Clay Sculpture

Dear Art-loving friend,

Thank goodness I teach private painting lessons on Saturday morning because I think my new Sunday morning ritual is to listen to The Sculptor’s Funeral, a new podcast series about sculpture.

If you think that painters have a lot of work to do, listen to this new podcast by my friend Jason Arkles about preparing water-based clay for sculpture. It is not exactly like buying it out of a store and immediately starting to create! Enjoy!
http://ec.libsyn.com/p/8/f/f/8ffa4356df9cf7c2/Episode_03_-_What_is_clay.mp3?d13a76d516d9dec20c3d276ce028ed5089ab1ce3dae902ea1d06c98430d1cc592f47&c_id=7756066

I started my sculpture education with water-based clay.  I love its squishy appeal and speed of work (especially compared to stone carving, another love).  One of my very first sculptures is also still one of my most affordable.  I had gotten so many inquiries that I made my first press mold and then an edition.  Here is “Leaning Torso” made in clay using a slab method. That means that I built the sculpture hollow (vs. modeling solid clay and afterwards hollowing out the piece before drying and firing).

http://www.borsheimarts.com/sculpture/1995/ltorso.htm

Once I was fortunate enough to find a married couple who were artist models.  Steve and Sue posed for several compositions for me, some more sketches than finished-looking pieces.  I was in a phase in which I wanted to loosen up a little and learn a few things. 

Here are :  “TheOriginal Love Story”

http://www.borsheimarts.com/sculpture/2005/temptation.htm

and

“Compatibility”    http://www.borsheimarts.com/sculpture/2005/couple2.htm

And “Conversation” http://www.borsheimarts.com/sculpture/2005/couple3.htm

Another time I was extremely lucky to have two female models.  I loved the non-sexual poses of these two women of diverse ages and physiques.

“After the Bath”

http://www.borsheimarts.com/sculpture/2006/bath.htm

and “Waiting & Wondering”

http://www.borsheimarts.com/sculpture/2006/waiting.htm

And then finally, “Comfort” is a terra-cotta sculpture that can out of my head.  No models.  But this has been one of my favorite “sketches.”

http://www.borsheimarts.com/sculpture/2005/couple1.htm

Each of these sculptures is a one-of-a-kind work of art.  Even “Leaning Torso” (the one of which I made an edition) is considered an original, in the same way that bronze sculpture is.  This is because each one has a majority of handwork involved in the creation of the work.

Please inquire if any of these works moves you.

Thank you for your interest and enthusiasm,

Kelly

~ Kelly Borsheim, sculptor, painter, writer, teacher

http://BorsheimArts.com

"Comfort" an original clay sculpture by Kelly Borsheim