SCENIC MIND SCULPTURE

Figures are about eleven inches tall, made of Super Sculpey modeled over copper and aluminum armature, and brush painted with acrylics. Turf is sand and good ol' Elmer's Glue. This piece was completed in 2022. 

 I was pleased with the diorama effects of an earlier piece and was going for something similar. The standing figure is about eleven inches tall, made of Super Sculpey over copper and aluminum armature, and brush painted with acylics.The back is made of three layers of luan, with the door and window cut from two, to give those features some depth. The siding, door, steps, etc. are either balsa or luan, and the turf is air dry clay. I cut the glass for the window and door from an old pane. This guitar is luan and balsa, toothpicks and thread. 

The singer stands about ten inches tall. All are Super Sculpey over copper and aluminum armature and brush painted with acrylics. I used lightweight mortar over hardware cloth for the wall and sidewalk, a picture frame for the window. The guitar is all balsa wood, toothpicks and thread. This one won a ribbon at the 2022 South Carolina State Fair, and was sold.

The standing figure is about 11 inches tall. The figures are Super Sculpey over copper and aluminum amatures and are brush painted with acrylics. The guitar is luan, balsa, toothpicks, straight pins, and thread. Merit award at the SC State Fair 2023.

The standing figure is about 11 inches tall. Made of Super Sculpey over copper and aluminum armature and brush painted with acrylics. The guitars are luan, balsa, toothpicks, straight pins, and thread. Mounted on a pine base stained dark walnut.  

  This is a two sided effort that stands about 8 ft. tall, made from a treated 4x4 post covered with hardware cloth and chicken wire. I've been using a mortar recipe that includes sand, clay dust, portland cement, builder's lime, joint compound, and asphalt emulsion. I used exterior wood stain to color it. 

  Current formula for "sculpting mortar"  -- 10 parts sand 6 parts clay dust 2 parts Portland cement 3 parts builder's lime This mix is light and malleable and has held up well for me outside. I sometimes add a little joint compound or asphalt emulsion. I generally mix the dry ingredients in a cement mixer and store it in five gallon buckets. I'll mix a few cups at a time with water. I mix it very damp but clumpy. I'll dip my gloved hand in water and massage a palm full of the mix, which becomes wet and  malleable very quickly.  When I thought of adding clay to an earlier recipe  I searched for  "powered clay," and local shops  didn't know what I was talking about. I found clay dust online sold by the bag at The Ceramic Shop in Pennsylvania.  I get builder's lime at a supplier for concrete products. I cover the work with wet towels and plastic bags to reduce the little hairline cracks that can form as  mortar dries. I've been staining some of...

Some polymer clay efforts sculpted over the years. "Cat Man"  "Mystic Cowboy Poet" -- My hero, Bob Dylan Part of an old piece depicting bluegrass muscians "A Night at the Twilight Lounge" -- inspired by Charles Bukowski "New American Gothic" "Life's A Beach, Then You Fry" "Mama Drama" "Boom Box" A true favorite -- "Bus Stop"

  This structure is probably twenty years old. We've always called it "the gazebo" though it's only as big as a large patio umbrella. That umbrella is the structure's roof and was the inspiration for trying to make what is basically a large garden sculpture out of papercretre. The shaft had broken on the umbrella, my neighbor threw it away, and I salvaged it. I had built a little papercrete mixer that i pulled around the yard with a riding mower. I pressed the papercrere over an armature of rebar, fence, and chicken wire. The umbrella roof was coated with latex cement. I was very excited about papercrete at the time, which seemed like paper mache. But, exposed to weather, it deteriorated over the years. At one point I extended the roof to make a little overhang and re-covered it with a mortar that included asphalt emulsion.  It's held up well over the years. The papercrete has since been covered with mortar and most of the sculptures redone. This is the only e...