Ahh busy busy busy. Haven't had time to write, time to clay, or much time to rest. Work has taken over, and the rest of my time seems to be filled with looking after my hound, and doing things around the house - or visiting friends of course.
I'm going to need to make some time for my clay work other wise this exhibition wont eventuate... Ah well I haven't booked the space yet, so if I don't show it maybe I can use it in a portfolio when I get back from travels. And they are what's taking priority at the moment, hence the full time work hours.
But apart from the busyness all is going well and life is good. The little people have dried well and are awaiting a trip to the kilns - something I keep saying I will do next weekend, and then not getting there, much to their dismay.... But soon I will borrow a car and make my way accross ever so carefully so as not to break any of my work. It's always nerve wracking making that trip.
Well I wish I had something to say about what I have been making but as I haven't been in there for about 4 or so weeks now there's naught to write. Maybe in a week or so...

Just been reading through this blog. Gawd you can see where I've just gone off one a complete tangent, (how would I ever finish this writing I am doing... I should take that traveling..) see there again. . But back there I just stopped making sense... Oops. But then it does give you something more to think about.
Sort of makes it hard to link all these clay pieces together. It's like I'm researching why I had the ideas I had in one night about this clay thing. I just sat down and thought aoubt visual interpretations of the idea of fitting in, and then as I do each one need to try and understand the beginning of each idea. Like why is people all dancing around in tha circle part of fitting in? Is it do with early Saxon tribal people having rituals such as maypole dancing, does it have to do with mad trance parties, or is it the ring a ring a rosey from child hood, is it further back than that even. Maybe it has something to do with world spirit and everyone remembers somewhere a feeling of belonging through dance even before they start dancing....? Where is that connection? Is it relevant to the greater part of community the people looking at it? Or is it a personal glimps at the artist recreateing it? Is it relevant to the viewer?

Well I've gone back to working on these naked figures holding masks, and am pleased to say that I have finally got them staying up, and looking reasonably human like. Although I still seem to be going for the fat arsed look. Not to say there is anything wrong with that - especially when I am sort of modelling them on myself!
So far I have two done and need to make another 4 - 5 and choose the best 3, or 5. Will have to see how they look once they have been fired.
Speaking of which I will have to get off to the kilns very shortly as my work space is quickly filling up with greenware and I can hardly move for fear of smashing things. Still at least I am on the way to finishing, or at least getting half way towards finishing the ideas I had mapped out for this exhibition.
Still have to speak to the gallery owner about hiring the space, plus she's moved the gallery to Sydney Rd Brunswick, so I'll have to get over there and check it out before booking the space. Hopefully it will be just as appropriate as the other one, if not more so....
I got some excellent things for my birthday which should help with the whole figure sculpting. A little book of some of Rodins' famous pieces, and some cards with like things on them. All to be delivered into my clay room for me to ponder and envy...
Anyway there's the up date, best get back to it, the clay is calling!

Some ideas for hand tesselations

Well the pidgeon holes are finished. It was satisfying to have something work from start to finish for a change. I have decided to fill it with 'things that people use to categorise others' like cars and tellies. Hopefully I will be able to get a lot of them from a toy store, as I don't want to make them all out of clay. But I suppose I will have to see what I can find and make what I can't. The box that is to be filled with miscellaneous things I am still pondering on. But there is plenty of time to figure it out as I am still waiting to here about booking a time at this gallery... Should probably send another e-mail.
When I get a chance I will post a picture of this one, and the other that stillisn't showing.

I guess this is what happens when I get all skitey and boastful. The fat business man's legs broke off just below the knee, his crotch cracked and then he split his side - not through laughter either. I had gone out to my work room to finish his arms and head, but found him in pieces, much to my dismay! So I pummelled him back into a lump of clay and have started on a different idea instead. I can't deal with these figures anymore - for a while at least.
I decided to go with some slab work, something that I have more experience with, so I shouldn't come up against so many disappointments. Then once I have finished that I will try again with the naked figures. But I think I will make them smaller and solid rather than hollow.
So the idea I have started in the mean time is idea no. 8 - Pidgeon Holes all holding like objects with one 'stuffed' with miscellaneous things. So far so good, although I am still in the process of making the pidgeon holes themselves and not yet decided what to do as far as the objects I will fill them with, something to ponder I guess as I finish the slab work.... Will post a pic when I get a chance. By the way I am still waiting for the pic Aaron took to be posted on his web page so's I can paste it here... All in good time I guess!

Ohh S'ah! it's all coming along pretty nicely now. The fat business man is taking shape, and at present is laying down on a pillow in my clay room so that he doesn't distort. The use of coils has been my saviour, rather than just sticking bits on and moulding him to shape as I was in previous attempt. So finally I have a near complete figure, that just needs a little sculpting to look 'real'. He stands at about 40cm in hight, and has a big belly. Nice!
I also started a woman, she has pretty wide child bearing hips, but nothing past the waist at the moment so she stands upside down awaiting some more attention from me. Nice feet though, if you're into that sort of thing...
I'll get Aaron around shortly to take some photos of them both soon while they're still in their early stages so you (and I) can see how they are evolving.

For some reason the picture for this isn't appearing - I'll have a look into that and fix it when I get a chance. Anyways, this is the first finished piece, I still haven't decided what to call it, but am thinking along the lines of something like "Where do I belong?"

Rhizomes - root like stem growing along or under the ground, and sendin out both roots and shoots. Rhizomes alway aspire to the consolidation of their networks. The global market, for instance, naturally aspires to its own growth, monopolizing multidimensionality and producing a self-reinforcing monodimensionality.
Nomadic lifestyle - fitting in to all, and at the same time not fitting with any societal view of life but their own. Remaining transient to continue moving forward in all aspects of life/ existance. Unlike western, or "community', village living, ie: adapting surroundings to your ides of life, rather adapting your life to the immediate reality.
Is this continued with us as a society trying to adapt our physical look, our visual face to that of our surrounds, do we all want to become one with what is in our imediate vicinity? Why would this be so?
22/08/03 What the hell am I on about here?? What do we want to look like trees? Or am I meaning in a more community sense of the idea? Like we want to look like each other to feel like we are a part of something? Is this where this strangeness of liposuction and cosmetic surgery, even make up and fashion comes from? Are we so media hungry that we think every one looks like people from magazines? Are we so affraid to look at ourselves that we would rather watch ou t.v's, rather watch somebody elses life than take note of our own, and our immeadiate reality? Or do we do that in order to mimic and assimilate better? Why do we want to be like one another? A culture where even the word alternative Modern Oxford dic- " offering a different approach from the conventional or established one; belonging to the counter culture" can become "main stream"in the world of comercialism & marketing... Rambling again?

Arrgh! He was going so well (the plump business man) and then he twisted and fell, his foot broke in half, and then his crotch cracked irrepairably. Much to my dismay he needed to be returned to the clay, and I have to start again - after a week of patient building!
I think that he was getting too much weight on his ankles and knees and he got taller, causing him to twist and kneel. I am going to have to use another tactic I think, otherwise it will just happen again.
I was speaking with a friend who suggested I make a simple/basic hollow shape and then add the muscle definition and detail once the basic form has hardened a little. Unlike what I was doing which was building a hollow structure with all the detail as I developed him upwards, this was causing him the harden irregularly, and then as I worked my way up the little movemet I needed was causing him to become more and more unstable, until he finally cracked from the presure. (I have put him into councelling and he should be back to work by the years end...) So I will try the other way suggested and begin this tonight. Hopefully it won't take nearly as long as the first way I tried. It took me about a week to get half a man sculpted, and then he broke anyway. How frustrating!! But I should look at it all as a learning experience...
Realistically I need to be able to finish one figure (they are approximately 30 - 40 cms in height) within 3 days, or near complete anyway. Otherwise I will never meet the deadline I have given myself for the end of the year.... Plus I want to speak with Keesan soon about an exhibition, and don't want to confirm that until I have at least two pieces finished, at present I only have one.
That was the easy one though. It's a round board with different sized round holes. On it stand 5 figures with triangular bases. Looks quite ok I think, will see how it goes in the firing of course, just as with these figures for idea 1. But it has dried without any cracks which is a good sign...

Thanks to Rodin, I finally got the arse sorted on my first figure for Idea 1 (the naked figures holding masks which don't fit) He's a little plump, not nearly as athletic as Rodins dancers, or Michelangelos' David. I like to think of him as your modern business man without the suit. Still there's only half of him at the moment, and he needs a little smoothing out to rid him of the excessive cellulite, but he should be finished by the weekend, and then onto the next one. I am wanting to make five of them in total, all differing in their body shape and mix of gender, but holding the same style masks. I think I am going to go with the highly stylized Venitian masks. It accentuates the prententiousness/fakeness of the idea of 'showing your best side' or even hiding the real you in order to be one of the crowd. To be a part of something, even if it's not really you.

"Eternal Spring" Rodin

"The walking man" Rodin

"Age of Bronze" Rodin

Haven't decided if I should go with similar masks, or each figure hold a diffenernt mask from the other - maybe one from each culture, chinese, african, venice? Want to check out various styles first... Have a look at these:

Symetry. Trying to copy or mirror behaviours and appearances to be able to fit in better. Is this the same throughout all of nature.

Curved lines fitting together even though there is variation in their form. Seems to give a sense of calmness....

Aboriginal art, culture explaining their environment. Explaining, understanding in order to fit in better?

maybe 3d tiles? all hands interlocking to make a globe? tacky?

another tesselation.
Maybe do tesselation of hands and animal paws? Something to show the interlocking of all life forms? Rather than just focusing on humanity.

idea 2. Escher type tiles all fitting together to make a square. 2d represtentation? Tiles to be moulded as hands or 2d flat shaped hands? Possibly 3d Respresentation linking to make circle? Stick with circle theme, fitting in, ease of existance, ease of shape, most energy efficient way of being. "A bubble is a sphere as it is the most energy efficent form."

An evolution of ideas for a series of sculpture, to be ready by the years end. Hopefully this will record and help develop some ideas to be created in 3D, clay, a combination of terracotta and white earthenware pieces. To explore the concept of fitting in to environment, society, our own lives and ideals, and ultimately the world as a whole. Belonging and being one with ourselves, nature and society. Finding where and how we belong, and what it is we want to belong to. Knowing where all the pieces go and liking the way they fit.