P.T. Artist Sandra Stowell

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My Golden Boy started life as another one of my yellow Lirio soap block carvings. So the casts, created from two different molds, will always be “Golden Boy” regardless of their actual color. I made the first mold as a partial mold of the front, resulting in relief casting that are flat on the back and can be mounted to flat surfaces.

The second mold is a full mold of the original soap carving, but my golden boy original is a wee bit flat in profile. The soap block shape constrains the piece. With some care, I managed to “glom on” a few very messy mucky additions using mushy soap chips, but that took a lot of patience! Hence this incomplete figure!

The soap mush addition process does not seem feasible for larger or finely detailed additions. Also it does not have the same smooth surface of the carved work. I have not tried carving multiple sections that could be attached with soap mush, but that might work.

I still hope to find the perfect medium for making my “originals” for casting. Of course that will never happen, but I do like to experiment. I enjoy carving, but my hands and wrists are compromised, so carving hard stone or wood is problematic. I struggle to get and keep good detail with oil based clay, and it can get distorted in the mold making process. Natural earthen clay might be more pleasing to work, but I don’t have clay, and have very little experience with it. I don’t have kiln, so the idea would be make my molds from air dry clay pieces. These would probably be scrap after removal from the mold.

One of the above arrangements is a finished piece; my relief golden boy at top right is permanently mounted. I shipped “Under the Thorn Tree” to its new owner yesterday!

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I am in the process of designing and mapping beetle territory: where do my beetles live? Where do they eat? And where to they go to sleep? Are they loners, or social beetles?
Here are some of my less dimensional, less colorful beetles! These are clearly herd beetles; they are moving en masse toward some unseen goal. They seem quite focused and content in their progress.

But other beetles will be different, I feel certain.

I do believe, at least for the moment, that my beetle specimen drawers approach final arrangement.

I have added another round of beetles, two of them being brand new, and I have rearranged them. The arrangements in each drawer seem more compatible. I am still somewhat unsure whether I like these particular drawers, or even the idea of this collection as a whole. But the new additions and updated arrangements fit much better as two somehow congruous sets.

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Now the beetles are all lined up facing the same way in both drawers, the drawers a bit cleaner, and these photos were taken with the higher resolution camera:

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I may like to think that my project is on track, and that my beetle specimen drawers approach final arrangement. I am still considering though. One idea is add a background in the drawer, under the beetles. A mirror could be interesting, or then again just not! I am looking for the large mirror tile that should be somewhere in my studio… Perhaps the drawers could be stained a bit darker, or even painted.

But … do my beetle specimen drawers pass muster? I need to love them! Do I love them yet? TBD!

I pulled the second editions of Mrs. Beetle and Golden Boy out of the molds this morning, along with another Mrs. Beetle I and another turtle! I like Golden Boy #2 better than #1; the color shading is better. But I am not quite as fond of Mrs. Beetle II in red & green, although she is just fine. Mrs. Beetle I and Turtle have been cleaned up and sprayed, but Mrs. Beetle II and Golden Boy have not been touched up yet. They are fresh from the molds.

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Sometimes I start a carving project by sketching; at other times I may draw a few sketches to support a project that is already in work. Sometimes I do a bit of both! My second Mrs. Beetle carving was well under way on a block of Lirio laundry soap before I sketched anything. The sketches can consolidate my ideas and keep me focused when I am not carving.

I also want to create a finished art work that will incorporate multiple beetles, however I did not have any clear vision or concept of what that might look like until I did some doodling. Here is one of my sketches to support beetle carving, and another one that may help me create a finished artwork.

Last night, sketching, I may have come up with my plan:

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I think many of my beetles will be installed in one or more “specimen drawers”! Why it has taken me this long to come to this idea, I really don’t know: it seems so obvious. I have built “museum drawers” before now, though these were archeological rather than botanical. So I have a plan, and I am excited, but a long way from having a sufficient collection of beetles!

I enjoy assembling, and I have created several art assembly pieces in old drawers, or in shallow wooden boxes that I think of the same way. When I am experimenting, I create many pieces and parts: items that don’t really stand alone as much more than amusements. But sometimes these parts created separately come together and create the kind of magic I want from my artwork.

When small pieces that I have created with care, even treasured for quite some time, eventually do become part a greater whole, it is immensely satisfying. I really enjoy the process of preparing an artwork from many parts. And so far, I am usually pleased with the results.

I am especially fond of the dimensional work I have assembled in drawers, which requires a variety of skills. It can take time to find just the right pieces to create the odd scenes that fit my vision. I may need to alter or repair found drawers and boxes. Sometimes I add lights, which always complicates the process, and getting the final finish details can take time and patience. But I find it all very satisfying.