I've not made a daily post in a few days. Illness has had me moving a little slower than usual. Not stopping me from being in the studio, but definitely slowing me down and forcing me to bed earlier than I prefer.
Its still been an intensely busy few days. I've interviewed several more models for the upcoming body sculptures I will be beginning soon.
I've begun several new pieces also. Raja's Tomb will be the 22nd New Orleans Tomb Sculpture. It is an ornate crypt holding the remains of an elephant and his trainer. I've also begun the bare bones of a new driftwood sculpture, but its so preliminary that its not worth discussing quite yet.
The most important one (at least I hope) is a sculpture that for the moment I am calling "Holding Up Progress" This came from a dream image I had of a man holding up two great rising skyscrapers, his arms bracing both on either side of him. I only began the basic configurations tonight. Like a jigsaw puzzle I will try out different ideas for how I want to structure it before ever beginning the actual building process. All this must be done without the actual man present because he will have to be built from clay later. But I think the concept has merit. We will see what comes of it.
Another project that I am also beginning is for the Little Free Library system. If your not familiar with this its a series of miniature shelves that hold books that people can take for free or leave for others. We've wanted to be involved with this for awhile and today got in touch with one of the coordinators for the program. The actual cabinet is made ahead of time, so you pick it up and mount it on a pole and put it near the sidewalk for people to use. The enjoyable part is that the cabinet is just bare bones, so I get the pleasure of designing it to make it stand out in front of the studio. Not content to just paint it, I'm already brainstorming ideas for the best way to design it and make it fun.
I'll of course post images later of all these projects.
So I'll be 50 years old in just 4 days. This doesn't bother me like I think it bothers some. I'm rather blase about birthdays. I've never felt my age and I'd like to think that few can keep up with me when I am in the creative mode. Heck, for not feeling well this week I am still averaging 14 hours a day in the studio rather than 18 hours like usual. I suppose that is something good even with some pretty severe health issues that have plagued me from time to time.
But I suppose it marks a rather large point in my life. I've gone from a very poor and rough childhood to a middle class husband to a book writer to a game designer to a professional photographer and in the last years to a visual artist. I can be satisfied that I've tried a variety of things to fulfill my life. Some worked, some didn't. But they are all part of who I am. I spent ten of those years as a professional vagabond, doing little more than traveling from the east coast of the United States to the west coast and then back again. But it shaped me and prepared me for who I am now. I pushed myself to the limits all alone just to see if I could do it. And I'm still here. Guess that's something.
I think that's it for tonight. To bed a bit early again and up ready to hit it hard tomorrow. Please check out the new area on the blog to your right entitled "Studio Works in Progress". This area will contain all pieces under development and include work in progress photos and status updates for each phase of each piece. I'd love your feedback on this and encourage questions and commentary.
Creatively,
~Grey~
No comments:
Post a Comment