Commisioned Life Sized Grizzly Sculpture

[mite5255]

I'm sure you'll sort it all out Frank, and what ever you do will look absolutely fantastic

[F.C.]

Crumpling newspaper and applying slab clay on top is a royal pain. The result is a spongy base which makes it more difficult to press clay seams together as it distorts the clay too much (compressing both clay and paper). Would require even more addition of paper and clay to continue building mass where needed and the visual effect would be horrid, not to mention excessive use of clay which is limited in reserve. So... I tore it all back off and come up with another idea. I sheathed areas where mass is needed with saran wrap and will use canned spray foam spread with nitril gloved hand and a 8"x8" sheet of 6 mil poly. I'll go light on build up then add more as needed, inch layers at a time. When the mass sections are shaped and adequate for representation, after solidifying, I'll remove them off the plastic wrap, remove the plastic wrap entirely, then press the foam shapes back into place with some liquefied clay painted on the backs to glue them in place, then cover that with 1/4" clay slabs. This will minimize clay useage and aide in keeping the weight of the bear in balance. Will also allow me to compress slab layers together without grossly distorting the surface. That's the plan, anyhow...

So for the time being I'm wrap'n the majority of this bear in saran wrap not just for foam additive but also to protect the rest of the clay on the body from foam debris from applying it and also whittling any back that might be necessary.

I keep telling myself, ... LABOR OF LOVE!! I'd far more rather be doing this than work'n doin what I've been doing the past 14 years. HAHA...

[mite5255]

As you say Frank, its a labor of love, and things that we love can sometime frustrate us, but we keep loving

[mite5255]

I'm also assuming filling with POP would be too heavy

[F.C.]

Yeah, it would, Mike. Thought about just use'n water based clay (buy'n it in powder and mix'n and knead'n in water) but that was tossed out as a solution due to weight. Shouldn't have gotten so jiggy-wid-it whittling back the spray foam I originally applied. As it is, I damn near cut it back to chicken wire (some places I actually did expose the wire). I got in a hurry and wasn't think'n it through is why. Live and learn.

I'll make this new approach work... just got to take my time is all.

[F.C.]

Ok... I've decided to follow old skool advice and apply an ounce of "prevention" for the end all cure toward completion. It's way too easy (on a job this big) to get sucked into detailing what's right before your eyes and lose track of what one area needs that's soon to mate up with another. To avoid having to cull back material and hard work, again, to recover what should have been in design, I've created some field notes to keep me focused and on tract. In a sense, treat this like any structural project where one thing has to mate with another. No more flit'n about like an artistic butterfly enjoying just get'n excited and doin my thang. This bear's close to being defined and I'll be damned if I'll let it get side tracked again for lack of oversight. Materials ain't cheap. So far, nuth'ns been wasted, just my time and energy.

So... that said, here's the latest PROGRESS pics. It's a layout of the sculpture without ANY distractions in the background, from each angle required to maintain proportion. Measurements noted are fixed and will not evolve. My mission will be to abide by those dimensions and fill in what's required to ensure an adequate representation of the bear's anatomy in the stance that's been designed. Yes, there is some considerable fill required in a variety of areas. They WILL be addressed and adequately addressed. I see no further need to alter this bear's stance regardless whether my mind's eye sees opportunity. This bear's got soul, and I intend to leave it "as is" and simply enhance what's there till it's final.

It's a work in progress, but now channeled to specific parameters.

[Rasper]

It sounds like you have done what happens to me over and over again: I come to my senses and stop chasing rainbows. And too, you have to figure that somewhere there is a bear that looks exactly like the bear you are making.

Richard

[F.C.]

"And too, you have to figure that somewhere there is a bear that looks exactly like the bear you are making."

Rasper, you are 100% correct on that note. However, this bear has been in my mind since I was 17 yrs of age. To merely morph it to accommodate what a bear looks like strips it of its identity. I vowed, waaaay back then, to somehow memorialize that bear's spirit and defiance. I've never in my life seen an animal react so violently toward getting shot (repeatedly) with devastating force. No wonder the Native American Indians revered the bear with such honor and respect. I vowed not to reveal it's demise but to honor its spirit and tenacity to continue the fight to the literal end. Literally, this is what HERO's are made of... that connection to some spiritual root that gives them the energy to endure and succeed in their accomplishments... God willing.

This bear will develop "some" in attitude but not in stance and only some by proportions about the head, neck, butt, and belly. It's adequate for what I envisioned of that day when that second round was fired after wounding it the first shot. On that first round it had stood upright, turned to face us and got hit, again, then tried to evade and put some distance between us. My shot was what brought it to a stop, paralyzing it's lower extremities... yet it turned, on its belly, and charged like a walrus in full rage charge... it kept coming and getting hit three times with every lunge of its upper torso. After nine lethal shots with super high caliber rifles (including the initial two it had, plus my third shot to stop its escape) this bear was in full FUCK YOU mode and was hell bent on taking one or all of us out with him. I quit that season and never hunted bear again. But it's memory never left me so to gain forgiveness of that bear's soul I'm honoring its spirit the only way I know how. It's probably the Shawnee blood in me that motivates me so. Regardless... a vow is a vow... and it's almost fulfilled.

[F.C.]

And yes, it also represents the commission that got ripped from me by that asshole back in '97. The attitude in this bear, today, is the same attitude I have over that commission ripoff. In Defiance this bear WILL BE DONE... as will it's memory be honored and fulfilled.

[Rasper]

You appear to have the intensity, and the single mindedness, that many, if not most, of the world's great artists have had. It doesn't lead to an easy life, or a comfortable life, but it can lead to something extraordinary.

Richard