Sweet dreams

"Sleeping beauty" by Hilary J. England
clay sculpture, 2013

I have officially started sculpting. I have wanted to for a long time.  It would eat away at the back of my brain, constantly there, and always nagging at me.  I remember being in Barcelona and looking at some of the contemporary sculpture there, and thinking, "I would absolutely love to start sculpting," but the time slipped by, and I always found a reason not to:  I didn't have the equipment, I didn't have the training, yada yada yada.  So, about a month ago, I just decided to end the excuses, pick up the basic equipment, make an armature, and today, viola:  My first attempt.  Not too shabby if I do say so myself.  I only worked on it for 2 hours, and it's a pretty large bust, almost 2 feet in height.  And wow, did I enjoy it!

I won't say who this is, as I worked on this piece completely from instinct, with no references, no photos, just my memory to aid me in the creation  I just dug into the creamy clay, and my mind went into its own direction. This piece is not finished yet, but I am happy with the progress of it, especially as it is my first attempt at a sculptural portrait, and have never had any training in sculpture at all.  I have just been devouring every book on sculpture I can lay my hands on in preparation to begin working in the medium, and I must say, I feel like a fish in water.  This medium seems to come pretty naturally to me.  This gives me encouragement to pursue it as another artistic expression, and one that I will devote a lot of attention to.

I figured I would take some pictures, because they help me to see what changes I want to make, what needs to be altered (and I can see some things right off that I want to change/correct), and helps give me a comparison record to employ as the sculpture progresses.  I noticed one thing right off the bat that gave me a chuckle that needs correcting, but that is what is great about taking a photo: it gives a neutral perspective, kind of like a "third party."  Wonderful!

So, now it's time to clean up, catch a quick dinner, and head up into my studio to work on some paintings.  Have a nice night!!