Philip R. Obermarck

Yesterday I moved my sculpture up into my studio from the metalshop where I had been working. I am now past the point where I am generating large piles of wood chips and making annoying, loud noises, so I figured I was able to move to the studio without upsetting my other studio-mates.

What I have left to do:

• Finish the hands
• Finish the face
• Finish any other details I may have missed, or refine other areas
• Give the piece an overall sanding to even out the form while still leaving the marks of the chisels and gouges.
• Apply stain
• Apply oil
• Hang for display

In order to finish all that I expect to be in the studio a lot in the next few weeks. When we return from our spring break we will be moving studios, so I want to be done (or close) by then, which means working over the break.

I’m also, concurrently, working on a book which is sort of a combination Art Book and Story Book, which tells the myth of The Mead of Poetry, with my images alongside the text. If all goes well, that will be available for sale at the degree show.

I am also now working on paintings, since the mono prints weren’t working out the way I wanted. I am still using the dried pigs-blood in acrylic medium, but am now simply creating images with my hands directly on the paper, rather than on a shed ofglass which was then transferred to the paper.

An in order to try out some different finishes, I have also carved some smaller pieces that are completely unrelated save that they are from the same wood and use finishes I am experimenting with.

So, all seems to be progressing.

With only three months left before the degree show, I find myself a little worried that I may not get everything done that I want to for my pieces. I have been concentrating lately on my sculpture, a life sized carving of a man hanging inverted by his ankles like a side of beef. This was inspired by the Norse myth of the Mead of Poetry, which you can read in a previous blog post.

Since my last post about it, I have moved it indoors into the Metal Workshop. Why there instead of the Wood Workshop? Because they have a gantry in the Metal Workshop from which I can hang my piece when I need to see it in its display position. That and Mark is one of the nicest technicians at ECA and is happy to have some woodworking going on in his shop.

Here, I built a trestle to rest the body upon and have been carving away at it. So far I have done some of the broader forms of the chest, worked on the neck and shoulders, carved away at the back between the arms, and recently began to work on some of the fiddly bits like the hands, feet and arms. The hands are blocked in as are the feet. I expect to continue work on the arms and then move back to the ankles and calves before really settling in on the head, although I may begin roughing in the face sooner.

Once the entire figure is roughed in and blocked out, I can go back and work on the finishing details. I have yet to decide whether I want to keep the body covered in a carven texture, bring it down to a smooth, natural texture or leave it somewhere in between. I am also not certain what sort of finish I will use on the wood, nor whether I will fill in the cracks with resin. Though decisions will be made as I go along, and as I get further with the piece.

As far as finishes go, I have some scrap wood that I have been carving on which I plan to use to test some finishes. Right now it is untreated, but I expect that I will try both traditional and untraditional finishes on it or similar pieces of scrap wood.