mermaid / WAVERIDER

[sculptor]

Wave Rider, 53x48x23 inches.
Designed as a ship's figurehead.
For luck or tradition,
the carver's art of the figurehead
has led many a ship oer the world oceans
and carried their crews safely home.
Mermaids and mermen have been a common
theme for millennia, in part, because
they represent the hybridity, ambiguity,
and in-between-ness of human existence
and the sub-conscious desire to return
to the waters from whence we came

So guys-----kick the tires toss out a few comments lemme know your thoughts
I'm hoping to sell a copy to a local town
(one sale every 3 years or so sucks but there you have it)
I'm thinking of carving a ship's bow and using that as her pedestal.

[jwebb]

There's no accounting for taste, but to me this has the character of Comic Book Art. Is that your intent? Is there some double meaning? All I can think is, could flapping one's tail really develop abs like those?

[waveshop]

Nice Sculptor, Man... this should be on the bow of a real ship. A clipper, as a matter of fact. Not many of these are used much anymore on sailing vessels. Kinda sad. Especially after seeing this beautiful piece.

Yes, I think she would have abbs like this. Try swimming a few laps under what with your feet together like Costner in "Water World" and then come back and tell us how your stomach muscles feel. Ouch.

Rob

[sculptor]

as/re abs

Ok: taking 3 giant steps backward to the concept phase, and another to my taste.

I think well muscled people--men and women are darned beautifull.
When I was in the army, I knew women who were a damned sight tougher, stronger, and prettier than the average, one named "Cherry"(her dad really named her that) made well muscled a real thing of beauty. (wow- what a sweet memory)(thanks) She woulda been better in combat than the chicken-shit-author of this missive, and I couldn't think of anyone else with whom I'd rather have shared a foxhole.

Anyway that is my taste, and I trust it is shared by a few other folks.

Then, i roomed with an artist long long ago who sketched people arched backward with what I (at the time) called "lizzard belly". Which is somewhat mimiced in this piece. You are what you eat, and our conceptions are based on our perceptions are based on our conceptions are based on our perceptions...etc.....and so it goes. Taste

Then on to concept: I conceived the piece as though it were carved with a sculptors hand guided by a sailors eye. So---I used a male model for parts of the piece, and a female for other parts. Androgeny ain't a bad thing.

The 6'1" female(vollyball player) model gave me the basic shape including the arch which measured to an arc of 17" when she was doubled back as far as she could comfortably hold the pose. She also gave me the general size,hip neck and ribcage. Her abs were a tad more subtle, but there (especially and more obviously) after I asked her to do some crunches before the pose.
From the (weight lifter and runner) male, I got the muscles for the arms(especially the biceps), shoulders, and abs.

....Through a sailors eye.....Sailing crews were all male...conception/preception..etc......

For this piece, I worked out the concept in a macquette, then did a portrait head.

Then, I blended the lessons from the macquette, the head portrait, my motor memory and the wall of pictures I had assembled.( some of the portrait client, some of the model, some of female body builders...etc..One visitor to the studio said the wall looked like a dangerously kinky shrine.

I was still touching up the hair and face as I was building the back of the mold

In all my research on mermaids and mermen--some dating back 3 millinea to mesopotamia I never found a single one who looked like this, or filled the above concept----more's the pity---I don't mind borrowing from past masters.
But, I was on my own.
So: I worked long past the clients original deadline untill I was satisfied that I could go as far as my talent and skill allowed with this piece. And I am.
There you have it
Cool?

OK
let's talk patination........................................ ............

[Stephen Casey]

I have posted praise for this piece in a few places around the community. But I will recap. The first image has been shamelessly commandeered as my desktop background for more than a day and now the last image is gracing my computer. (Desktop 800x600 Icons turned off.)

If I could afford such art I would gladly bleed money for such a huge breath of fresh air. The optimizm and confedence in her face alone would justify a place in my life. I would think she would sell well in any port community. So I would be searching out port listings and contacting agents and galleries in such places as New York, Seattle, Tacoma USA, and other countries. And she should have a heavy price tag so as to demand respect from potential clients.

I try to visit a display a few times before commenting. And bear in mind that we all see something a little differant, and would of exicuted another persons subjects differantly. In the case of the Wave-Rider I did not do the work so I Stephen could enjoy her. My job is to contribute tactful observation and suggestion.

Her whole posture expresses extended muscle tension. I might of added a little more soft tissue to her abs or less uniformity between the left and right definitions, but with a soft abdomin she would of become more of a fantasy charactor, more of a sex toy, than the motivated confident woman that she is. To my mind she is exactly what she is supposed to be.