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

Donatello Bas Relief Sculpture

Dear Art-loving friend,
My friend and fellow sculptor here in Florence, Italy, enjoys giving lectures on art and art history.  Jason Arkles has recently created a new series of podcasts, called “The Sculptor’s Funeral.”  That title alone ought to get some attention!

The podcast that I listened to this Sunday morning was all about the sculptor Donatello.  He has not been one of my favorite artists, but Jason makes a great argument on why I should never discount Donatello’s importance or creativity.  Give it a listen, will ya?

"Oh Boy!" bronze mirror of men

Over fifteen years ago, I took a sculpture class from Eugene Daub.  We did a portrait in plastilina in three days and studied bas-relief sculpture the last two days of the week-long workshop in Colorado.  Eugene made bas relief interesting to me because for some reason, I had not understood the possibilities of having a sculpted figure INSIDE of an environment.  Looking back, I probably just had very little experience looking at bas-relief sculpture in general.  The idea of adding architectural “frames” around a figure intrigued me.  I remember thanking Eugene for opening my eyes to this art form, admitting that I had only thought before of bas-relief sculpture as “Puffy Painting” and had not been interested in it.  He seemed amused.

Eugene Daub taught bas relief with the same idea that my friend Vasily Fedorouk did:  as compressed form.  From then on, I looked at bas-relief in that way.  I had often assumed that some artists just did that badly.  Perhaps you can imagine my surprise this morning to hear Jason’s voice coming through my laptop to say that Donatello was the first sculptor to understand and successfully demonstrate this idea.  Sculptors before used mainly outlines to describe their forms!

"Rehearsal" bronze bas relief / wall hanging

Since Eugene’s class I have tackled many bas relief compositions.  Here are just a few:
"Oh Boy!"  [Mirror of Men, what a fun way to brush one’s teeth in the morning!], "Rehearsal" (the woman waving the large fabric over her head), and "Infinity" (created for the eighth wedding anniversary gift of bronze material, note the figure eight as the outside shape).


I have been thinking of new compositions to create in bas-relief because I think the story-telling ability is very similar to painting in that respect.  But I hope you enjoy the compositions that I have created thus far.

[Ask, please, about availability, or commission some art for yourself or another.]


Thank you for your interest and enthusiasm,
Kelly
~ Kelly Borsheim, sculptor, painter, writer, teacher
http://BorsheimArts.com

"Infinity" bronze bas-relief sculpture by Kelly Borsheim