Commissioned by Jean Bareis & Carrie Martin, the creation of this piece was, as usual, an exploration of an image that comes to me and then slowly watching it manifest. I knew that both Jean and Carrie had lost their mothers in the last two years, so I knew it would have something to do with angels and Light.
The original idea sketched out on a piece of 3" x 3" paper. It's always strange to take a 3D idea and project it out onto a 2D surface.
The sketch transferred to 2' x 2' x 1/4" piece of underlayment.
1/4" aluminum armature wire applied to the surface.
Aluminum foil applied to the wire. The lightness, malleability and durability of aluminum makes it perfect for providing the underlying structure of the forms.
Apoxie Clay applied in 1/8 thin sheets hardens in about four hours and then can be filed and sanded as needed.
Modeling the faces of the lovely subjects in Monster Clay. The hair was added after the faces were cast.
The faces were then molded with silicone (pink) and the supporting plaster mother mold (white).
The finished mold with the positive removed. Into this negative cavity, Apoxie Clay was pressed into the mold. After the faces hardened, they were ground down to the appropriate angle and hair applied.
The shadows of the wings were traced and then cut out of the board. Plaster was applied to the front of the board to give it texture, and then it was primed, painted black and finally highlights of silver and gold paint were applied.
LED lights were hot glued to the back of the piece to provide subtle backlighting of various colors.
The final piece with the picture taken on the studio floor.
The piece installed at Jean and Carrie's house.
The piece with the room lights off.
Jean and Carrie... Willy Nelson accompanied the process on his guitar!
That's me, always amazed at how 'real magic' happens in this world!