Barn Owl Sculpture

This particular sculpture features a number of different recycled resources. The wings are made out of bark pieces from different species of trees. I hand-selected the bark chips that most resembled feathers, yet still kept the organic shape and texture of the wood. The top half of the wing was constructed from hard pieces of bark, then transitioned in to strips of birch bark towards the tail of the two wings. For the body of the owl, I hand-cut hundreds of tiny feathers out of an old used book I got for free. The face of the owl super fun to create. I took a piece of old, recycled luan and cut it to size, then sanded it down until the edges were smooth. Then, I engraved details in to the wood with a wood burner. It took some time getting used to, but in the end it was fun to create value and texture with the wood burner- its definitely a medium I would use again. For the base of the sculpture, I took a few pinecones and some twigs I gathered from outside. I used the pinecones as a platform for the owl to perch on, while the twigs I used to accent the pinecone platform and form a contrasting angle with the barn owl.

Clay Animal

This particular project went through many changes in the process. Originally, I had planned on doing a raven instead of a chickadee. However, during the sculpting process the raven started becoming larger and larger and eventually it had reached the point where I had no choice but to start over. It was a little frustrating, especially since I had a specific plan for how the raven was going to look. But for the sake of finishing the project and getting it over with, I decided to sculpt a tiny little bird instead. While making the new, smaller sculpture, I wasn't really sure what kind of bird to turn it in to after firing it. However, after talking with my art teacher, we discussed different options that I could use to paint the clay bird. She mentioned using watercolors and I instantly was inspired to turn the little bird into a chickadee. Because of the softness and delicacy in the coloration of a chickadee, the watercolors were great for blending the colors together.

Concentration Sculpture #1

Originally, I planned on detailing eyeballs over the body and face of the raven, however, I found it very difficult to work with small sculpey pieces, which made me stress out over the overall image of the sculpture. If I could go back in time, I would probably use plastilina clay instead of sculpey as it is a sturdier medium.

Concentration Sculpture #2

Concentration Sculpture #3

Concentration Sculpture #4

Plaster Political Hands

Going in to this class, I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I had never done any form of sculpture before this class, as my main focus was primarily illustration. By taking this class, I had hoped to broaden my horizons a bit and become more accustomed to different forms of art and mediums- and I certainly exceeded that goal.

Although I did struggle a lot with sculpting in the round, this class taught me to accept mistakes as an opportunity to turn things in to something new. As an individual I’m a major perfectionist; and that definitely reflects in to my artwork. When something goes wrong, I tend to get frustrated and give up. However, now I can see opportunity in my failures.

One piece that I really struggled with was my sculpey dove. Originally, I had a different vision for the sculpture. However, during the baking process of the dove, parts of it started to melt off and be destroyed. Instead of totally giving up on the project, Ms. Medsker encouraged me to salvage the parts of the bird that didn’t completely melt and turn them in to something entirely new.

Sculpture is definitely a difficult form of art. I never thought it would be something that I could be semi-confident in doing. After many failures turned in to successes, I do feel like I have enough experience from this class to branch out and express myself through sculpture.