Sculpting the Bust in Clay
zoom Workshop with Adrian Arleo
January 2 - 3, 2021
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This two day, remote hands-on workshop will be chock-full of useful information on coil-building a 3/4 life-size ceramic bust. Adrian will demonstrate her building technique, covering simple anatomy, problem solving solutions and creative ways to make evocative sculpture. During the demonstrations, participants will have the opportunity to ask questions. This will be followed by work time in your own studios, then discussion and feedback. Adrian will also show a brief presentation on the bust from classical to contemporary. The face can be a challenge for those who are new to working with the figure, so Adrian will go into detail about sculpting facial features and helping with simple adjustments to make things look “right.” We’ll also experiment with the gesture of the head and orientation of the eyes to note how small changes can add greatly to the overall feeling of the piece. This course is designed for beginning to intermediate students. Limited to 12 participants.
Workshop Fee is $225. This workshop is now full. Contact Adrian to be put on the waiting list: aarleo@gmail.com
Tentative Schedule
Saturday January 2nd
10 am - 12 pm (Pacific Time) - Introductions 1. Slides of Busts, Classical to Contemporary 2. video of building process 3. Getting started, make moquette if needed Sizing the base: if you’re fast: larger. If you might be slow: smaller! Questions/answers
12 pm - 2 pm: Work Break
2 pm - 4 pm: 1. Feedback, questions 2. Demo on head, getting it started so it will be ready tomorrow morning 3. Start the head, rough out basic skull shape
Sunday January 3rd
10 am - 12 pm (Pacific time): Check in with participants on their pieces, give feedback. 1. Facial features: demo and slides 2. Get started on face
12 pm - 2 pm: Work Break- work on face
2 pm - 4 pm: 1. Demo- Getting the head on, playing with gesture, EYES, more detailed relating to head gesture. 2. Creating internal supports for rod if you wanted to have a removable form coming off head (Diagram) 3. Demo- Closing head, adding hair, adding other elements 4. Check in with participants, feedback, any other issues.
ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR
ADRIAN ARLEO has spent the last 29 years living outside Missoula, Montana, with her family and a menagerie of animals. She works full time as a ceramic sculptor, and says this about her work: “For 40 years, my sculpture has combined human, animal and natural imagery to create a kind of emotional and poetic power. Often there's a suggestion of a vital interconnection between the human and non-human realms; the imagery arises from associations, concerns and obsessions that are at once intimate and universal. The work frequently references mythology and archetypes in addressing our vulnerability amid changing personal, environmental and political realities.”
She studied Art and Anthropology at Pitzer College (B.A. 1983) and received her M.F.A. in ceramics from Rhode Island School of Design in 1986. Adrian was an Artist in Residence at Oregon College of Art and Craft in 1986-87, at Sitka Center for Art and Ecology in 1987-88, and in 2012 was an invited artist for the Jordan Schnitzer Printmaking Residency, also at Sitka Center for Art and Ecology. Adrian’s work is exhibited nationally and internationally, and is in numerous public and private collections. She received awards from the Virginia A. Groot Foundation in 1991 and 1992, and in 1995 was awarded a Montana Arts Council Individual Fellowship. Her work has been widely published in books, magazines and online, and she is a frequent workshop instructor across the US and abroad.