muse

[Alec]

Does anyone know the name of the "Muse of Sculpture"?

[anne (bxl)]

Hi Alec
In the greeks mythology there was no "muse of sculpture" the nine muse (= Zeus daughters) were muse of poetry, tragedy, comedy, history, dance, astronomy,... but none of them muse of visual arts.

[fritchie]

Alec - Anne is right. I just checked, and nine is the correct number. Except for Urania, muse of astronomy, all celebrated theater or speech in some way or other. New Orleans’ early American sector, developed in the 1820's to 1840's, has a group of successive streets with these names - Calliope, Euterpe, and so on, though some have been partially or totally renamed over the years.

[oddist]

Although there is no "Muse of Sculpture", if you do a Google search on "Sculpture Muse" you will find many artists that seem to have found one.

http://www.guggenheimcollection.org/site/medium_work_md_Sculpture_22_6.html

http://www.gis.net/~ycpeet/performance/p_fruit.html

http://www.tracemeek.com/sculpture/museshoes.php

Third from last http://www.peltzer.net/sales.htm

Then, of course, there was Rodin's Camille! And didn't that muse get a bad deal? ( http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/fnart/art/claudel.html )

[JAZ]

So Alec,
Have you found your muse? Your public profile says that you do stone and bronze. Do you have any pictures?
JAZ

[oddist]

Not the best of photos but at the time this was done, my muse took on this 6-1/2 foot tall form...

[fritchie]

Very interesting piece, Oddist. My reaction first is one of African influence, but nearly as strong is a much earlier, Iraqi (Sumerian or Akkadian) influence. Is this typical, or a new turn in your work? (I apologize that I have not visited a website.)

[oddist]

Fritchie,

This is an early piece.

In another life, when still living in Phila. PA and going to the Pennsylvania Acadamy of Fine Art, I had a friend with a welding shop. He was discarding a 5/8 thick steel plate. I was learning how to torch-cut steel. So there I was down in his steel dumpster cutting up scrap for sculpture.

My friend also had a large press-brake. I drew in chalk on the floor the shapes I wanted, he bent those needing to be bent and I cut those needing to be cut.

All pieces ended up at the Acadamy where they were assembled over a period of a month or so. I've got sketches galore of head-pieces, legs, feet and face construction. As with many pieces, it went together..came apart..and went back together..

The influence other than my muse? -- I have no clue. My exposure to art of the ages is abundant. My mother was a painter and sculptor and I spent many memorable hours of my life at the Phila. Art Museum, Rodin Museum, Art Alliance and Woodmere Art Museum. Art magazines have also always been reading material.

I no longer have the luxury of access to a large welding shop with massive pieces of metal working equipment so my work has evolved to accommodate the space and equipment I have.

I do prefer the larger work.

[Alec]

So Alec,
Have you found your muse? Your public profile says that you do stone and bronze. Do you have any pictures?
JAZ


Jaz

My muse found me or has been with me all along. I just have to acknowledge her--kind of open the door to let her in (or out, as the case may be).
I have learned the more I trust her, the more she helps me. I would like to develop an ongoing dialogue with her. As a show of respect I would like to call her by name.
Before I started this thread, I did a computer search and found a lot of references to the "muse of sculpture" but no name for her. I did find the names of the first greek muses but she was not listed.
Photos should be online in a week-10 days Alec

[fritchie]

Fritchie,

This is an early piece.

In another life, when still living in Phila. PA and going to the Pennsylvania Acadamy of Fine Art, I had a friend with a welding shop. He was discarding a 5/8 thick steel plate. I was learning how to torch-cut steel. So there I was down in his steel dumpster cutting up scrap for sculpture.

My friend also had a large press-brake. I drew in chalk on the floor.

Wow! Five-eighths steel plate. You sure got off to an aggressive start. It’s an excellent piece, however much you may have moved since then. This is another topic, but I don’t think an artist can be exposed to too much of earlier work. Sure, in some cases, there is a danger of being overwhelmed, but overall I think the ferment has to be helpful.

[oddist]

Fritchie,

Thanks for the wow....and a happy (as possible) new year to you.

This is a piece my wife won't let out of her sight.

As for exposure to earlier work, I look at it as similar to an apprenticeship--not "hands on" but rather "eye on." As with anything else, if we can't learn from our past we are destined to stumble severely moving forward.