With Friends Like These...

(You know the rest)...who needs enemies? 

This is the third installment in the story of a sculpture that started a few posts back, in the one titled, "In process".

City Hall's entry in the planter competition was one of about twenty-five.  Downtown Belle Plaine really blossomed this summer.

After a long day of putting together quotes for jobs, and judging the Chamber of Commerce downtown planter competition, I headed up the road to Jordan, for my usual Friday night at Maureen's (maureencarlson.com), for Open Studio.  I took the torso of Lisa, and the head I started last week, and stopped at the hardware store to find something to create the arm and leg structure.  I was thinking of aluminum tubing, but they didn't have it, and after awhile, I decided the old standby, chicken wire, was the best bet.  Crumpled slightly and rolled up, it makes a strong but lightweight armature to either fill with spray foam insulation, or cover with plaster bandages.

Once at the studio, I sat on the floor to explain the pose I thought she might have, while Maureen and her daughter Renee asked me more about the story of the Gwragedd Anwnn, and threw out suggestions and ideas.  I told them how, now that she was amphibious, she would probably display fine in my plant-filled living room (not so much an option when I thought she might be a mermaid), then laughed and said of course that would also probably mean changing the mural, just a little.  Maureen got that sneaky twinkle in her eye and said, "You knoooooow, you could make her coming out of the wall, part painted and part sculpted."

Mm-hmm.  Like I haven't added three layers of challenge to this little project already.  I tried to steer away from that idea, but deep down, it had already taken root.  It would simplify sculpting her legs (most likely), it would solve the dilemma of how to display her without displacing furniture, and it will once again double the time this project will take to complete. "Aaaaaaaggghhhh!", to quote Charlie Brown.

Now, before I can move forward with sculpting, I not only have to figure out arms and legs, I have to figure out how much of the existing mural will get repainted, to incorporate her, and how. 

Maureen does this every time, and though it seems innocent, I'm not sure it isn't on purpose.  I sit there proposing some simple solution, some quick project, and if I can't manage to triple the complexity myself, in thirty seconds or less, she jumps right in.  She can read her students, even when they are just hanging out as friends, and knows instinctively when they need a push.  She never lets me get away with doing what I've done before, and I swear she gets a kick out of pushing me, then jumping back to see where I land.

So, I probably don't need to figure out leg structure, as she is likely to be leaning forward, out of the picture, and very little leg will be dimensional, but with all the time saved, I now get to take my trompe l'oeil painting to the next level.  Thanks for saving me from the dreaded legs, Maureen, I wouldn't have done it without you!

(...and yes, Maureen, Dearheart, I only pretended not to hear what you said about writing a story.  Thanks.  I needed another to add to the growing pile of unfinished books, though of course, I nearly always make up back stories for the more creative jobs I do, so it will probably happen anyway.)

I do paint murals and sculpt dimensional plaster for clients.  Find my portfolio, and information to commission me, on my website, theartofthehome.com.

I will gladly answer your questions, if I know the answer you are looking for.  dawnmariedelara@gmail.com.