This turned out to be most gratifying to be able to have a second go at a gorgeous piece of stone.
The character of the piece is much more ethereal but I think it has worked.
And here is my finished hand saying cheerio as I am off to Australia this evening for three weeks for my nieces wedding. Don’t know if there will be any blogging ops.
Repairing this will be a challenge. First job is to sink sink penetrating solution into any potential problem cracks.
Then take the damaged part down to viable stone and then work out where to go.
These last couple of days have been spent in experimenting with selectively polishing some areas, using a finishing rasp to add some texture and then giving the whole piece a wipe down with oil.
Wow! Quite intense. i expect that by tomorrow the oil will have sunk somewhat and there will be more differentiation in the colour. We’ll see.
Now… what to place in this hand?
Hard to believe that i worked on this for seven hours today, the changes are so subtle. Quite a lot of time was spent experimenting with whether to leave tool marks in or not and how much to polish.
This was two weeks ago during Felix’s half term. It was doubly good to have the piece worked to a point where i didn’t need heavy duty tools and could get it to my studio at home where i do most of my finishing. The light at my home studio is fantastic and there is also the advantage of being able to see a sculpture from a bit of a distance whenever i am the kitchen.
I’ve been working out how to keep the structure looking active and strong without getting fiddly. I think the back of this hand lends itself to being very blocky.
IT crisis. Big panic as my trusty mac desktop starts to have hissy fits that seem to be more than computer temperament showing signs of impending doom.
Enlist Felix to help me do a comprehensive back up and then take the computer to the doctor to get checked out. Then a very deep breath and go for getting it rebooted back to to factory settings, ditch panther for snow leopard and add some ram.
Scary couple of days there but it all seems to work and my computer seems quite pleased about everything. phew!
Very satisfactory weekend with a sale (Gathering Clouds”) at the 20/21 exhibition at the Royal College of Art.
Spent most of what i made immediately, by buying two small judith bridgend paintings which i love more and more each time i look at them.
Actually miss having “Gathering Clouds” here at home quite a lot.
What a relief! No new disasters, relatively few interruptions, just many happy happy hours working away.
From now the decisions are going to be more about how to treat the surface of the sculpture in order to get the best out of the stone.
Went to see the Henry Moore retrospective at the Tate Britain a few days ago. Truly amazing!
