Fishy Things

I have been working on my fish sculpture. I have made some progress as you can see here.


I will probably change the shape of the head some more. Bring down the forehead a little and incline it more sharply so it isn't so rounded.

I'm struggling a bit with this one. This stone already has a very specific shape and it already feels like a fish. I fear the only thing I can possibly do is screw it up. I can see how I can utilize the shape, but I'm lacking confidence. Especially with the fins. So I've decided to try to model in clay where I can go with it.


In the past when I've done this, I found that I actually like to work the clay like I work stone. Take away and not build up. I mean, I'll add clay to build up an initial chunk, and I'll add clay if I go too far while removing something, but I feel best when I'm removing the clay to reveal the form rather than just trying to build it up. Sort of like problem solving how I might actually tackle the stone. Anyway, that's what I've done above. I created a (crude) model of my stone as it currently stands, and now I'll try to figure out how to make the most of it.

By the way, while I was working with the clay the other night, I was watching a terrific program on PBS called Craft in America. There was quite a bit of wonderful work on display in all manner of styles and media. Inspiring stuff. You should catch it if you're into that sort of thing.