Winter 2013
Inside this Issue: -See work on my first full-scale stone carving -”Fat and Happy” 2013’s first new bronze, and more! An exclusive online publication by Eternal Sun Studios
Fat and Happy…….....….……..........……….………..…..4 The Ice is Nice...….…………………………...………….6 Update: Drops in Aether………………………………….8 Winter Show Highlight...………………………………..10 Inside the Studio……...……………………...………….12 Upcoming Events………………………………………..14 Getting Involved…….…………………………………..15 Contact Weston………………………………………….16 Visit Eternal Sun Studios online by clicking one of the icons below:
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Fat and Happy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ceratophrys_ornata_(Pacman_Frog).JPG
What could be better in the first leg of a new year than a special offer on a sculpture for the budget of any collector? “Fat and Happy” is the first open edition I’ve offered , and I’m very excited to be partnering with one of my favorite websites, “The Featured Creature” to promote the piece. It is to date my smallest sculpture to be cast in bronze. While there’s always little finishing details I play around with until the actual mold making, the clay to the right essentially represents the finished design. If you happen to notice the fairly obvious difference between the picture above and my rendition, my sculpture is of a juvenile pacman. An adult would have been a much larger sculpture than I had planned on doing., but perhaps someday... Additionally, for whatever reason, every picture I’ve taken of the clay seems to make this guy look way skinnier than he really is. Casting on the first run of pieces will be completed next week. Pacman frogs, formally known as ornate or horned frogs, get their common name from their very bloated look and enormous mouths. They’re known to eat almost anything unfortunate to get close enough to fit into their mouths. Most species hail from South America and are very common in the pet trade. Striking colors can characterize these
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frogs and I have seen first hand that there are people out there willing to pay thousands of dollars for a rare morph pattern. While I’m looking to begin expanding my body of work toward larger and even monumental work, it’s important to me that I continue to produce new work on every scale. Don’t forget to visit the Featured Creature at www.thefeaturedcreature. com Fat and Happy won’t be up for a while, but there’s all kinds of awesome stuff to peruse in the meantime.
“Fat and Happy” Open Edition 2013 $60.00
The Ice is Nice
I did create an ice sculpture once, but I’m talking about something that may not be quite what you were expecting. Italian Ice Alabaster, named for its country of origin and beautiful translucent quality, is a type of stone I’ve dabbled in carving for several months now. At this time stone sculpting isn’t something I’m pursuing all that intensely, but it’s a medium I do enjoy. One of my favorite qualities about some of the “harder” sculptural forms is the fact that you’re taking materials which are, in some sense, unworkable, and transforming them. Working stone is not as different from working clay as you might think; however, since the only technique at a sculptor’s disposal is reduction, it can be quite a challenge. One of the questions that seems to be most frequently asked is, of course, “What do you do if you mess up?” In my experience, although not yet ample, provided you take the time to think about how you plan to remove material, messing up doesn’t just happen. If you know what you’re doing well enough, you’re not smacking at something in such a way that you’ll take off a huge chunk where you didn’t mean to. Apart from that the only risk of messing up seems to be if there is a flaw in the stone itself. In the alabaster, so far it’s been pretty easy to pick out weak spots—usually darker veins or impurities running through it.
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Traditional and modern methods both shaped the piece pictured here. The majority of what I’ve done so far has been with a hammer, chisel, and rasps. Alabaster is soft enough that the process doesn’t take nearly as long as one might expect. When I fire up the dremmel and do some power carving, you cut through the stone like it’s butter. Finding the traditional method easier than the one afforded by modern technology was something I didn’t expect. The process isn’t altogether different from the lost wax in terms of the time it takes. So far I’ve enjoyed working on something that starts as the same material it will be once completed. It’s a nice change in terms of how the process changes knowing that you’re doing something in one shot.
Ok, so I know most of you are probably thinking, “Wow this guy has one track mind,” if you noticed the sculpture is of a chameleon. While I am obviously fascinated and fixated on reptiles, my choosing one as the subject for my first large scale stone carving was much more about sticking with a familiar form as I tried a new medium. The final piece will keep a somewhat loose and abstract quality. Some of my favorite stone work focuses not so much on the end result as it does preserving some aspect of the original boulder. Stone is a naturally a very beautiful material , so I appreciate and strive for work that seeks to blend an artist’s vision with the natural qualities of the stone they’re working with. Finishing this piece will mean getting the rest of the shaping done, and then a lot of sanding and then finally polishing. My plan is to continue relying on the traditional techniques to finish the piece. Not only is there something that’s just cool about working the way classical sculptors did, but I think spending the time it takes gives someone a much better appreciation for the differences offered by modern technology and in general a strong insight into sculpting.
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As you can see from the scratches in the stone and the general shape how the piece is worked through rough phases to perfect the form. Ultimately the finishing and cleaning of the stone is done with, believe it or not, sandpaper.
Winter Show Highlight: Master and Apprentice Mari Michener Dual Exhibition No, it’s not a Star Wars allusion. The first show to kick off the year was a dual exhibition which featured my work and the work of my former master, and very good friend, James G Moore. The show was held at the Mari Michener Art Gallery in Michener Library at the University of Northern Colorado in my hometown of Greeley. It was a fun show for a few reasons. First of all, Greeley isn’t usually a city most people in Colorado associate with the arts, so the chance to exhibit at a venue like the Michener gallery is great! Contributing to the arts in your own community is something I think is important as well. The chance to do a show exclusively with Jim was a blast. I’ve know Jim since I was a senior in high school, and have now worked with him for more than three years. It was neat to have a show that only showed our work because it was also a picture of the way my style has been influenced and of our friendship. Just having the chance to chat with the people who came through the reception about our history and path to becoming professional sculptors. One aspect of that history that still blows me away is the manner
in which getting into sculpting just kind of happened for me. It really is a blessing and a gift and I’m tremendously thankful for the opportunity I’ve had to do it. It’s fun that some of the best things in life are the least expected. Another aspect of my friendship with Jim and having him as a mentor that really speaks to me is the fact that he took the time to invest in my skills and teaching to do something that was used to open this door in my life. Just goes to show that you never know the scope of influence you might have on someone or how you might be a part of changing their life in amazing ways. In the picture to the right, you can catch a glimpse of Japanese style paintings we did for the gallery. After getting all set up, Jim and I realized that there was still a ton of empty wall space. Since Jim draws heavy influence from Japanese culture and my earlier work from Chinese, we decided to create traditional ink paintings which depicted our sculptures as concept artwork. The idea was to create “sketches” that not
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only added to the gallery exhibit, but also gave people who came through some insight into how the ideas for our work came to us and then how we went about creating designs. We spent an afternoon working on them at Jim’s studio, which was a nice opportunity to play around with a new medium for a while. A lot of my work doesn’t have prefabrication designs of sketches, so it was nice to be able to create something that gave a little insight into what my thought process is like when I’m sculpting. I really enjoyed the fact that this show allowed me to have artwork displayed in a college library. When I was still a student, I always
enjoyed the exhibitions which would come through. They break up some of the monotony that can settle in doing a lot of studying. I really enjoyed have the chance to be on the side of providing artwork to this type of setting. All in all, despite a smaller crowd, the opening reception was a great time and a unique experience for me to get to chat with people about my work in a setting I haven’t before. At big shows you’re one artist among many, so doing a show focused on your work is a very different experience.
Inside the Studio Metal Chasing: Of the many phases of the bronze production process none is quite as interesting, or dirty, as metal chasing.. Just as much an art as sculpting itself, metal chasing takes raw choppy castings from a foundry, and through the process of welding, grinding, and polishing restores them to their original state. Whether you’re working on something as small as “Fat and Happy,” or a larger than life-size bull elk. Every phase of the lost wax process is equally as important, but metal chasing stands apart in that the results preclude the actual finished bronze, and are much more visible. In my case, I’m somewhat unique as a sculptor because I do my own metal chasing. In my case it’s still something I enjoy doing. I like doing what I can in every step of the lost wax process because then the final result is truly and wholly my work, instead of something I Just designed and conceptualized. Metal chasing can often require a lot of work to restore a sculpture to its original look—and sometimes even achieves things a sculptor can’t in clay. It’s a crucial piece of the puzzle and there are a lot of unsung men and women in the production process whom sculptors would be nothing without. Steps of Metal Chasing -When the bronze first comes back from the foundry, is often somewhat rough and still has sprews fused to it. Sprews are basically vents or tubes that allow the molten bronze to fill the mold and are added in the wax stage. They pretty much look like big squares stuck to your sculpture. Cutting these off can be done with a grinder like the one I’m using in the photo above. Another method of removing sprews is to melt them with a welder. -Any welding is done next. This can be as simple as putting a plug back into place (hole cut from the sculpture to aid in the casting process), or as complex as reassembling
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panels to put something large back together. Welders often have to fight warping as they work, and have the task of doing their best to preserve the texture of the metal. -Once the welding is finished, all weld seams are ground down using large wheel grinders or hand-held pneumatic tools. If needed, the texture of the original sculpture is reapplied in order to hide these seams. When it’s done right, you’d never know there was a weld. - The entire piece is sanded using abrasive pads or cones. -The entire piece is wire brushed to create a uniform appearance and scratchless surface on the metal.. -Any remaining polishing is completed. As you can see by the pictures, metal chasing is pretty heavy duty, industrial, and even hazardous work. In a way it’s a little funny, most people wouldn’t imagine the creation of art involving anything all that dangerous. Despite following the proper safety procedures, and keeping a close eye on my equipment, I have caught fire twice. I think one of the things I like most about the bronze medium is that industrial quality I mentioned. It’s really cool to see how tools and processes that were not created specifically for art, and are completely antithetical to the idea are used to create and finish something that can be very elegant, delicate, and beautiful. As you can see from the photos, you have to get pretty decked out to metal chase. Here’s what I wear and why: Leather gauntlets: Can stand up to a tool jumping and keeping you from losing a finger. Leather Coat: Is pretty fireproof and heat resistant, keeps your body safe in the same way as the gloves. Rebreather: Chasing creates a lot of dust and shrapnel. Face-Shield: Safety glasses aren’t good enough for most chasing as grinders literally throw debris everywhere. Failing to take the right precautions can
Upcoming Events While the calendar is pretty clear for now so I can focus on sclupting, two very big events are in the works!
Friday Night Art Walk: TBA 2012 Creations Art Gallery. Louisville, CO Check back for the dates! Friday Night Art Walks go all through the winter. Stop by Louisville Colorado to visit me at the Creations gallery, and for a chance to catch lots of other great happenings in the down-town area. 22nd Annual Loveland Sculpture Invitational: August 9th-11th 920 West 29th Street. Loveland CO August may be a long way off, but work is already underway in preparation for the largest outdoor sculpture show in the United States. Near or far, we hope to see you there!
Is Something Missing? Was there a piece you remember from another issue, or were hoping to see this time? While Heliosphere is not a catalogue of Weston’s complete bronze portfolio, we are happy to direct you to one or send an electronic copy. Please note hard copies are only available by special request and may associate a small surcharge for printing expenses. If you have any questions about a sculpture you’ve in another issue, don’t hesitate to contact Weston.
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http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/
Getting Involved: “Post-Modern Rebuttal” Ever wanted to see one of these in the flesh? Since Jurassic Park didn’t go so well, how about wanting to see one of these in bronze? Life-sized?! I’m very excited to announce that USAProjects.org has approved my proposal to raise funds to create a life-sized sculpture of a pachycephalosaurus—with an extra fun surprise. Details are currently being finalized before the fundraising campaign begins, but this project will only be possible through the support and generosity of patrons. Before you happen to think, “Oh man he’s going to solicit us for money,” allow me to say that there are some pretty awesome perks I have in the works for donors! Check my Facebook page and blog for more details, but if this project happens, there is going to be some very awesome stuff you won’t want to miss! The planned sculpture is entitled “Post-Modern Rebuttal,” and will be approximately four and a half feet tall by eight feet long.
Contact Weston at weston.brownlee@gmail.comEternal Sun Studios is a fine art production and representation company. Our services include: Commissioned Sculpture Mold Making and Metal Chasing Patina for Bronze Artist Agent, and Social Media/Marketing Consultant
All uncredited materials in Heliosphere are the exclusive property of Weston Brownlee and Eternal Sun Studios and are thereby protected by copyright laws.