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The Silver Surfer - Herald of Galactus
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- Category: Sculptures
"Man? I am more than a man! I am the Silver Surfer! I am the Herald of Galactus!"
- The Silver Surfer's first words spoken in the Marvel Universe.
The brainchild of Jack Kirby, the Silver Surfer made his first appearance in 1966, in the issue of The Fantastic Four #48. The story goes that Kirby wanted to introduce a new character (without first consulting with Stan Lee) but also got tired of drawing space ships and decided to use a flying surfboard. (Kirby must have really hated drawing space ships because in the same issue, he literally cut and pasted stock photos of them!) Stan Lee liked Kirby's addition and later developed the back story of how Norrin Radd from Zen-La made his cursed sacrifice to become the Silver Surfer and slave to Galactus, the devourer of worlds. My motivation for sculpting the Silver Surfer was more mundane. I had ordered a couple of pints of Palladium glaze, initially for Batman; however, the glaze tests indicated it was too shiny for the Dark Knight. I immediately thought of the Silver Surfer, but had some reservations since he would need to be standing on his board (up to this point, all my subjects are either kneeling or sitting down). I settled on a pose that kept the center of gravity low and fairly balanced. Everything was fine until I absentmindedly picked him up from his torso after bisque firing. The weight of his board and base was too much for his ankles (which are also hollow) and he snapped off. The detachment points were however clean enough to apply some bisque cement, and he held enough in place for me to apply glaze. Unfortunately, the cement melted off during glaze firing and he came apart at the ankles inside the kiln, glaze-fusing him to the board and base sideways, and almost damaging the coils in the process. I was able to salvage the piece using a diamond tipped saw, repair putty, and acrylic paint. Most artists would have taken a hammer to it, but the Palladium glaze was just too glorious and mesmerizing as one can see from the pics below. My thanks again to the Ceramic Art Studio and Shop.
Wet clay model
Transformation (Ceramic Lycanthrope)
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- Category: Sculptures
Tales of humans shapeshifting into animals, particularly wolves, foxes, coyotes, and similar canid creatures are found in almost all ancient myths across every continent. In some cases the werecreatures are mischievous entities, but in many others they are terrifying beasts that prey on humans. The werewolf, or wolf-man has had many interpretations on film and in art. With this work, I attempted to create a sculpture that depicts the transformation as the viewer rotates the piece. My thanks again to the Ceramic Art Studio and Shop.
Wet clay model
The Birth of Venus
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- Category: Sculptures
Venus was the Roman equivalent of the Greek goddess Aphrodite. This is the second in my series of ancient goddesses and captures the moment that Venus emerges from the ocean during her birth from sea foam. I used 8 different glazes for a fully colored piece out of the kiln. My thanks again to the Ceramic Art Studio and Shop.
4 different shades of celadon glazes were used for the water.
Wet clay model
The Birth of Aphrodite
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- Category: Sculptures
Aphrodite is one of the most popular Greek goddesses whose origin links to several other mythological female deities from the ancient world, including Astarte, Ishtar, Eos, and Isis. Her Roman counterpart was of course Venus, and both were associated with love, beauty, pleasure, and procreation. According to legend, Aphrodite arose from sea-foam as a fully grown adult in all her beauty. (I won't go into the details of where the sea-foam came from...) Classical artists almost invariably depicted her in the nude, and any representation of Aphrodite can be generally interpreted as the female ideal of that era (or at least from the artist's perspective). This work is the first of a set of three Aphrodite/Venus/Isis pieces I began sculpting during a record heat wave which is kind of appropriate since nothing can make the temperature rise as the raw beauty of the female form. My thanks again to the Ceramic Art Studio and Shop.
Unfortunately a stress crack formed down the center during glaze firing. She also acquired a couple of beauty marks on her left hip and side of breast from glaze bubbles.
Moonlight shot
Wet clay model
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