New area – new snaps

Hi there,

took some pics in the area where I live now, the first short trips by foot & bike were lovely. I especially like the converted buildings of the old convent, the old mill and the idyllic surroundings. They really did a great job by filling the buildings with an interesting gallery and shop, a restaurant, a venue for meetings & conventions, rooms for an adult school and some holiday flats and of course a little museum. The river which runs there is so pretty and all this lush green is so calming. As a real country girl, I feel very comfortable here and enjoy the outdoors, and sure don´t get tired (yet) of taking pictures of trees, rivers, meadows, cows, horses, more trees & rivers, old charming buildings and even more trees.

Just a few miles along the river, there´s an impressive sculpture-park by a local artist who´s been around here since the 70´s, named Wolf E. Schulz – he sure has a great body of work. And it´s an inspiration. He uses different kinds of wood and combines it with metal, I find his creatures really wonderful.

 

 

 

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Hello, dear readers,

suddenly I got the chance to present some of my artwork in a really lovely gallery in one of the prettiest parts of Bremen, the Schnoor (local dialect for “Schnur” meaning “line” or”string”, since the streets are so narrow and the houses tiny and unique like pearls – this was the fishermen´s quarter years and years ago), very much frequented by tourists.

For me, this is quite something! So, for the next two months, my stuff can be seen amongst other brilliant and memorable pieces of really talented artists in an absolutely gorgeous building, and I will be there in person once a week to welcome visitors (and buyers 😉 ).

The other artists I met so far are very nice and helpful, and my first day there was absolutely enjoyable, chatting (to mainly englishspeaking) visitors and tourists, all very polite and friendly.

So if you happen to be in town, come around 🙂

This is “my wall”:

This is my handmade improvised callingcard holder…

The entrance area, my soapstone-mask on the desk for a day.

My biggest soapstone dragon in the window.

The ART15 gallery from outside (www.art-15.de)

 

The Little Green Dragon: The outcome of a lengthy 3D 2-piece mould making process

Now, finally the time has come for the last part of the mini-series about how to duplicate small forms and figurines. My smallest soapstone dragon was a good prototype for trying out the process of making a full 3D mould, which took place in several steps.

The prototype was “halfend” by a wall of plasticine, following the contours of the half-way line as straight as possible. A wall of cardboard was then built as a pouring area and the prototype was brushed with Vaseline to let the Silicone part from it when added. Small holes were pressed into the Plasticine wall as clearly as possible, they helped to “lock” the two mould halves together.

The Silicone was prepared with an additive to give it a gelly consistence so it could be brushed onto the prototype thoroughly. When this was done, the Silicone needed to cure. On top of this, a plaster jacket was applied. Messy? Oh yes 😉

When this had set, all of the Plasticine was removed thoroughly.

The whole process was repeated for the second half of the form. After the second plaster jacket had set, the mould could be taken apart, the prototype was removed and the mould was ready for casting.

My casting test was a hollow cast done with resin. The liquid material was spread and brushed very carefully into the put-together mould, held by the plaster jackets.

For the “serious” cast, I added some green pigments to the polyurethane resin. Here is the outcome – a nice little green dragon, light as a feather.

pic by Th. Schramm

 

I found it very interesting how many different ways there are to mould and cast, and the astounding and often suprising effects one can apply to the casts using a variety of materials. The possibilities of deception seem endless 😉

work-in-progress: dragons of metal and stone

Good morning!

Why work on just one piece at a time when there are usually at least two other unfinished ones standing around you, whispering “hey what are you gonna do with me, eh?” ?

This metal-dragon is yet to be completed with a wire-cage to keep his belly-clock securely in place. He is my first metal-workpiece ever. I especially like his feet, what do you think? I used a very cool plasma-cutter to slice them out of a huge plate of metal.

See how long he´s been waiting patiently to be finished, he even got rusty (which was of course fully intended by the artist ) ;-). The piece is called  “U(h)rzeitviech” in German, not so easy to be translated into English with the same nice wordplay, but maybe I just call it “The time of the Dragon” .

 

 

This soapstone-creature is ready to awake from its crawling posture, do you see a dragon like I do as well, or do you see something completely different in it?

Would love to hear your thoughts….

 

 

A happy new year to you all, I hope you are well! Starting 2014 with some tricky business…

… do you remember the little soapstone owl I posted not long ago? Well, I gave it away as a present, but before that I moulded and castet it to experiment a bit …and as I really like coppery-brownish-reddish colours, I faked a rusty surface.  It was my very first try without any references and I just kind of intuitively worked some layers of paint on it…I quite like the effect.

What do you think?

I find it quite fascinating what can be done with “fake” surfaces, I will go on experimenting, and might try something really challenging … wood ?!?

Last year I attended a real interesting course in London led by David Neat, a real expert in modelmaking, moulding and casting (see his informative blog www.Davidneat.wordpress.com), and I really learned a lot there, had a great time, and will add some work-in-progress-Pictures from that experience shortly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

work in progress: a little soapstone owl.

This little fellow will be finished – all smooth and polished – by Christmas. It´s quite nice to work on such a small piece for a change, the stone is just about 5 cm high. But one really has to take great care when using a tool on this little face – one false move and it´s messed up completely with not much working material left to improvise.

Billy Bison

I made this sweet guy some time ago, from soapstone…his horns are made of sculpting clay. Iespecially like his facial Expression, I find it very Bison bull-like ;-).

 I still am in the process of sculpting and finishing a full-body-sculpture of Rufus, the coati, Dougal the waterdragon and the yet name- and genderless waterfairy. But not long and they´ll be online, I am keen to get it done 😉