12/30/20
I had to get in the studio and let off some steam after being swamped with school work for weeks. This little santa was the result. I did it as a quick (2.5 hour) study to be recycled after a few pictures were taken. --But Karen asked me to finish it so she could set him up in our house during Christmas next year.
And that's how our little Santa portrait came to be.
12/3/20
Colder Products Company (CPC) commissioned me to do a butter sculpture of their Vice President of Global Operations in conjunction with an award she received. It was the first time I have done an outdoor sculpture performance in 30-40 degree weather. Some things to consider when doing an outdoor sculpture in Minnesota in Winter:
Temperature - Even with a forecasted high of 40, that doesn't mean it'll be 40 for the 8 hours I'm sitting outside sculpting. Winter sun in MN is really low and casts strange shadows. Low winter sun is even lower at 4 PM. It gets dark already before 5 pm.
Despite the challenges, it was a super fun session talking with Janel and learning about CPC. (As always, click the image here for more details.)
11/1/20
Well, October is finished and with it another "Chalktober" has been chalked up in the archives. A picture is worth a thousand words so this group is worth around 31,000. Needless to say I won't bore you with that many words. Just click the image here to see all 31 drawings from my 2020 Chalktober.
10/16/20
Since Butter Sculpting in August, my life has been a whirlwind. --Thus, the lack of posts here.
I'd like to take a little time now to highlight Midwest Dairy and all the amazing work done by Dairy Farmers across the region. --The farmers who help produce wholesome foods like milk, cheese and icecream that we sometimes take for granted. How often to you think about the work that went into getting that carton of milk in your fridge? It could be argued that Dairy Farmers are the hardest working people in the nation: Milking twice a day, seven days a week. Planting, picking rocks, cultivating, fertilizing, making hay, and harvesting are all a part of dairy production. Add to that the maintenance required on multiple tractors, wagons and other farm equipment... It's a job that never-ends!
That's why I feel so honored to represent Midwest Dairy and all the Dairy Producers as I sculpt "Butter Heads" for the Princess Kay program.
This year I was slated to sculpt 3 or 4 portraits of Princess Kay finalists (each one carved from a 90 pound block of butter) while veteran Butter Sculptor, Linda Christensen carved the rest. But the Covid-19 pandemic caused many events to be cancelled including the Minnesota State Fair. Travel restrictions made it impossible for Linda to get here for her 49th year of sculpting butter heads but she was able to participate via video. And next year she'll be here to sculpt Princess Kay
Click the image above to learn more about all 10 finalists and the process of sculpting their likenesses.
7/5/20
Having some time off from pushing clay for Brodin Studios gave me a chance to work on a portrait of Madeleine, the lead singer of the band, Eleine. It was a fun diversion from the oil-based clay I use at work. Also it's the first finished sculpture I've done for a long time. As a clay guy at a bronze studio, I never feel right taking credit for my work there because it's such a team effort.
This one, however, is just me.
5/22/20
Some more Holy Trinity cups were made for graduation and their Spring Fling fundraiser. Click the image to see 6 of them and a link to last year's batch.
5/10/20
I thought it would be good to record some quick studies so I can review how I work through certain parts of a portrait. So today here's an Ear. Not real sure why I started with an ear. If you click the image here you'll see a 20 second video of my ear sculpting process.
5/1/20
A donut is a Torus shape. An inner tube is a torus shape. And so is this pot. Finally found a glaze I wanted to try on the Torus Teapot, tried it, and here it is. Click the image to see a few pictures.
I should also mention that my son, Theo was the reason the Torus Teapot got fired. I put it in the kiln with the load of mugs he made. Click here to see an example of Theo's pottery.
4/1/20
Speaking of Slate (see 3/28 post below), I haven't posted the last drawing I did on the Atwater board before I left last summer. I'll remedy that here now. Click the image here to see the whole 16 foot long drawing.
3/29/20
When I sculpt things, it seems like I never really remember how to do it. I just push the clay where it wants to go until it looks like the thing I'm shooting for. So sometimes it's fun to record the process to see how it happens.
Click the image above to see the sculpture and a time-lapse video of the first 1.25 hours of work.
3/28/20
I got to put up one of the slate chalkboards in our East room this week and for the inaugural drawing, well, you can see it by clicking the image to the left.
It encompasses many thoughts: Covid 19, Lent, and the fact that I'm a year older .
3/5/20
Just a little too busy for my own good. Too many things up in the air at the same time. And then tonight I was notified that my Grandpa broke his hip. He's 102!
I made this little sketch sculpt last weekend but it seems appropriate tonight. I just want to hold on to Grandpa.
1/30/20
A long time ago Andrew asked for a St. Andrew statue. I finally got around to making one. Wanted it finished before Christmas and just made it.
This little guy is about 8 inches tall and took over a month (during my free time) to sculpt. Take a closer look by clicking the image here.