ARTISTS TALKING

# 30 [15 March 2010]

Metal, Tea and Blogs

This evening Helaine invited me to tea along with Maria Gamundi and Shelley Robzen at her studio. It was so lovely and really interesting. I felt privileged being allowed into an inner sanctum with these 3 established sculptors, who are all so generous with their time to me and interested in what I have to say and think.

We also talked about my (this) blog! Johannes Von Stumm, President of the RBS, had told Helaine that she must read it (he has also sent me some lovely emails too including: "I am glued to the screen and enjoy it very much.") so she looked it up and apparently was quite surprised and impressed with it. She thought the RBS should put it in their weekly ebulletin!

Shelley also mentioned that she had read what I had put about my visit to her studio, and was really touched. She even said she might want to quote it in a catalogue some day. She also said that the way I wrote it was great as it made her fell right there with me.

It is strange as, being a visual artist, and never being very strong at the humanities at school (I was always more of a scientist) I don't really think that I'm any good at writing. However, the process of keeping this blog has been very interesting. I find myself thinking what I should write about and how to capture the various experiences I'm having. It seems to be a way of digesting and analysing the whole experience. At times I think about the audience, and how to interest them and draw them in. But most of the time I try to forget that anyone might actually be reading it (especially anyone I might know!)

It was great hearing them reminiscing about their early days in Pietrasanta, when there were only a few artists, and even fewer who were women. Tales of endless massive delicious meals; Of long discussions between artists in the marble workshops; and things they had learnt that are still relevant to the way they work today.

However it did remind me that one of the things I'd expected to be doing here on my residency, which as yet hasn't materialise... I'd been told that Pietrasanta was such a mecca for Sculptors that I'd imagine I would be having long discussions about sculpture and art over meals or drinks - but it is hard to intergrate into a community just like that, so I think I need to make more efforts to invite myself into other people's lives! That said, I have been invited out to dinner tomorrow evening with some of the artist from the life class, so maybe it is just one of those things that takes time.

I was actually a bit late for tea as I'd got so absorbed in my work in the metal workshop that I'd lost track of time. I must have missed the 5pm siren when we were re-sandblasting my first bronze, which is really very nearly finished. Massimo had been helping me with all the things I can't do. The 2 small figures are soldered back into place, and it is attached to its purpose built new brass base.

It was fascinating how effortlessly and quickly Massimo sorted out the base. I probably took nearly as long to decide the exact positioning of the piece, he then marked of the 3 leg positions using a marker pen. With the sculpture upturned, he marked a small hole using a rotary tool in the the centre of each leg by eye, then used a drill to make a hole. He then took a hand tap (I just had to look that up online to find out what it was called) and cut the thread.

Again by eye he marked the centre of the marker pens circles left on the base (with a quick glance back at the holes in the sculpture base to cross check - particularly as one the the legs joined the base at an angle making more of an oval shape). It amazed me that he did it all by eye, and is probably far more acurate than I would be if I tried to measure it all accurately. 3 holes were drilled, 3 brass screws were cut down to the exact size required, the burs all tidied up, and the base was screwed into place - simple - when you have 37 years of experience :)

# 29 [13 March 2010]

Oh bugger...

Just got an email from london - the artist who I found to sublet my studio to has had a change of circumstances and has given me notice... i.e. doesn't want to sublet for April - that sets me back £200 I was expecting, or really more, as I'm paying £250/month.

So... if you know anyone who needs a studio on the Fulham/Chelsea borders:

Great studio for a sculptor - in a foundry

Ground floor sculpture studio with car parking and good access, sink, heating, warm water, additional outdoor space to work, sharing with another sculptor who works about 2 days/week (each with own area of space). Normal rent £250/month, offered at £200, available for the month of April 2010. Would also be suitable for other visual arts/crafts. Near Gasworks SW6, 5 mins walk from Fulham Broadway tube on District line. (Images available on request and viewings welcome.) Possibilities of longer term studio rental available.

Contact Briony Marshall: me@briony.com

Please spread the word, but I'm not hopefull...  :(

# 28 [13 March 2010]

Preparing the spare 'arms' for casting

A couple of weeks ago when I finally decided my first piece was ready for casting, it was then handed over to Alfredo to add the 'collate' (wax sprues which will become air tubes for delivering the bronze to the whole piece).

My piece was split into 3 bits for casting (more of this in another post). But in addition, Alfredo was worried that the little thin arms of the figures might not come out, so we did 2 extra of each arm to be on the safe side.

Here are some photos of the process. It was amazing watching Alfredo - with rather large hands - carefully working on my detailed pieces with such precision and calm.

# 27 [11 March 2010]

4pm expresso break

I take mine 'a l'americano' which means that it is about 30ml, instead of 10, with a sugar. I down it quickly over a short chat with Carlo and Ste, standing by the Lavazza machine. 

Today we were discussing National Health Service in UK and Italy (with a brief mention of US, and an american sculptor who didn't want to go to first aid despite a gushing wound and cut  tendon over fears of cost!)

Then I return to my stool and my small wax figures, the delicious taste of sugary rich coffee lingering in my mouth, and a slight head rush and supper alertness from the caffeine rush.

I'm putting together a Pyruvate molecule made out of small figures. The structure is CH3-CO-COOH - the Cs are men, the Os are women, and the Hs will be babies.

I'm developing a technique to make them directly out of wax (so ready for bronze casting), using the brown hard wax as an inner harder armature, covered with the softer modelling wax. It seems to be working ok and its easy to control and change. Although I only just started today so we will see what happens when I start putting them all together.

# 26 [9 March 2010]

We are waiting for snow!

Or so tells me Raymondo, who likes to follow satellite photos and predict the weather.  Apparently it tends to only snow in Pietrasanta about once a year, usually in February or March. The temparature has certainly dropped again after a few balmy spring like days, and I've had to get my long johns out again!

I had a great morning 'chasing' again - i.e. working the bronze to get rid of the sprues etc. I finished the 4th figure, and have nearly finished the legs of the piece.

I learnt a clever trick on how to make the base flat: they have a flat slab of marble which they blacken with the flame of the oxyacetylene torch, then you can rub your piece on it to see which bits of the base are lowest and need grinding down.

My mother has just come in saying its definitely threatening to snow as she's seen the odd snow flake. Typical - just when my husband and father are coming out for the weekend - although Raymondo also says that it should be sunny on saturday and sunday. I hope he's also right on that.

Lunchtime, then back to the foundry for some more chasing - I should be working on the main bit of my piece. I then have life drawing tonight at Marcello's and I need to talk to him about enlarging, maybe next week... I might ask him what he thinks of me going bigger than 3&1/2.

# 25 [8 March 2010]

Fuzione, Sabbiare, Finitura...

On friday, about 3.30pm, I watched my first bronze being poured! My piece is actually now in 5 bits to be cast: the figures and then the support structure were both taken off to be cast separately, then I also cast 2 extra figures in case the first 2 didn't come out, then we also did 4 extra arms (2 right and 2 left) as the arms are very thin and there was a risk they might not come out. (I have meant to blog about the earlier stages of conversion from wax to bronze but haven't had time yet, so will do that later - as I also have some nice shots of it all.)

This morning I got to find out if the pieces had come out OK. I went down to the foundry room, and asked them if I could chip out my pieces. Initially one of them showed me how to do it, then I took over. I was using a hammer, and when required a couple of chisels of different sizes. The trick is not to hammer or chisel onto any of the bronze of the actual piece as you can dent it. But you can hammer quite happily on the runners and risers. 

I started with the main 'wave'-like bit of my sculpture. It had been tied up with lots and lots of wire for added strength in the ceramic, so I also had to cut and remove the wire as I went along. A few of the toothpick trees hadn't come out, but otherwise all was good.

I then did the bamboo legs of the sculpture. I knew my piece so well, but even I had to keep thinking to remember which bits were sculpture and which bits were the sprues. I managed to chip off most of the ceramic of the non-sculpture bits, but the main bamboo rods were all thoroughly covered - so I had to ask for help. In fact what you have to do it bash really hard on the main base sprues, and the vibrations travel along the piece and crack and loosen the ceramic shell!

I then got out the figures out, and again had to resort to help, as I wasn't brave enough or strong enough to shift the ceramic. However, I did discover that the bronze had managed to get to all the extremities of the figures, and despite the odd crack in an ankle, or a slight fault where the 2 figures meet, it was all in very good shape and would be fine with a couple of solders.

I then left the 5 bits outside the door of the sand blasting room, and was told to come back at 1.30pm for them.

When I got back after lunch, they weren't quite finished, but I managed to peep through the little hole in the side of the building and caught a little glimpse of them being sand blasted.

The figures were finished, so I took them through to the small metal workshop to start the 'finishing' - finitura.

One of the Artigiani soldered the relevant bits for me. They have a very accurate oxyacetylene torch, and I think it was a silver solder they were using. He did a very neat job. One of the others (Roberto I think he is called) told me that I was being helped by a professor! In fact, he was teasing him because he teaches foundry work at the Art School here. He then cut off the sprues for me, and set me up next to Massimo to clean up the piece.

I was given the use of what I thought was a dremmel, but in fact is a compressed air rotary tool. It was an absolute dream to use, not at all comparable to an electric dremmel. I think it goes a lot faster, and seemed to vibrate far less. I started getting used to it, and found I could almost model the bronze, stroking it gently and easily finding the surface of my little figures - the curve of a chin, the crease of a bottom. Given the figures are the equivalent of about 5cm tall, it could have been fiddly difficult work, but by the end of the day, I'd nearly finished the 4th figure! 

Tomorrow I start on the main bits of my sculpture!

# 24 [5 March 2010]

Tonight's meeting:

As I only mentioned this briefly in my post last night - I thought I'd post the information I got on this.

Pietrasanta 25^th of February 2010

Dear artists, artisans and citizens of Pietrasanta, Citta d'arte:

On the 5^th of March at 17.00, you are invited to an open meeting in S. Agostino

Sala dell’Annunziata, Pietrasanta, Lu Italy

Pietrasanta and the Versilia area is by now world renowned for the exquisite craftsmanship of its artisans in mosaic, clay, metal, bronze, plaster and marble sculpture and ornament for centuries.

Today the artists and artisans are concerned that the future of Pietrasanta as a thriving centre for artists and artisans is at risk.

In 1979 Pietrasanta boasted 120 marble studios; today there remains less than 20. Young people seeking to apprentice the trade of marble carving are few, in part due to the labour-intensive work with stone and in part because of the current social stigma of earning a living working with their hands.

The artists, since the 1960’s had found Pietrasanta and its citizens open to embracing the young sculptors flocking here, having followed in the footsteps of some of the most celebrated sculptors in the world. Housing was inexpensive and many found lodgings in single rooms let by the citizens. Today because of the evolution of the town and surrounding area the cost of housing is prohibitive for young artists.

The cultural legacy of the Versilia and of Pietrasanta in particular is not only a local but also a national treasure. Given the current direction, Pietrasanta will soon become a museum city, losing its capacity to produce works of art; hence, losing the artists, clients and the tourist trade so vital to keep alive this “City of Art”.

Many businesses in Pietrasanta and in Versilia owe a large part of their income to the presence of the artists and their clients, as well as a huge number of tourists who flock to the area year round to see the marble workshops and the fascinating array of international sculptors working in Pietrasanta.

This meeting serves to create an open forum to discuss the current status of the city and its future; to listen to observations, ideas and possible solutions from all those interested in the preservation of a unique town and its magical draw to so many.

We need your participation and ideas.

All are welcome on the 5^th of March at 17.00!!

Talk to your friends and pass this email on to your contacts. And invite them all to come too. We need to solve this together.

On behalf of Comitato Artisti Artigiani,

Julia Vance

Contact: continuart@continuarte.org

# 23 [4 March 2010]

Foundry Life

Sometimes I feel like I'm in a bit of a surreal environment, and I don't think it is just my partial italian only understanding part of what is going on. It becomes far more surreal as I understand more.

Little Carlo in the wax casting room was 8kgs when he was born - that is over 17lb! (He definitely wasn't little then, and still isn't!)

Alfredo was telling me how he likes eating raw garlic and bread. However one day he accidentally ate his mother's black tulip bulbs! (he pollished off 2 of them even though he thought they tasted a bit strange...)

Yesterday I learnt a new word: Campanilisma - from Campanile, the bell tower that every town has. I was asking Ste and Carlo if they were both from Pietrasanta, and Ste wound up Carlo by telling me that the later had actually been born in Camaiore (the nearest town, only about 20mins away). Pietrasanta and Camaiore have a lot of rivalry, also know as Campanilisma.

The other thing I find amusing in the foundry is the different taste in music in each area. In our wax room we tend to have slightly slushy music - we've even had 'dipinto di blu'! yes, they are still playing it. And another current favourite is 'da mi tua amore, chiedere mi niente, ho bisogna di te' yes, lots of love, and then something about green eyes. And to this the artigiani carefully retouch and smooth wax sculptures.

In the wax casting room they are doing more manual work, using the gantry crane to lift and empty moulds full of wax and welding external armatures together. They tend to have more rock and contemporary pop, which also tend to be english speaking music (generally better!).

However, the large metal workshop downstairs has far more pumping music, to go with the sound of hammering metal and angle grinders - the other day they had Dizzy Rascal's 'some people call me crazy...', and this morning they had some pumping harsh italian rap, which really made me smile as I walked past up the stairs.

All in all, I feel very at home in the foundry, and it is sad to think that I'm already over a 1/3 through my stay here.

In other news - tomorrow evening there is a big meeting in town about the future of Pietrasanta for Artists and Artisans. It is organised by some artists who are worried that the local council are forcing most of the marble workshops in town to close. Apparently 15 years ago you would hear the sound of marble being worked all over town, but now is it only in a few places. I get the impression it is due to a combination of new laws about health and safety standards and noise polution, along with the increasing affluence in the town due to tourism encouraging properties to be redeveloped for restaurants or chic appartments.

Anyway, I'll probably let you know more about this later.

# 22 [3 March 2010]

Enlarging

I have started enlarging one of my small maquettes - the whale head one from the last post. I am only doing it 3 times in size, and as it was only 8cm to begin with, the new piece is still quite small at 24cms.

I was encouraged to enlarge in wax by Helaine on Monday before she left, as I think she is keen for me to try to learn stuff from the foundry. Its working as they have taught me the scale of proportion to use when enlarging. I already knew how to draw 2 lines to help you scale down when you are doing figure sculpture, say 1/2 life or another proportion. But it doesn't work for enlarging.

To enlarge it is quite easy to construct. On a large sheet or board, you first draw a horizontal line. Then you draw a perpendicular vertical line (around the middle) the height of your original - in my case 8cm. Then, to the right of the sheet, you draw another vertical line - this time the size you want your enlargement - i.e. for me 24 cm. Finally, you draw a line that connect the tops of the 2 vertical lines, and extend it to the left until it crosses your horizontal.

Your scale is now ready to use. Take a measure off you maquette - for e.g. the max width. Mark it on your maquette vertical (the smaller vertical line). Then draw a line from the origine (where the 2 long lines intersect) through the mark on the maquette line, to the sculpture vertical. This then gives you the sculpture's max width.

So, I am now using this technique, and a new set of beautiful hand made calipers I splashed out and bought from Milani's, to enlarge my maquette.

I wasn't sure what Helaine had in mind with the enlargement, but I thought I would try to produce a wax that could be cast directly (i.e. needs to be hollow and not too thick). The other option would be to work in wax on a solid piece but this would then need a mould to be taken of it, before a second wax could be made that would be of the correct thickness.

So, I am making the sculpture out of thin sheets of wax. Raymondo has made me up a modelling wax with some of the brown hard wax added so it is a bit stronger than the normal black modelling wax. I am slowly bending and shapping the sheets, trying to get the subtleties of the original maquette, as well as understanding the complex forms and curves.

I am learning quite a lot about wax and what it is and isn't capable of. I learn to heat locally with a hairdryer to warm the wax that needs to either be streatched or compressed.

I feel slightly that I am doing something a bit strange and giving myself a mountain to climb to get the subtleties of the original maquette, and its probably not the most efficient and quick way of producing a sculpture, but we will see what I end up with. I started yesterday afternoon, but had to discard that 1/2 days work and start again this morning, having worked out better how to use the sheets of wax. I'd like to finish it by lunchtime on saturday - or at least have it all in place and constructed by then, even if I then work into it again next week... (you can see progress in the final image attached)

At lunch I popped in to the other foundry again, as Julia had told me that the italian girl who is using expanding foam has nearly finished the piece I saw the other day.

It was great meeting her, she is Morgana Orsetta Ghini http://www.mog-art.com

She seems to be very prolific as there are a lot of works on her site. But despite this (or because of?) she has done some really interesting work, using lots of different materials, marble, iron, resin, even watercolour, jewelry, cushions!

I showed her a couple of my wax maquettes (at Julia's suggestion) and was telling her how I was thinking of enlarging the vulture-like one, about 3 times (Marcello had told me the pantograph only really works accurately 2.5 - 3.5 times). She though I should do it a lot bigger, at least 6 times. Then she said it would look good the size of her piece (over 2m high!) - hmmm, that would be exciting...

# 21 [2 March 2010]

Molten Wax Experiments

I've been doing some experimental pieces involving pouring molten wax into a basin of cold water. It is quite tricky to control, but I find with wax that has cooled a bit, I can get some really interesting forms and beautiful natural textures. 

I've then been cleaning them up to find interesting mini sculptures. Or with the hollow pieces, I can really push and pull the wax around to model it.

Here are 2 examples.

I find the second one (vulture) really intrigueing and strange. I said to Helaine that I liked it, but I wasn't sure it was very 'me'. She said sometimes things you don't think are you, are actually more like you than you think.

But in another discussion we were having she was talking about people who carve stone directly and are lead by it. I can't remember her exact words, but she was saying how important modelling was to be consciously involved in the piece. My worry with the MWE is that the found forms in the wax are leading me too much. But I also think I have a lot to learn from the process, so I am happy to continue with it for the moment.