Off with their heads!

Yes, it is true that I have just come from sculpting Alice In Wonderland. So, OFF WITH THEIR HEADS! may sound like I am reiterating a story. But for me, off with their head, and turning things upside down is not just something in Wonderland, but something I do in my own studio.

Alice in Wonderland is at the foundry in Santa Fe and expected delivery is Spring of 2017 in Houston.  Pieces of Alice and her friends are about the studio, heads are rolling. We are recouping the clay from Wonderland and using some of it on John Turner. So don't be surprised if there is a bit or magic and curiosity surrounding John.

John and I spend some time together in the corner of the studio.
I  hope to reattach his head this afternoon.

How to capture a look of a man over so many years of life?  His face changes, he has so many expressions.  I especially love this photograph. I love how he smiles with his entire face.  I'm busy working on a head, elsewhere someone is working on his boots and briefcase, while others put clay on a torso. It is great to go ring in the new year with John Turner.  A foam dog sits in pieces under an upside down Christmas tree in my studio. I can actually hear it whining for attention.

I hope I can post pictures soon.

The most animated photos are those with his daughter.  My heart just jumps when I see them.

Getting to know my subject- studying a smile, a gait, a man

I'm spending a great deal of time getting to know John Turner.  So glad I have these candids of John. I hope to make him younger, by a bit, in the sculpture. I was so surprised at how quickly he walks with his dogs.  Thank you Linda for sending these scans. I love seeing the interaction and that smile.

John Turner in a Box

Well, we are on our way with John Tuner.
The first step is an armature, that armature came in this week.  Yes, I have a John Turner in a box.
Inside this box are many pieces of foam similar to the digital model.

This foam is used as a basic armature for the sculpture. Now, I can really get into detail. I have been waiting for this moment for so long. I can hardly wait any longer.

There will be a lot more activity on this blog, now that this has come in.  Please stay tuned.  It is a long process.  We will be busy, but I'll try to post process pictures. You must promise to be patient, it goes through a process, and at first glance you will say, "What, the heck? This is not John Turner. "  But until you see me do my magic.

What is 3D scanning and why is it needed?

To start a project I often will create small maquettes or clay sculptures. To enlarge these using digital processes I use 3D scanning and CNC Milling. I talk about my process quite a bit in my new book 3D Technology In Fine Art and Craft: Exploring 3D Printing, Scanning, Sculpting and Milling. 
Let me enlighten those who are new to my process.


I had a company that came in and scanned John for me. There is a new video of that scan in the previous post. I can't wait to get to work on this. I can do a lot of things int he computer that are harder to do with the real clay. The first thing I did was enlarged the dog.  I'll play with both of these - the dog and John until I get it the way I want it. There is no reason to put a lot of detail in this part, it is proportions I'm after. The detail will come when we get the foam back.

The foam acts as an armature for our clay.  I'm tickled to get started.

Waiting on the scans

I decided to scan John with a different scanner, actually a scanning company that has been working with me on another project will be scanning the small clay figure of John. I'm patiently awaiting the scan of the maquette. I have some things that I want to do on the sculpture in the computer.  After that, it will be sent to my enlarging company where they will enlarge John and his dog in urethan foam.  Here is a video showing the CNC milling on the March Hare for the recent Alice in Wonderland sculpture. It is fascinating to see  how it works.

Once milled the urethane foam of John will be shipped to my Houston studio, where we can begin the wonderful process of bringing the sculpture to life. Meanwhile, we have been dismantling the Alice in Wonderland sculpture so that we can repurpose the clay. You can say that John will have a little Wonderland in him. We now have room for John, and are just waiting on the scanning company. Can't wait to get him here.

John is on the way to getting big.

I have been working on the shape, form and movement of the John Turner sculpture. It is hard to get a lot of detail because this maquette is just about 17 inches high.  I am trying to do what I can in clay and then I'm scanning this and will do work on it in the computer before sending it to enlarging. A ways to go, but I can't wait to get the large armature of both of them so I can really work my magic. 

Working out the form, size of dog movement of the piece as a small maquette

3D scanning what I have in clay.

The scanning software at work. 

Friends Forever-

I love hearing memories of my subject. For me this brings them to life, makes them more real and helps me to put life and essence into the clay.  This came from my client. Dave and John have been friends a long time. I'm sorry I don't have photographs to go with this post.

 FRIENDS FOREVER

Friends from the first grade, but really good friends when David and John started playing sports. David, the mischievous one and John, was one who had to be convinced that skipping school was a lot more fun than going to school. Then when they would get to the train tracks, after skipping school, John would say....."man, I can't believe we just did that." David would say, "well we did and now we are going to ride some horses! " They would go get the horses and away they would go.

David loved having John as his catcher when they played on the school team for Frisco High School. David said John was a born salesman, because he would convince all the batters that they couldn't hit, so it made David's job easy. If they were out with a group of kids from school and if anyone from other schools said anything about Frisco.....John would come out swinging because he didn't want anyone saying anything bad about Frisco, Texas.

David's big brother, Bob and Johns bother, Bob Ed, were good friends, so David was always trying to be like Bob and John trying to act like Bob Ed. Bob Ed was both David's and John's hero, as he got a contract with the Yankees, but Bob Ed felt like he should be working, so he left the Yankee team and moved back to Frisco.

Joe Bailey, John's oldest brother, always looked after John and David and ended up marrying David's second cousin. David loved John's parents....just hard working, salt of the earth people, who raised their boys to always do the right thing and work hard.....guess that is why John always felt so guilty about playing hooky.

After John lost his sight and all his friends were going off to serve their country, John even tried to enlist by telling them....."surely there is something I can do to help our country." John, to this day, worries about our country and the direction it is heading....and stays very current on the world affairs by watching FOX News.

When David came home from Korea, he picked up a few friends that went to school with he and John, picked John up and told him they were going to go to one of their old haunts, which was McKinney….BUT JOHN HAD TO DRIVE. John jumped right in and was ready for the fun. They would tell John where to turn….when to turn and when to stop. John drove around the square and honked and waved at all the girls. They had John drive to Dutton’s Drive In and all the guys in the car started laughing when they got there…..John said “what are ya’ll laughing about,” they all said….John, you just pulled up right next to a cop!!” They all had a ball and John did not even have a wreck!

The one thing that David always has admired about John was his determination to succeed and succeed he did and has always excelled at everything he has done.....David said it best...."John does not have any QUIT IN HIM.......HE JUST NEVER GIVES UP." For all these years David and John have always called each other, to stay in touch and since about 1999, they have spent every New Year's Day together.....really catching up....eating tamales and black eyed peas!

I'M CLOSE TO ASKING FOR APPROVAL ON THIS SMALL SCULPTURE

I have been spending a lot of time these days watching the seeing eye dog channel and watching the behavior of a seeing eye dog. Working on the small maquette and hope to show the client in the next couple of weeks. Even though it is a rough maquette to basically show myself and the client the position, pose, interaction etc. I feel I have the spirit of John in the piece.  Stay tuned.

A DIFFERENT SCULPTURE BUT MANY SIMILARITIES

I spoke with David Johnson of Seeing Eye Inc.  As I work with my own sculpture of John Turner I have many questions.

• Where does the dog face? 
• How close to the man is he?
• Where is he in association to the handler? 
• What is the hold on the Harness?

 David helped me a lot.  I am surprised at how much this  David spoke a lot about John turner.  HEre is his correspondence.

David told me about a sculpture similar to the one that I am doing. In fact I'm surprised that we have both come up with the same pose. According to WIKI.

" On April 29, 2005, a sculpture titled The Way to Independence was unveiled on Morristown Green in Morristown. The sculpture of Frank and Buddy, created by John Seward Johnson II, is made of bronze and painted in full color. It captures the pair in mid-stride, with Frank motioning his hand ahead as if he is giving Buddy the "forward" command. "

I wish I had a photograph to show of this sculpture. I found this link. I was first motivated to create the type of work that I do because of a piece I had seen of Seward Johnson when I was young.  I like the work, but have always felt that the faces lacked something. Even with all of the detail and color, it lacked something. It is my own personal opinion and I still love the work, but that is my observation. Seward is noted for his full color patinas. I prefer a traditional bronze patina.

"Please find the attached photo of a photo of Morris Frank and Buddy III that was used for our sculpture in Morristown. It gives good movement and posture perspective not dissimilar to John Turner.

 As I mentioned earlier,

John is an honored and cherished graduate of The Seeing Eye. 25% of our Board of Trustees is comprised of graduates of the program, and John held a board seat for a number of years. John has been a huge advocate of our school for as long as I have known him, and I have had the privilege of being in class with him more than once. One of John's hallmarks is that when he is engaged in conversation with you, you are the only person on earth. He is extremely sincere and a worthy opponent in debate. John has remained so close to The Seeing Eye that he opens his home to our staff any time we are in the Dallas area. Just last summer he, Linda, and Jessica entertained a dozen of us at their dinner table. John's blessings before a meal in our presence always involve kind words and tearful emotion about his dogs, his instructors, and our organization. I am honored to call him a friend. One of the most endearing things about John is that we might not speak for months, and out of the blue he will leave me a message wishing me a good day and telling me how much our organization has meant to him in his life. He's better than a paycheck."

All of this is so inspiring, I can hardly wait to get back to sculpting.

THE FOUNDRY- The Fine Art Foundry of Texas

One of the most important elements to a sculpture is the foundry. The foundry is what makes my work into metal. It is a very interesting process that I will be sharing on this blogs I create John. When an artist starts a project they must obtain quotes from a foundry. Then the job is awarded to a foundry.

Shidoni Foundry in New Mexico is working on my Alice in Wonderland Project.  They specialize in very large sculptures and are perfect for that job.

I am happy to be working a little closer to home with the sculpture of John Turner and delighted to announce that The Fine Art Foundry of Texas has been awarded the casting of the sculpture of John Turner.  I have a long working relationship with The Fine Arts Foundry of Texas and their main worker, Miguel is the best in the business. Miguel has cast multiple projects for me. Below is a sample of the many pieces of work that Miguel has done for me. Keep following along with this blog to see the foundry process.

Richard Hathaway is a sculpture that resides outside of Vermont College.
Richard was a professor, lover of the arts, and an all around intriguing man. 

The Newsboy was commissioned by the
Texas Press Association.  It is a limited edition of 10. 1 resides at the Texas Press
Association another is in North Carolina and a third is in the North West. 

Called to pray was commissioned
By Dallas Baptist University. 

Jenna was created for her cemetery plot.
Notice the sign language symbol in her left hand. It means I love you. 

WHY JOHN?

I was delighted to be with John Turner and his family the day that city council of Frisco, Texas declared John Turner day. It appears, that John is continuously being honored for his accomplishments and contributions. 

THE DOGS

As I get to know the subject I put a bit of that into the art. Maybe it is the essence.

 What do I know of John?

 He does not sit still. He told me repeatedly about the 80,000 miles he has taken on his journey with his dogs since 1953.

 How many dogs?

 Here is a list of John's Seeing Eye dogs and the date he met his dogs:
1. Villa November 21,1953
2. Inky February 15, 1964
3. Pepper May 1, 1977
4. Gordy April 7, 1979
5. Steffie January 4,1989
6. Corinne September 20,1993
7. Robyn March 29, 2003
8. Eben May 23, 2014

 We are honoring each of these dogs by putting their names and footprints that are left in the sidewalk as John walks on. These dogs gave John his freedom.

 The sculpture will be of John at a quick pace. He is on the go. These dogs gave him that freedom. All of his guide dogs were trained at The Seeing Eye, Inc. in Morristown, NJ.

Their web site is www.SeeingEye.org. I have asked The Seeing Eye Inc for more information on their dogs and facility, perhaps they will give us some guest blog "dog" posts. It sure will help me. It will add more passion to the piece. I can't help but wonder, what does the dog look like who is aware and walking and doing their job. Are their ears perked, tail high or low? I suppose each dog is different, but knowing dogs I would assume that a seeing eye dog has a certain personality. I can't wait to hear more about it from the SeeingEye. This will help me with the sculpture.

RECEIVING INSPIRATION

 In an interview today someone asked me how I capture the essence of someone.

That is exactly what I am after. I don't just want a likeness I want the spirit of the person. Often when creating a scupture I don't get to meet my subject. In this case I did get to meet John. I could see his spirit.  John Turner has a tremendous amount of spirit.

The essence comes from a few other places. The first is through the loved ones that know the person. That is why I ask you to send me your stories, thoughts and ways you have been touched by John Turner.

I received some photographs today. I'm thrilled to have them. The pose with John, his dog and his brief case is very similar to the pose I had in mind. I can't wait to get started.

 

 

TWO SCULPTURES AT ONCE? Getting started.

I have been absolutely overwhelmed with the latest commission, of a monumental sculpture of Alice in Wonderland's Mad Hatter Tea Party. It has received a great deal of attention in the media.  We are still not done, but I'm taking time to start on the sculpture of John Tuner.  Can't wait to share about John. If you are interested in this Alice in Wonderland Project for Evelyn's Park in Bellaire, Texas, just outside of Houston, follow along on the Finding Alice Sculpture Facebook page.  

Here is a video from the beginning of this project started 4 years ago. 

This is a recent segment from PBS on my artwork.

MEASUREMENTS AND PHOTOS.

Taking many photographs

 I don't always have the luxury of measuring and taking photographs of my clients. Often the photographs are provided by a client and the subject matter is not available. I took some measurements of Eben and John and spent a few minutes in the drizzle and cold to try and get some action shots.  When ever I'm doing this and think, "that is enough photographs, " I remember that I can never have too many photographs.  Linda, John's wife, will be sending me some more photographs of John at a different age as we have decided to sculpt John at a younger age.  

While taking measurements of Eben he decided to became a bit more intimate than I would have liked and gave me a very wet kiss. I felt like Lucy from Charlie Brown and the expression in this video pretty much sums it up.  

looking at the gait and the stance. 

Love hands

GETTING TO KNOW MY SUBJECT

Images of dogs that are gone but thought of fondly,
 and recognitions look over a dog who love and now have
a challenge of helping the blind to see. 

After arriving to Dallas, John and Linda took me to their home.  I love visiting a subjects home. I have always said, "you really don't know someone until you run your finger along their bookshelves."

John and Linda with their daughter Jessica and dog_____ .
I have thought of this photo often as I think of the many memories they have had. 

This type of interaction though brief is important. While trying not to be intrusive and asking permission to take photographs I try to absorb a life time of memories.   I often wish I could be alone in these spaces to run my finger along the shelves and envision a past.  These pictures remind me of another commission of a former professor at my undergraduate college in Vermont and visiting Richard Hathaway's home, or spending time in his office.  

I'm absorbing the life of a man, trying to find his personality and spirit and let that come through the clay. 

A face cast of John intrigues me.
I have a book about casting faces
of famous people so the blind
can "see" their faces. I cast faces
and hands, as well as digitally scan
them. My favorite personal possession
 is the casts of my mom's and dad's hands. 

Pictures of John with family, friends, and a president. 

Had I more time I would have run my finger along this shelf. 

REVIEWING THE SPACE FOR THE SCULPTURE

John posing in the area where the sculpture will be place
under a water color Texas evening sky.

The Texas sky streaked into watercolor purples and the wind bit through my poncho as we explored the area where the sculpture celebrating a man, a journey and possibilities would be placed.  The Heritage center and the Heritage Museum is located at 6455 Page Street Frisco, Texas 75034.  "The mission of the Frisco Heritage Museum is to collect, preserve, study, interpret, exhibit, and stimulate appreciation for and knowledge of the history and culture of Frisco, Texas and the North Texas region to all the people of the region and to the visitors attracted to the area"

The sculpture of John Turner will be walking by the old school house.

John and his dog Ebon standing in the area
where the sculpture will be placed. 

Left to right- Sculptor Bridgette Mongeon
The Patrons of this project Linda and David Griffin
John Turner and his wife Linda Turner and Ebon

The Heritage Center 

A VISIT

I knew I had to take time away from Wonderland, and visit Shirley and David. I looked forward to the opportunity of meeting John Turner. A date was set, and on January 5^th, I made a quick trip from my Houston, studio to fly to Dallas and then drive over to Frisco, Texas to see sculpture was to be placed.

GETTING TO KNOW A SUBJECT

To meet a subject in person is so very important and really a luxury in my creative journey. I work on many different types of projects. People are my favorite thing to sculpt, along with dogs and especially children. Though, over the last few years, more people have been calling me “the cat lady” after creating the panther for Prairie View A & M and the Grambling tiger for Grambling State University, Louisiana. But many of my subjects I never meet. This is either because they are far away or they are deceased.  This is a wonderful treat to be able to meet John. 

John and his wife Linda met me at the airport. To my surprise they walked up to me inside the airport  Now, for many people that may not seem like anything special, but for me it was a treat. I have traveled often and my hometown is not Houston, though I have lived here over 35 years. When I would fly home in years gone by, I remember how people could greet you at the gate. I remember my mom waiting anxiously to greet me with my baby girl, or my sister and brother waiting for hugs. It occurred to me, that over the years, with the extra security and people not going down to the gate, that things have gotten very lax and when traveling and visiting used to be a treat, the process has become impersonal.  Many times in my travels, I find myself taking taxis, or maybe waiting at the curb for family to drive by, open their door and I jump in before some guy in a yellow vest shouts at us and waves us off. So seeing these friendly faces greet me with a hug, meant more to me than I even realized at the time.  It was the perfect way to start this adventure.