"Feisty Visitor"

This was a fun quick piece also because of not only the size but of the nature of this cute little wren. I really want people to feel the energy that this little guy puts forth in all his daily struggles.

This is not to say that I did not have trials with this tiny piece but it did have its challenges. In the beginning I was pre-fabing the branches and the foundry was cutting them exactly where the bird had to be welded therefore re-welding in exactly the same area that was already weakened by the heat. So after several hours of "holding, welding, falling apart" this became foolish.

In the end I molded the three branches so that they could stay in tact so then it was just a matter of holding the three branches while the wren was balanced correctly with the attitude that I was trying to capture while it was welded.

Feisty Visitor

When the branches were created and molded I went ahead and placed the feet onto the limbs so that created a problem in getting the feet to line up with the body each and every time. So basically this is a sweet piece that has already sold Ed. 1,2, and 3 but in other ways it has been the piece from H*ll because of not anticipating all the problems created in the welding process.

I originally created this piece with my sister who lives in Georgia in mind, she and I were chatting and she mentioned that she had a wren off her deck that had an attitude, so therefore I just had to create this little guy.

Remember the popularity of the angry baby robin pictures well the wren is a great example of memorable attitudes.
Thanks for dropping in.

"Chicken Taxi" and armatures

I know we have discussed armatures before but I thought I would include a few pictures of them anyway.

This is showing one that you can purchase at an Art Supply Store (notice it has a jointed main post)

This is one of the ways you can build your own of the above using a flange, pipe, T pipe and aluminum sculpture wire.

You want it to be tight so wrap a fourth wire tightly around bundle



 

This would be a basic armature for an animal leaving a wire for each leg, the head and neck and tail to crop as needed
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This piece was actually one of my favorites because it was fun, quick and showed a sense of humor.
The title actually came first and then the development of the work which will happen sometimes.


This would have worked for Chicken Taxi especially since he has such a beautiful long flowing tail, you don't cut these until you are sure of what you do not need.

The chicken is of wax because it was so small it was easy to do, notice the texture in the hair of the fox, remember it is done with an old scratchy washcloth against warmed clay (use the hairdryer). I especially love to give it the little wisps around the ears as they normally have and the Chavant holds up perfect for the molding process even in little details like this.

You will notice I gave it deep enough base to not overflow every time you pour that hot wax and also deep enough to accommodate the nuts and bolts placed underneath to hold it onto the base.

Note:  When doing this much texture make sure that you not only check each side to make sure your texture matches equally on each side but also call the attention to your foundry as to the amount of texturing so that the welder or chaser is aware.

This was a fun piece and has already sold its first edition just from being seen in the clay, thanks to patrons that watch me demo and love animals as much as I do. Will add photo of finished piece as soon as I get one back from the photographer. This is also a very small edition of only 10.

Thanks as always for dropping into my studio. Let me hear from you.