I feel like I am falling behind and that the universe is conspiring to force me out of old ways of thinking. Last week, I was out sick for two days (which I spent mostly in research anyway, so not a waste, just not a making-time). This week, I was going to get started on the armature for my sculpture. But things do not always run smoothly. The piece I want to work on is large, approximately 5 feet tall and 2 wide, so it needs a sturdy armature. With the Shift/Work Workshop taking up Monday and Tuesday, I hoped to get into the metal shop, brush up on my welding skills and start building, yesterday. Unfortunately, the metal shop technician, whom I need to show me the ropes and approve my use of the shop, is busy until Friday doing inductions of the Design and Architecture students.
I must wait until Friday before I start working on the armature, which I hope will go quickly.
In the meantime I need to devise another project to keep me busy. I had hoped to do some casting this semester, but the casting technician is out until at least October 24 and maybe till January (no one seems to know for sure). Without a casting technician, I don’t have access to the foundry and related areas, and am unable to get a true sense of what can or cannot be done in our foundry, what casting methods are preferred and what molding techniques are used here.
I need to determine what media will work for the pieces I want to make and how to go about using it. Maybe wood, although my carving skills are somewhat lacking I at least have been sufficiently inducted in the use of the woodshop.
Perhaps it’s time to visit some of the galleries and museums in search of inspiration. I have yet to see the exhibition From Van Gogh to Kandinsky at the National Galleries, and it closes on the 14th Oct. There’s also the¬†Scottish National Galleries of Modern Art which I have yet to visit. I think it is time.