Losin' It

No, this post is not going to be about some 80's teen comedy set at a co-ed summer camp. That is just how I am feeling right now. Like I am Losing It. Ever since I got back from Mendocino I just don't feel like I've been able to get it together.

It didn't help that less than a week after I got home I left for a Seattle road trip. I got back from that a week ago and I know I have a lot to get accomplished before I leave for Colorado next month but I just have barely been able to get my thoughts together, get organized and get to work.

I have two grant applications to complete, my portfolio to update and two local juried shows to enter. Okay, only one juried show. And that is because I totally missed the deadline on Monday. Crap. I am totally pissed at myself. Normally I wouldn't be so concerned about a small-time juried show like this but it's being judged by a totally respected curator from the city. I really wanted this guy to see my work.

The thing is, I totally got the date mixed up with some other deadlines. And I had jury duty Monday and Tuesday so I wasn't able to do anything those two days. Actually, the jury duty thing wasn't that bad. It was my first time serving on a jury. It would have been better if the deliberations hadn't lasted longer than the actual trial. It all came down to One Person. But we finally managed to reached a verdict by the end of the day yesterday so I don't have to go back tomorrow. Whew.

This morning I just dove into stuff and that's when I realized I had missed the deadline. I was so bumming. I just can't seem to feel organized and focused. I don't have a studio, all my stuff is all crammed in boxes here and there in our office and my garage. I've got no really good place to work here at home. And I am just so distracted by home related stuff. I feel totally out of control.

And I can't stand that feeling. Normally I'm really on top of what I'm working on and have a good idea of what I need to do in future time. I can't stand leaving things to the last minute and I can be quite forgetful so I use lots of lists to keep myself in line. None of that is happening right now and it feels really uncomfortable.

I can barely comprehend what I need to do each day. I am living moment to moment. Some may think that's freeing but quite frankly it just doesn't work for me. I like being anal and in control. It's my comfort zone.

So I have just got to get through this patch. Deal with the circumstances as they are and get done with the rest of the projects without missing any more deadlines. I am really looking forward to going to Colorado and just focusing on stone carving for a month but more than that I am looking forward to coming home, moving back into my studio and just getting things in control and organized.

You know, it's good to realize the kind of person you are and accept it and work with it. I am a control freak and that's O.K.

World Cup Moment of the Day: Don't forget to watch U.S. vs Ghana tomorrow.

This match means something. We gotta beat Ghana and Italy's gotta beat the Czech Republic (games simultaneous) if we are to advance to the next round. Not that I am completely Go U.S.A. I am actually routing for England but mostly because it's one of my teams in a pool I'm in. The other team is Ecuador. And check this out, England plays Ecuador in the next round so whoever loses is out. Yikes. There goes half my chance to win the pool. Oh Well. At least I didn't get Serbia/Montenegro.

Images - Bronze Casting

The following are images that illustrate the process I went through in order to make the three bronze sculptures that I completed at the end of my residency in Mendocino. This is the traditional lost-wax casting technique.

This first image is one of the original wax sculptures that I fabricated earlier this year. Often in the lost-wax casting process a form is sculpted in some other material, like clay, and then a mold is made of the form. Then wax is pour into the mold to make the wax sculpture. Multiple bronze sculptures of the same form can be made this way. But in this case I made each piece out of wax by hand, so they are one-of-a-kind. This also means that if the bronze pour is unsuccessful for any reason then the sculpture is lost forever.

It was determined that the best way to cast the sculptures was to cut them in half. This is one half of a wax sculpture ready to invest, complete with all the complicated gating. It's laying on it's side. The big piece of red wax on the right is actually the cup, which will become the opening in the mold to pour metal into once the wax is melted out.

These next two images are from the first bronze pour I did. Unfortunately I don't have any images from the pour that Diane and did later. Here, Tommy and I are lifting the lid off the furnace in order to retrieve the red hot crucible.

Now, we are pouring bronze into my investment molds. The first mold blew out (it can happen), hence all the metal flowing out the bottom. The second mold was fine, so I ended up with a very nice half sculpture in the end.

This is a bronze piece, fresh out of the investment mold. I have a lot of cutting and cleaning and chasing ahead of me.

Here's one half all cleaned up. The next step is to weld it to the other cleaned up half.

Now that the two pieces are welded together I am all ready for the last step - the exterior finish.

And now the sculpture is complete. All that's left is to display it properly and sell it to the first sucker that comes along!

Blog Posting Update of the Day: No new posts until after June 12th.

Heading up to the Pacific Northwest for a week, see ya when I get back.