News of today - Copy-cats

I have to enter this now before I forget. My sculpture class has been busy today with getting our work finished and ready to show on Saturday. Since I finished my head first, I've had time to work on my torso, which won't be fired in time for the show. Too bad, it's a very nice piece.

Remember in an earlier post I described the general reaction to my painted head? The teacher was disconcerted and the students were surprised. Today two students in our group finished their heads. Can you guess how? With polychrome of course. While the older artists did traditional finishes - bronze, ebony, bisque, the university students really broke free with the colour. Seems Gail has come along too. She really has an open mind - bless her. I mounted my head on an ebony very matt base which looks great.

I loaned Gail three more books, one with reproductions of my work "The Sunbathers" so the cat is now out of the bag. She showed the pictures to everyone and I was really pleased by the reaction. They were interested, questioning and then got on with their work. A healthy and positive response.

We have a good group, some more talented than others, but all are enjoying themselves. The few who enjoyed it less seem to have drifted off.

I registered to continue in the spring semester. This has been so good for me.

Into the Now for a while.

Did I mention that it is Spring and that I adore Spring? This is a rainy Sunday, and the birds are loving it. I can't get into the garden yet, because the frost is still in the ground. So I'm in that relaxing place that's filled with anticipation.

So many birds are back at my feeders, that they are old friends come to stay for the summer or just passing through. The robins have been back for a month as are the starlings. The house sparrows (all year regulars) have been joined by song sparrows, house finches, cowbirds, red winged blackbirds, grackles, and blackbirds. The cross bills who overwintered with the cardinals, nuthatches, chickadees and mourning doves are now meeting with a lot of competition at the feeders. Yesterday I watched at least 15 starlings jostling each other to get into the bird bath. LOL.

My Willy is in a very high state of excitement at all the windows, following the action. At intervals he rushes out onto the veranda to improve his view. He even got out into the garden a few days ago, where he dashed around madly, climbed a tree and then came back to roll for me. He was easy to catch so I think his manic days are over and his affection for me is taking over. A great relief.

I spent yesterday at the art school glazing my torso sculpture for firing. I chose a cobalt blue because it's such a rich and robust colour. I had taken my head home to finish at my leisure. I had decided to polychrome the head in the style of ancient Egyptian sculpture, and I didn't want to encounter any resistance from the teacher. She is a wonderful teacher, with a lot of technical information, but her knowledge of sculpture and art history is woefully limited. When I took my painted head in yesterday she was shocked. She was particularly upset by the yellowish skin tones, which I had worked hard to achieve. I wanted to replicate the Egyptian palate. Only after a couple of my fellow students admired it, did Gail reevaluate her views a little. I'm taking Herbert Reed's "History of Sculpture", a book of Egyptian art, and a book on plastic sculpture techniques on Thursday. Time to open some eyes.

I have a real problem with the way art is taught today. In high school, there is absolutely no Art History taught at all and very little in Art colleges. The entire emphasis is on creativity. It's the result of Art being taught by "Crafters". My sculpture teacher is a potter by profession. A good potter mind you, but no sculptor. Still, I like her a lot and she gives us a lot of freedom. I'm profoundly grateful that she is teaching this class which has given me a chance to rediscover myself. I'm already signed up for the Spring semester. Oh happy day!