Death on the bus

I did the pen drawing, below (22nd of January), from this photograph I took on a bus

I have been working on an etching of it. Here three states

Cameron Ross has been giving me etching lessons on his own time (thanks Cameron!). He showed me how to do aquatint with acrylic spray. I wanted velvety darks in the background, but, though I was glad to learn the technique the darks went too far & there was no saving the etching.

I bought new copper to try again, & used the ruined plate to try out the new Daler Rowney, FW acrylics. I discovered them watching the fine illustrator, Scott M Fischer's videos of his process for painting on copper.

The Saga of Darwin's Fish

This project, begun so thoughtlessly, after weeks of preparation, has finally been poured in glass. Today, after a three day burn in the kiln & another for cooling down, I removed the one-time mold.

It all began with a simple plaster-cast of a fish, a Sea Bass. Which I thought would be a quick, first-time experience in glass casting.

The mold was good, the detail clear. But it took a few attempts at filling it with Paraffin, before getting a cast with all the details of fins & tail. In the end, I made trenches in the mold from all the high points of the fins & tail, to allow the air to escape, before I was able to force the wax in all the nooks & crannies

I modelled arms & legs in clay

Made a mold for each of them

Once poured in wax, & with great difficulty, I attached the wax arms & legs to the fish. Unfortunately the process was so fraught, & the resulting wax fish so fragile, that I didn't get another photo of it until it was in the container made to hold the plaster, flint & fiberglass I would pour into it. The metal rods are sprues that are removed after the plaster sets leaving vents for the air to escape.

In the kiln after the pour. You can see the convex shape of the glass that has filled the hole on top (the fish is upside-down, we see its base)

I began to chip the mold away. Carefully, to avoid breaking an arm or leg by accident.

When I reached a certain point, however, it fell away to reveal a fish-shaped hole where the molten glass should have been.

When I got all the mold broken away, I revealed the only part that had filled. Eeek! The pedestal & a foot :-(

I bought some expensive glass, which I'm told will work better. I have all the molds, so I will begin again from scratch

Life drawing Foodstory

Death

From a photo I took of a man getting on the bus

Painting of Vaish

An experiment in kinetics, acrylics on a canvas 150 x 120 cm

via GIPHY

Sculpture

I finally finished this sculpture. Here, its final stages

I then burned it with a torch in Phil's workshop

The following day, I changed my mind & charred it until it was completely black

After burning, I burnished it with a soft wire brush followed by a softer bristle, & then I gave it a coat of linseed oil. I am pleased with the soft, mysterious, deep finish. It is a shame the sculpture itself isn't very accomplished. The Yew wood simply wasn't up to being carved--by the end it was chipping off in such large pieces that I decided to leave it rough rather than take a chance of losing a whole foot or something. But, overall, I am happy with the experiment & don't regret the time I put into it. I will be going back to buy some Maple or Oak to try another

25/01 After a second coat of Linseed oil dried, I treated it with a coat of French polish giving it a subtle sheen

Life drawing at Food Story. Pregnant model

Portrait of Neil. Acrylics & oils on linen 56 x 41 cm

Vase 2nd stage

I glazed the interior of the vase & it has finally come out of the kiln after this, its second firing. The lid is back on the shelf waiting for its third firing with the gold lustre I bought & applied to its rim. In the meanwhile I have begun painting the vase with a background to the final design.

Now (Dec 15), with lid. Glazed, gold lustered, & painted in the same French Ultramarine as the vase's base

Almost there

Another session or two & I will be able to finish this piece as planned, before Christmas

Another page for the chapbook

Chuckle!

New project: vase

Continuing with the experiments in work based on children's drawings, I have begun a promising collaboration with Matthew the blonde-dreadlocked potter. He has made a gorgeous vase, which I hope will be only the first of a series of ceramic products I will decorate with paint or glazes.

For this first, inspired by a child's drawing that was unintentionally sexual in nature, it has occured to me to do something childlike but erotic. I am working on sketches while the vase gets fired; will upload when I have the idea more clearly visualised.

Yew sculpture

As I come to a finish the wood is giving me problems. It is the first time I work with Yew wood & I can see now that it isn't really suitable. As I try to work in greater detail, it is breaking along fault lines in a major way.

Disappointing. I will try to finish it in a rough shape, but the head is impossibly weak (bits just falling off) & one of the legs is also holding on by a small piece...

Mural final

I added a background based on a child's drawing of a tree. With oil pastels so that i could cover it in a translucent layer of acrylics without losing the rough, child-like texture.

Around the dark side of the moon

Work in progress. 8 x 8 foot mural

Death & the child

After many hours, much learned, & innumerable failed attempts in ceramics workshop, one successful tile. Terracotta, slip, glazes & acrylic paint. It now forms the back cover of my chapbook.

Memento Mori

The noseless story-teller. (Blixen)

Tiles test II

I used broken tiles for these tests. I went to the trouble & expense of ordering terracotta, because my idea was to use the white glaze thinly enough to allow the clay's colour to show through. Now that I see the results, I am having second thoughts.

Illumination

If I had known what I was getting into, I might not have begun. But, here it is, ten days work to cover about 10 square centimeters!

I died for beauty, but was scarce
Adjusted in the tomb,
When one who died for truth was lain
In an adjoining room.

He questioned softly why I failed?
"For beauty," I replied.
"And I for truth - the two are one;
We brethren are," he said.

And so, as kinsmen met a-night,
We talked between the rooms,
Until the moss had reached our lips,
And covered up our names. 

Emily Dickinson