Crazy Sculpting Fool

The way things are shaping up, this week may be all about sculpture.  I am deep in the middle of preparing for a sculpture class I am teaching to middle and high school students over the next few months.  I began playing around with sculpture early last year and I absolutely love it!  It exercises a completely different portion of my artist brain and excites me like really nothing else in the studio.  I'm teaching myself on the fly so there is a fresh feeling of the unknown and the rush of random experimentation.

These particular sculptures are samples for a lesson plan on the circus sculptures of Alexander Calder.  I never hand out materials or present a lesson without first exploring the plan myself.  This way I can anticipate any tough parts of construction and be able to suggest solutions (or change the plan!)  Preliminary testing also helps me develop the "flow" of a project and gives me a good idea how long a project will take students to complete.  As a bonus, I get to play!  Once I get going, I usually end up making a bunch of sculptures for myself.  It is getting quite crowded in the studio!