by Sabine Casparie
It took me awhile to get a copy of the 2019 ArtHouston magazine. I could not be more grateful to Sabine Casparie for including me in her article.
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by Sabine Casparie
It took me awhile to get a copy of the 2019 ArtHouston magazine. I could not be more grateful to Sabine Casparie for including me in her article.
He is one big pig, the beloved family pet that had to be hoisted upstairs to save him from drowning in the flood waters of Harvey. The idea of saving a pig was inspired by a YouTube video posted by a young family in Conroe, Texas. I hope you see in the figure not only the strength it takes to lift up a frightened squirming pig but also the determination that the figure has not to let the family’s favorite pet parish. The pig twist and turns while straining his back legs straight out trying to reach the ground.
photo by Nash Baker
66” X 42” 60”
Steel, stainless steel lath, plaster, hydro stone, wire mesh, screen and cloth, and baling wire.
the next pig post - why a pig?
Re working the splashing made by the figure wading through the flood.
Building the ears and adding baling wire before the plaster.
🤔
Today’s progress-
Feet and legs
What a relief, I was able to get the piece in my car and to the sheet metal fabricators. .
With this cold weather it is nice to get out of the garage and working inside my studio.
I will take down all the drawings, I want them to be very pressed for the exhibit and I need a clean wall to use as a backdrop as I work on the next stage of the sculpture . In order to press them I bought two pieces of sheet rock to press them under. I also stack my bronze hats on them for extra weight.
Hands, hands, hands= frustration
I thought I had a really good plan of attack: draw out a hand the size I want, measure how big each bone should be, cut the bones, and tack them together. Once they are tacked together, bend them into position. This is where the frustration began. Some of the tacks would either not bend or some would break, and I would then have to reweld them. I did finally get them all together. I was mentally exhausted, so I decided to attach them permanently to the arms tomorrow when I am more refreshed.
I did just tack them just to see how they look.
I hope I like them tomorrow.
FYI - I put really big welds on the knuckles because I like knarly fingers with big knuckles. If you deal with livestock, you probably have some pretty banged up fingers. :)
Digits barely tacked together
Left hand gripping Mr. Pig
Right hand gripping Mr. Pig
Both hands
The grip
I am getting close to completing the armature.
A selection of my Hurricane Harvey Heroes monotypes and one of the Humanities pieces are now exhibited in the Houston Flood Museum.
https://houstonfloodmuseum.org/hurricane-harvey-heroes-and-humanity/
I started the upper torso.
I always make the shoulders too broad and then have to adjust them. I will do that tomorrow.
Connecting the legs and reinforcing them.
Building the hips and connecting the legs
Side view
I create triangles to give the piece stability and strength.
Left side view with triangles
View from the back
view of the right side
Using scraps to create triangles to strengthen the ankles.
Looking back, I can now see the hips are not right and are exaggerating the movement. I will have the movement exaggerated when the piece is finished, but for the armature, I will have to tone it down.
This sculpture is about the movement and the energy of rescuing livestock (a pig) during Hurricane Harvey. Today I have to decide on where the figure's weight needs to be to best balance the sculpture and express the energy of hoisting the swine to safety. The photos I took of Griffin while he was walking helped me committe to the foot placement. For the weight, I need new reference photos taken from each side. I am fortunate that my husband is always agreeable to posing for me. We wrapped a stool in a towel to stand in for the pig. Below are the new photos.
back view
Back in October I received a phone call from Jeff Schultz of Houston Responds. Jeff was holding a conference the following week for local churches. He was trying to recruit volunteers to help those who still need help getting their lives back after Hurricane Harvey. He needed images for his Bible study booklet. I was thrilled to help out. I never received a copy of the booklet, but here are a few screen shot from the email he sent me.
My first thought was to make a sculpture to be exhibited with the drawings of a man rescuing a woman and a baby. I loved how obvious it is in this drawing that they are strangers. He is carrying her but with his body language he could be carrying a sack of potatoes. His energy is focused inward, perhaps he is worried about his own family. She is the same, she is affectionate with the baby but she is not snuggling into her rescuer. There is not a history between the rescuer and the girl.
After some consideration, I have decided to make the sculpture a livestock piece. I changed my mind because I feel the livestock pieces need to be very large to properly convey the extraordinary feats some people went to in order to save their livestock. I also like the fact that it is unexpected to make the sculpture of a pig rescue. I can always make a sculpture from the other drawing later.
“Bringing home the bacon”