The Studio Before

Take a look at this gigantic space where the artists, those not working with stone, are assigned a spot.

Working It

Yes indeed, Barry works the clay and creates the face of the baby that will emerge eventually. One must be dedicated to such work to continue with it. Dedication and hard work with a vision is what you need to create this piece of sculpture.

Getting Some Real Work Done

This is some real hard work. Lugging heavy clay up on the scaffolding and maneuvering it to its proper place on the hulking piece is not easy (I say). By the way, this is Maggie, Barry's wife. I'm posting the pictures that Barry sends me because he cannot access google blog from China. This photo shows how much hard work building a sculpture can be. Look at the muscles in Barry's arms.

Clay Day

Barry has his hands full of clay and loving it. He is in his element.

The piece begins to form

The armature was built quickly and the clay building began soon thereafter. Barry said the clay was too moist and a bit difficult to work with, but all in all, it was good and the work continued.

Bar & Dorothea from San Marino

Bar stands with fellow sculptor from a small country called San Marino, a little independent country within Italy. I looked up the country and they have almost zero unemployment rate. I don't know what Dorothea's sculpture is going to be, but she looks like she's been hard at work on it.

Barry and Assistant, Xiao

It looks like they are having so much fun, right? Well, what they have is harmony in their work. Barry's assistant, Xiao, is a college student. Most of the assistants assigned to work with the artists are students of a nearby university. Barry tells me that Xiao works hard and is always eager to do more. Such help and company always lightens the workload.

Barry in China 2011 #2

In the last few days, I have received several pictures from Barry. I should have posted them as soon as I received them from Bar, but ah well, what can I say? This is a photo of Bar working, building. It's not all glamour you know. There's a lot of grunt work that goes hand in hand with beautiful artwork.

Progress in the 12th Sculpture Symposium 7/25/11

This is Maggie. I am writing for my husband, Barry, who is in China working to create the sculpture that was selected by the organizing committee of the Twelfth Sculpture Symposium in Changchun. When done, this piece will be over 14 feet tall and will be all bronze.

Barry is one of 104 artists selected among over 400 who submitted works for consideration in the symposium. This may be the largest symposium in Changchun with over 96 countries represented. The Symposium will culminate in a Conference scheduled for September 1-2, 2011.

I hope you will enjoy this post. I hope to continue to add more pictures as Barry sends them to me. You see, he cannot access google blog from China because of the current blocks in place. Enjoy!

Selected Again for China July 14-Sept.2, 2011

Just received word that I have been selected for the 12th Changchun Sculpture Symposium and Sculpture Conference to begin July 14th to September 2 2011. The organizing committee selected one out of the three artwork proposals that I submitted, the artwork will be 3 meters in height and be a combination granite and bronze, the title of the chosen work is “Idea Leaping into the Future”. I'm really looking forward to the event and meeting the other new artists that will have been selected. My fellow artist and friend Jallim Eudovic (his third time) will be there, and it is always a pleasure to to see him.
The seven weeks needed to complete the sculpture will be pretty demanding and even more so when I have to consider I'm returning from a long trip in the states and have to leave eight days later for China. I still need to prepare some cut sheets for the bronze sheet work that will be part of the inlay in the red granite lower section of the sculpture. The figure element will be 2 meters tall and that is just from butt to head. More to come...