P.T. Artist Sandra Stowell

I am making very halting progress on the “Struggle to Rise” triptych. This work is slow going at the best of times, but with spring coming the garden demands my time.

However I had some fun posing the wire armatures for photos. And I will continue to pose them as I progress with adding “flesh”. I probably will not flesh these figures out completely. At least my current though is leave some wire exposed, and to detail out only in partially for a more ravaged look. Or something like that … !

I imagine a low relief textured base for the three panels, but I also like the idea of using more of my potholes. One possibility is to create the relief in clear or very slightly tinted resin over pothole photo prints. This will be a lot of work, as I think I would need to create full silicone mold the size of the panels. But I could just use the same mold for each panel, making three casts. Each could be tinted differently, and I can embed different items in each one, and I could even alter the mold a bit each time by adding silicone. And of course use different pothole photos for each. Maybe I have a plan, TBD.

Meanwhile the “Struggle to Rise” triptych parts occupy my main work table, and beg for more attention.

The above photo has “flesh” of a permanent material, but the head is only oil based clay, and like our heads, is too fragile! I must make a real head for figure number one, and get on with the next figures.

Still working very slowly toward a new work which may be called Struggle to Rise. Three armatures are now getting a few more wire bones, and I call them The Thin Ones for now. The Thin Ones Struggle to Rise, and I struggle to decide how to flesh them out! I could stay with the known quantity of Apoxie Sculpt, but that really feels a bit tame.

So what about using paper clay and building up the base and the figures? Or I could try to create somewhat translucent figures using a sort of paper mache with clear acrylic medium, perhaps with rice paper. It could be pretty wonderful to have the wire armature show through in good light. Now that really interests me… but how do I actually do that?

Somehow I am barely managing an hour or two a day on this project, but that will have to be enough for now. There is so much work to be done in the yard and in the home,some visitors to enjoy now as the days lengthen and the weather improves. And of course exercise to be taken daily. My walks always generate photos, and then I must sort, delete, and categorize these for posting and printing.

I have made a fourth, smaller and slightly different, armature in order to experiment with materials. This armature is more rigid, with a predetermined standing position; I did use some Apoxie Fixit to lock it together and cover some sharp ends of wire. The bones are done, so now to add a bit of experimental “flesh” of some sort!

But I make my dimensional hands on art mandatory too, and so the thin ones struggle to rise, and will eventually succeed, I believe.

My most ambitious sculpture to date is finished, now that Not Out of the Woods Yet is Signed and Sealed!

All that is really left to do is a good photo shoot of the final finished work. I think I can do better than this, but I need a better backdrop, careful lighting, and just a lot more attention to the angles! Here are a few results from a new photo shoot:

This brand new artwork is not for sale yet: I need a little time to myself with the finished piece. I always need that if the work is authentically new to me. At the moment this is single three part artwork (with label), but each section can stand alone. So when it is time for me to sell this, I may be willing to sell this as three separate mixed media sculptures.

The base of this is sturdy wood, and the dimensions as a single three part artwork are 25″ wide by 20″ deep by 25″ tall.

I still play with a few things that are removable and can be changed around: one figure caries a padlock and key on a chain, another padlock hangs from a tree. I have found a finer more delicate chain than the gold one in the photo above! Another figure caries its very own “pothole”. Currently the grey figure wears a key on fine chain and carries a feather. But these items are not permanent parts of this installation, at least for now.

Background and About Not Out of the Woods Yet

I walk daily, and think it saves my soul and my body. I see interest and beauty all around, and take many photos. During the shutdowns and cautious times of the COVID pandemic I started to enjoy the poorly maintained roads in my small town. These inspired a photo series: The Surprisingly Artistic Potholes of Port Townsend.

In this piece three thin hollow chested figures walk the streets, wading across the Potholes of Port Townsend, or perhaps the potholes of Anytown. Here pennies grow on trees, to fill these potholes, but the figures have other more serious concerns as they stride forward. They walk to face all the challenges of life, and they are Not Out of the Woods Yet.

I have chosen sculpture, and these mediums, because I want my work to be, and to feel, strong. This work requires a three dimensional presence.

Please consider this as a sneak preview: this piece is new, and not yet for sale. I need to keep it close for a while, until I have fully considered its impact. But if you are interested in purchasing it, please let me do know. It will probably be for sale within the year.

I am already thinking on to the next one … I have something in mind that I hope to bring to fruition. And it may be another, rather different, triptych. And another major challenge!

My current slowly progressing art project, Not Out of the Woods Yet is back on the worktable. It is indeed still not out of the woods yet, but is getting closer! I decided that two backdrops are required. These will fit onto the long sides of two sections, and will mirror the base shape and imagery.

Because I am me, I needed to work out the material (thin plywood), and tweak the imagery to soften & fade it out a bit. In between acquiring and wrapping Christmas presents, I get only a bit of artwork done most days. Today I cut out the plywood shapes, despite wet sawhorses, cramped working space, and cold sleety weather!

I need to reprint & cut the imagery, and then choose different images from The Surprisingly Artistic Potholes of Port Townsend. These will go on the backs of my backdrops, since these could be visible when the work is on display. Hear is the sneak peek at the progress to date!