look later today.

Experiments in Ferro Cement

In an earlier post I spoke about working with Martha Ferris on a commission in Jackson at the Museum of Art. As Martha finalizes designs for the works I have been doing some experiments in a process called ferro-cement. We think this may be the process we are going to use for building the outdoor structure for the commission and to make sure I know everything I can about it I decided to go ahead and do some experiments. The process is fairly easy; I have done it before. What makes this project different are the colors and surfaces needed for this project are for more refined that I have done in the past. Bright colors and smooth, almost shiny surfaces are needed for what we are constructing. I have found many examples of this on the Internet, so I know it can be done and done well. I just have to learn how to do it myself. The funny thing about this whole process is that I had been making some plans and drawings for my own designs using this method and now it's kind of like killing two birds with one stone.

Below is a step-by-step description of the first part of the project. The second part will entail descriptions of final surface treatments and coloring. Click on images to make them larger.