Friday, January 8, 2016

Sketching in clay to warm up or study


Most people think of pencils when they think of sketching, however you can sketch 3d too. It's really cold and snowy so I didn't want to drive to my cold studio today so I grabbed what I had handy to do a little clay sketching as a warm up before getting to work today. This study was sculpted using Chavant Clayette Soft and as most of my tools are at the shop I used a flat stick and an old paintbrush and of course, my hands.

The great thing about 3d sketching is that is warms you up, allows you to work on problems and you can leave it on a shelf to reflect on for future works or recycle the clay and make something else. It is the act of the motion, the thought that was the journey and reward - the destination and final results aren't important. That's the beauty of sketching!

This is a great way to loosed yourself up and allow you explore without the commitment of a full piece of work and no worries about whether you are creating something wonderful or ruining things by making changes....you know that it temporary and can let go of the anxiety - something you can't always do if you are working.
I enjoyed this 30-45 minute study - it gave me time to reflect on the forms without over-thinking things and I realize how much I miss the freedom of that. Note to self- take more time for these sketches and warmups - it just may be the faster road to improvement of your work.

Thursday, January 7, 2016

Eleanor wins 1st Place Sculpture and Purchase Award Scottsdale...

"Eleanor" was chosen by the judges as First Place in Sculpture for this year’s Best & Brightest Show at Scottsdale Artists School. It was also chosen by the school to be this year’s Purchase Award.

This honor is especially poignant for me because I received a scholarship from the Scottsdale Artist's School to attend a Sandy Scott workshop in 2015 and while there I would sneak into the school early just to peruse the halls, admiring the works on permanent display, photographing them with my iPad and thinking that I would love to have one of my works in those halls one day.

I am grateful that "Someday" came today.

Show opens Friday 1/8/2016 with a free and open reception from 5-7pm and runs through 2/27/2016.

Scottsdale Artists’ School
3720 North Marshall Way
Scottsdale, AZ 8525