Mother Nature 2

Okay....this is one of the few really traditional sculpts I've had the chance to do... It is actually modeled out of clay- not sculpted, but whatever.... This is made from terracotta, plaster and a plaster soaked cloth over a wire, chicken wire and wooden armature. It originally bore another- and quite hideous- paint job. It is actually a bust of a real person- whose name I sadly no longer remember. I made a mold of the original piece, which was actually done in Plasticine, and then had slurry poured into the plaster mold, then pured out to leave a hollow clay shell within- like a hollow chocolate Easter bunny.

My original idea was to do a series of these heads as all four elements- earth, fire, air, water- and then a fifth element. And no, my 5th element was not love. It was going to be a sort of Lady Cosmos thing...any way, I don't have access to a kiln and I don't have money to buy one...so I only have this head. I still have the mold....but Any one have a kiln they want to give to me that works?

The tentacle-looking things will be worked on more to be made to look like tree limbs and/or vines. She will eventually be transformed into a sort of Mother Nature/Green Lady/ wood nymph type character....



These are meant to be part of the gallery show I have coming up in November at Edison Community College in Piqua Ohio- like you all plan on being there...

Anyway, they all have a way to go yet...all pieces pictured here are just some that will be part of said show- there will be many others that will be much smaller than these. The idea I have is to add dried shelf-fungus and moss and other bits and pieces along with some of my not-even-frigging-sculpted-yet-figures to these trees. The platforms on which they are mounted will have natural and artificial elements added to further enhance the illusion of being within my magical worlds... let's hope this works and I get it all done.