Last week I was contacted by a potential client on Etsy wondering if I'd take custom orders. Well, certainly! A lot of my bonsai pots and planters are custom, sized or glazed for a particular plant or in a color to frame a planting the customer has in mind. This customer asked if I could do a large coiled sculpture in the style of coil work I use in the vases I have up on Etsy. She asked for a female torso, done as large as my kiln will take. I'll admit, I gave her an honest price after estimating my time and looking around at prices on other sculpture pieces at different levels of complexity and I really didn't expect the customer to reply because the price is... well, high. But she went ahead and ordered! So now I'm starting work on it.
I spent the first few days noodling over poses, looking for reference material, and working on other orders that came in before this one. I've still got a bunch of kusamonos (little decorative planters with sort of random shapes and colors, a lot of fun to do!) as well as a LARGE orchid planter (as big around as my kiln will take!) and a bonsai pot that I have to finish! The orchid planter is simple, its just 16 inches across when fired, so it has to start at 18 inches. Clay shrinks as it drys, then shrinks more in the firing process. The bonsai planter is built, drying and just waiting on firing and glazing, and I'll be working on kusamonos whenever I get a handful of scrap clay, just because they keep moving!
When I figured out the pose I want, a bit hip-shot but otherwise pretty straightforward, I started working on a 'sketch' out of clay. This piece is coming along very nice! So far I'm happy with the pose and the anatomy is looking nice, although I do want to dig out a reference and adjust a few things. Its done with coils, not the decorative coils, just smoothed so I can get the figure perfected. It'll make a nice piece for the Azalea Festival Art show if nothing else, although it might have to have a fig-leaf or three to keep the pearl-clutchers happy! :)
I'll get pics tomorrow, I forgot to grab one today!
I spent the first few days noodling over poses, looking for reference material, and working on other orders that came in before this one. I've still got a bunch of kusamonos (little decorative planters with sort of random shapes and colors, a lot of fun to do!) as well as a LARGE orchid planter (as big around as my kiln will take!) and a bonsai pot that I have to finish! The orchid planter is simple, its just 16 inches across when fired, so it has to start at 18 inches. Clay shrinks as it drys, then shrinks more in the firing process. The bonsai planter is built, drying and just waiting on firing and glazing, and I'll be working on kusamonos whenever I get a handful of scrap clay, just because they keep moving!
When I figured out the pose I want, a bit hip-shot but otherwise pretty straightforward, I started working on a 'sketch' out of clay. This piece is coming along very nice! So far I'm happy with the pose and the anatomy is looking nice, although I do want to dig out a reference and adjust a few things. Its done with coils, not the decorative coils, just smoothed so I can get the figure perfected. It'll make a nice piece for the Azalea Festival Art show if nothing else, although it might have to have a fig-leaf or three to keep the pearl-clutchers happy! :)
I'll get pics tomorrow, I forgot to grab one today!
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