the new challenge: 100 days in the unknown! Day 7

Yesterday, I have been thinking about new mediums. I love bronze but it is expensive, very expensive and a big investment. I am really looking at new mediums to work with.  I have fews in the pipeline that I will experiment with: brise blocks, recycled materials and recycled metals, May be a bit of stove carving...keep watching!

Another point that I have been looking at is architecture. One of my latest clay sculpture ( some part of it I like and some part I dont like! :) ) reminded me a cathedral!

I  will be looking at architecture related with sculpture and see if I can move those ideas further.

I went to Oxford to take some fantastic pictures of the architecture, very inspiring!

So currently working a a new one in plaster, also looking into new materials to use....

the new challenge: 100 days in the unknown! Day 5 and 6

We were invited to dinner to friends and while I was sipping on my glass of Champagne:),  something caught my eye. They had a reproduction of one of Modigliani sculpture in the corner of the room and It was fantastic. This one:

I did find it so inspiring and I could see in my head a horse head in the same style.



I couldn't resist to do my Modigliani style horse head!

Lots of things and old masters whether in traditional or contemporary art inspire me and this is an experiment following my inspiration... This as a 100 days of studying! lets see then what piece of art I will then be able to produce after that reasearch? could be interesting or could be the same as before? May be what I am learning there wont be translated into my art until much much later in my career? who knows?

but so far it is an interesting research and insight into my own art, looking at different perspectives.....

the new challenge: 100 days in the unknown! Day 4

Continuation of the "horse and Amazon", this is only a simplification ( no rider)

Took some of the lines that I liked in the "horse and amazon" piece below, and made a new one without the rider and simplified of the geometric lines keeping the shape simple and elegant. Also the horse is much taller ...

here are 2 different versions of "horse and Amazon"

the new challenge: 100 days in the unknown! Day 3

Splitted in 2 triangular forms. 

last sketch - extended trot - simplified with geometric forms.  would probably look nice in metal...more to experiement

the new challenge: 100 days in the unknown! Day 2

I have done a clay version using the sketch of the simplification for the extended trot.

Clay has its limitations and the clay result is a bit different from this sketch. I will try to do it with different materials as well.
I will update the picture a bit later ( too much rain at the moment to take it out of the studio to photograph it!)
Sometimes, a sketch seems to work well but when you try to sculpt it, something doesnt work anymore and thats the case with this work. I Think this particular sketch might work well in metal ( stainless steel for example).

I have done also a sketch in wax

extended trot study III

Ok, I think for the moment I will live a bit that extended trot and look at something else! I will come back on that another time , may be with other materials! 

Some of horse with a difference: From Ancien greeks to modern masters. here are few that I find really inspiring. The simple shape of a geometric horse to the construction using recycled materials....

Ancien geometric horse

Ancien Horse

In 1928 he traveled to Paris where he made his début as a sculptor, studied with Picasso and other leading modern artists. He also was a close associate of Henry Moore.

One of Deborah Butterfield Horse - She uses recycled material to construct her horses.
Another artist in the same style is Heather Jansch who uses driftwood to construct her horses.

Construction and uses of recycled material is a method that has been used  by Picasso in 1914 in his "Glass of Absinthe" work.

Also a great Master is Marino Marini,  Extract from Artnet about him"Marini worked intensively, experimenting with different materials, from terracotta to wood and plaster combined with paint, which he also sometimes used with bronze in order to accentuate forms and express movement.

In 1928 he traveled to Paris where he made his début as a sculptor, studied with Picasso and other leading modern artists. He also was a close associate of Henry Moore."

the new challenge: 100 days in the unknown! Day 1

The new challenge.
In contrary to last challenge I attempted to do, this one is in a  totally differente nature.  for me a challenge is an opportunity to move out of the box and to try out something different, to try out some new material and to learn a new way.  Is this going to benefit my current work? may be , may be not or probably yes? I can not tell at that stage but I will hopefully have a new eye on it and will then be able to take it to new directions.

I have started my daily blog to describe the journey into this new venture, a journey into the unknown. This  daily challenge doesn't have the purpose to produce a new piece of art per day and sell it a low cost but it is a journey that will show you how those new works are made and why, the steps that I did follow to make the work.


Day1

As part of my previous studies on the extended trot, I have pushed the simplification of the movement even further.

The first sketch that led to extended trot study II, some movement lines just at the top and some thoughts. around modern art, abstract, geometric art and architectures. One of my latest clay work ( horse and amazon) made me think of gothic cathedrals so I will be also looking at architecture.

more simplification of the movement. Will sculpt it and see how it works or not.
Tempted to also try to use other materials as the front leg needs to be elevated but will try a clay study first.

My current reading books: 
The Modern Sculpture - a concise history - A fantastic book to try to understand the different mouvement in modern sculptures, from Rodin, Degas, Brancusi, Rodchenko, Picasso, Moore, Matisse, Giacometti, etc

Gaudi: architecture

Deborah Butterfield: equestrian sculpture , modern made with recycled materials, some very interresting things in that book.

The new challenge: 100 days in the unknown! -2 days to go

I am setting myself a new challenge which is a rather different one.

extended trot

In my research of a new direction, I am at the moment pursuing experimentations in geometric artwork, defining a subject ( animal or other) by the simplest forms and shapes that defines the essence of itself, or define the essence of a movement.  This all came down to my initial research of the movement when I started to decompose the movement from my latest piece called extended trot, 

I then sculpted extended trot study I where I stripped out all the details  but I still wasn't happy with what I wanted to do and so further researches lead me (after numerous sketches) to sculpt extended trot study II ( the contemporary lookalike one!).

Sketch - decomposition of the movement
sketch 

extended trot study I

first draft of extended trot study I

extended trot study I

In those early research  that I have done so far, I have realized that more questions are popping,  and more and more research is pushing me into other directions: geometric forms,  abstraction and even architecture! When I started sculpting, I was largely inspired by the french "Animalier" such as Barye, Mene, but lately with new idea in mind my inspiration started to change slowly and many new inspirations as well!

 I love to sculpt a horse, a dog or even a person in a very traditional way, with the best details, perfect anatomy that I can possibly do but my heart is pushing me further in new directions. I am at the stage of my carreer where I need to look for a different venture and find my new inspirations. In my latest works ( 2009-until Now) my work started to change a fair bit but there is a stage where traditional work actually restrict you rather than helping you and this is why I have decided to do those research. I am not saying that one should avoid learning about anatomy, how the movement works, etc  and I will carry on my traditional work as well to continue learning...

The challenge is a journey of experimental work that will hopefully take my work to new directions but I am not sure where ....

This challenge is not about publishing a new piece of artwork everyday but it is about publishing my daily research and there will be some new pieces of artworks as a result ( may be daily).

contemporary artwork-part II

The dress

mare and foal

Horse and amazone

horse and amazone

contemporary artwork-part I

Extended trot II

Playing trio

Best friends