Recently, I've been contemplating on the work of various sculptors. I've looked at pictures of the work of pros and intermediates alike and I noticed that no matter what type of imagery they likened matter to, there was one thing abundantly clear -- they're all specialists. So, my dear readers, as a passionate sculptor myself, I would like to say to all of the sculptors out there: try something new! Work with one new material every month. If you're already established and full time, no worries. Keep doing the same work that your collectors love and would like to see more of and work with materials as a side project. If you work with that material for only 15 minutes at a time, 4 times a day, then you just spent 2 hours a day working with that material. Multiply that by 7 days a week and you worked with that material for 14 hours a week. Now, multiply that by 4 weeks and you spent 56 working with that material for the month. I think 56 hours is a good period of time to learn how to work with a new material, especially if you copy some of your previous work. Next month use a new material. Good materials to venture out into are: different kinds of stones, cheeses and wood since all they require is carving tools and the material itself. If you're more of a modeller try different types of wax, polymer clays that you haven't used before (ie. Sculpey "Flex and Bake") and you can even venture into mold making and casting rubber sheets that can be cut and put together (try different types of rubber like polysulfide, silicon, latex). You can also cast in vinyl and plastic, just to make them solid and then find ways of making them into modelling materials.
Gradually, as working with new materials becomes your routine, you may find yourself compelled to venture into materials that require special studios such as metal and glass. The good part about this, is that you don't need to have your own studio. You can either rent part of a shared one or attend a local community college. Before you cringe at the thought of doing something new when you're already established or, to cover the spread, just barely learning the ropes, keep in mind one of hidden laws of the universe: opportunities multiply as they are siezed.
Keep It Real, Planet Earth,
The Dark Artist
(D/A)
