Mary MacKillop preliminary raw bronzes at foundry

Photos from the foundry continued

Preliminary bronze photos taken by the foundry

Here are some of the raw cast bronze pieces and the welding and fettling work that goes into making a statue whole. This is the preliminary work so don't be worried about it looking like the end result yet as there is still a lot to be done and the whole piece to still be patinated. The statue will fit on the plinth nicely.

News on Mary MacKillop Sculpture progress.

Hi all, the foundry have sent me photos of the work on Mary and children.They have finished casting all the pieces and have tacked and welded the pieces together,
although not yet finished.
They are closed this week during the Victorian school holidays but will be back on the job next week.
I am to go over in about 3 week's time, but there has been such a delay at the site for Mary that trip may also be delayed.
It,s disappointing. The dedication of Mary's statue has been delayed until 22nd March next year, but I believe the new sacristy and the landscaping all need to be completed before the sculpture of Blessed Mary Mackillop will be installed at the site.
The sculpture was measured to make sure it will sit on the new plinth planned for it.
The plans for the plinth have been drawn up by the architect Bill Kay and features the same footings and stone as the cathedral, so it will sit well on the west precinct of the site facing Victoria Square.
I will update as I hear more news. Some photos to follow of the raw bronze works.

Preview of work for Artistic License Gallery Group Exhibition

This is the new work I have been producing for the group exhibition at Artistic License gallery.
The work is modelled in clay and bisqued fired, then coated with gesso and painted with thin washes of Casein paint. The paint is allowed to dry and then subsequently more washes applied. You have to take care in applying the washes. The paint will eventually become waterproof after some time.
These are my efforts in applying this new medium.

Monday, September 8, 2008

Photos from the porcelain painting workshop

Porcelain workshop at Jam Factory, 4th September 2008

I have been attending a 10 week porcelain workshop on Saturdays and have now attended 4.They have been very informative with workshop days being slipcasting, jigger/jolleying, hand carving and painting. The one I enjoyed most has been the last one with Stephen Bowers (head of Jam Factory), taking us for painting on porcelain. His work is exquisite as you can see by the photos of his unfired platters. His talk was very informative and also included history of painting on pottery. We ended the class working on a pot to paint underglaze cobalt colour for our own work, which will be fired and glazed in the coming weeks.
Meanwhile I am coming to grips with painting with casein paint on one of my sculptures.

Media article on Mary MacKillop sculpture, Adelaide Advertiser, 29th September, 2008

Any Sculpting Bloggers

I wondered if there were any bloggers out there that are interested in sculpting and have blogsites. There are plenty of potters out there but I haven't been in touch with fellow sculptors.
If you know of anyone please let them get in touch with me.It would be great to hear from anyone.
Meanwhile I am rubbing down my dancer ready to apply colour to her.I emailed Judy Fox and she was gracious enough to email me back and I am very greatful to have a reply from her.
I would like to be able to get a result somewhat like her child figures and am waiting impatiently to receive the colours I have ordered.
Meanwhile I am making a couple of small figures to try out her techniques,so I'll keep readers posted on the results.

The big squeeze

Things were pretty tight fitting this sculpture of 26" into a kiln 23.5" deep but it fired okay. Opened the kiln this morning ad was relieved to see it had survived the firing. This is one of the pieces I hope to colour.

The big squeeze