Work in progress

A pronghorn's head for my little animal lover (What happened to his body? I'm sorry sweetheart, mommy hasn't figured out how to sculpt the rest of him).

I have been feeling romantic lately.

I'm thinking of adding necks and other things to these heads. And this time, I am going to work slow and steady, spend some time on planning. No more rushing in my work.

Companion

Made this sculpture a couple of weeks ago, as a companion piece to my Hyakki Yako. The inspiration for this work actually came from this particular post from one of my favorite blogs, More Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan.


Instead of demons, this piece has Jizo buddhas and children playing under the tree. It's the opposite of Hyakki Yako. I like the idea of Jizo buddha. He is the protector of women, children and travelers (in the physical realm and spiritual realm).

I put a fox here next to the Jizo. Again, playing with the idea of a spiritual guardian.



And here are the two sculptures, side by side, for comparison. I like to expand this idea, of making a group of sculptures that are related to each other, and they interact with each other when they are together.

Hyakki Yako

I'm back to sculpting after taking 3 weeks off from it. This time I'm playing with the idea of Hyakki Yako (the Chinese call it bai gui ye xing: a hundred demons moving in the night), which means pandemonium.

I worked pretty much all day on Saturday. I love how the sculpture looked in the light of the setting sun.

I spent a few more hours on Sunday to finish the sculpture. I think this sculpture took me over 10 hours to complete.

I'm quite proud of my nose. I mean the nose on this sculpture, I think I have improved a lot :)

There are 7 demons hanging out under the tree.


My favorite demon is that happy little guy sitting on the bottom left.


I kind of like this triceratops-inspired demon too.


It was fun coming up with all those ideas for demons. I think I will have to make more demons to accompany this piece.

Work in proress: Memento mori

Going for a memento mori-sort of theme (not quite the traditional notion of memento mori).

Dreams and Demons (the sculpture)

Started building this sculpture over the weekend. I discovered that coil building is the technique that works the best for me.


This sculpture is about someone who isn't careful, and let his/her dreams and demons go out of control.




Here's a demon.

A ghost.

And this skeleton dude hangs out at the back of the head.

Dreams and Demons

This week has been unbelievably good for me. I managed to make art everyday since Sunday! What an excellent way to start the new year.

So what do I wish for this new year? I wish to be more adventurous. Meaning, I would like my drawing and sculpting to interact with each other. I'd love it if they both could get together and produce some interesting off springs. Let's pray for lots of good things to happen between these two.


This week I did a lot of drawings. This one full drawing is actually an idea for a sculpture. I call it Dreams and Demons (see the dreams and demons crawling out of the person's head).


I bet these demons/creatures are fun to sculpt. I can hardly wait to start on them.




Besides drawing I also painted a couple of my sculptures. I love using oil paint.


I've had a productive week. It's awesome!

Black and White Dream

When it comes to finishing a sculpture, I am usually in favor of cold finishes (methods that do not involve firing in a kiln).

So here's Dream's Song, in black and white.


I do not intend to leave this piece as it is right now (though I am a little tempted to). I thought it looks quite interesting like this....but a black and white dream? That doesn't go quite well with the meaning of the work...does it?


Anyway, this piece is still in progress. It will have have colors, eventually.

Lessons learned

Remember this little darling from a few weeks ago?


She blew up in the kiln, didn't survive the first firing. I am so sorry. I thought she was ready for the kiln, but apparently there was still moisture inside. It is clear that I still have lots to learn. Sigh.

I do feel a little crushed about losing this sculpture, but on the other hand, I think Buddha did say something about the impermanence of things and non-attachment etc...In other words, I'll live and move on...Also, is it weird that I find this pile of rubble fascinating and maybe even beautiful in its own way?

The more I do it, the more I realize...

I have come to a conclusion: the more I glaze, the more I hate it.

There, I have said it. Yes, sacrilegious. How can a ceramist not embrace the art of glazing? Well, it's not my cup of tea, but I'm not rejecting it totally.

For now, I'm exploring two alternatives to glazing/overglazing: 1. using color slip, and 2. using oil paint, acrylic paint...etc.

So today, I made Kappa-san here, and I put color slip (that I painstakingly made by myself. Seriously, it's a lot of work to prepare color slip) on him. I think I like what I see so far.


It seems that with this slip I can get a painting effect.


And yes, I may have a Kappa obsession. But we are getting closer to Halloween, so why not? It is a water sprite, after all.


Oh, and another thing, this is not how a traditional Kappa looks like. I stylized it, just for fun.

Not your usual Kokeshi doll

Another new work in progress. This one is based on the traditional Japanese doll, the Kokeshi doll (well, loosely based on). I tried out a new method of sculpting, and I'm quite pleased with the result.

I think the nose has improved a lot.


This is probably the first time I put eye brows on my work! (pssssst...let me tell you a secret, I never put ears on my sculptures. Never! Weird huh? I wonder why is that...)

A Dream's Song

I have been wondering...What does a dream look like when it hatches? I seem to think that dreams remain dormant inside a shell. When it finally gain the freedom to sing its own song, it comes out of the shell, like chicks hatching from eggs.


A dream is singing its song. The song comes out and turns into plants.


Life and growth occur when a dream sings its song.


Can you feel it?

A dream is singing its song. I can hear it.

A Tiger God and His Priestess

I had a great weekend. As long as I get to play with clay, I'm happy.

Yesterday I made this tiger god and his priestess. I worked 5-6 hours non-stop. At the end of the day I was pretty tired, sore, and hungry. But I felt great on the inside! Art making leaves a pretty long lasting feeling of happiness inside me.


Here's a closer look at the tiger god. This is actually a commission from my husband. He said he wants a tiger. And since he's such a wonderful husband, I threw in a priestess as a bonus.


And here she is, the priestess. I think this is the first time I put hair on my sculpture. The result isn't bad at all.


Once again, I'm quite pleased with the lips.


Where did I get the inspiration for the tiger god and the priestess? From the video game, Okami. Let me just say this, if I were a video game, I want to be Okami. It's a gorgeous game. How can you not love a game that looks like this (see picture above and below, taken from Okami art book)?


This is the tiger god from Okami. This game is absolutely beautiful! It's like a Japanese painting that moves and talks! And the music is just as wonderful as the game.


(This track is my favorite!)



That's all I have to share for now. Take care everyone, have a good Monday.