Newbie sculptor in Sioux Falls, SD (mild NSFW)

[SpiralHorn]

Hello.

I just moved to Sioux Falls, SD. One of the things that attracted me to this city is how sculpture oriented it is. I'm hoping to get some sort of career as a sculptor going... even if it's just part time and ends up being pretty much a hobby There's no harm in shooting for making a living off of it though, right?

I went to the Academy of Art in San Francisco for a few years, I didn't get to graduate, but in my last year I took all sculpting classes, and that's when honestly and truly felt like I was doing something that I'm meant for. I draw too, but it's not as enjoyable as working with clay.

I haven't done very much sculpting since I left and it's really depressing. I'm hoping to get my foot in the door here and start doing something, even if it's just grunt work or cleaning up someone's studio every once in a while. I really miss the smell and feel of pottery clay in my hands.

Anywho, enough moping. I have a couple of pieces to show, I made them in school and they're going on two years old now.

This one is my very first real sculpture (since high school pottery class anyway), and making it was a blast. It's ceramic, about life sized, and painted with acrylics. NSFW warning, there's boobs.
http://img585.imageshack.us/img585/2329/spiralhorn.png

Technically my fourth ceramic piece, but it was the only one out of this particular class that I felt was worth documenting. Ceramic, underglaze and iron oxide wash.
http://img708.imageshack.us/img708/2883/wolfstatue2.png

These where made together, they where my first experience working with wax and casting it to bronze. We weren't involved with the casting process since it was a 101 class, but I enjoyed working with wax. It's a medium that I would like to experiment with again.
http://img837.imageshack.us/img837/8...byspiralho.png
http://img853.imageshack.us/img853/5525/img3465gy.jpg

This one is recent, made last week. I got fed up with not doing anything and decided to dabble in polymer clays. This was made with Kato Polyclay on a piece of wood, it's about 3 inches tall. I had a lot of fun with it and I'm going to do more relief for sure.
http://img33.imageshack.us/img33/835...efbustwip2.jpg

In case you haven't noticed, my focus is animals. Specifically, the combination of human and animal traits and the infinite ways in which to portray it, what it represents, etc. It was supposed to be my thesis for school, and I still plan on making a body of work around it.


Anyway. Sorry for rambling.

[KatyL]

No rambilng. The first one was quite wonderful. The next ones were not quite to that standard. Boobs are fine. We all have them. I know what it is to have big dreams.

I often wished that I belonged to the such-and-such group-- that was how they did it way back when. You see these pictures of famous people who all gathered at a picknick in the woods once a year. The big thing I miss about art is the comradeship. I am in a place (the Midwest) where everyone thinks I am a crazy bohemian eccentric just because I do art. I can't get a job. They do not see the management skills I have.

The artist's yearning is frighting. Enough to give it up. All these rules about who to be. Crazy.

[mantrid]

The fourth one is the best for me by far

[rika]

Welcome! I agree with Mantrid, the bronze is the most accomplished one aesthetically, but I like the concept of the first one very much also. Glad to hear you're back to it, IT will gradually grow...you've got it, just keep working, Oh, that antelope is awesome! Love it.

[Mack]

Hello Spiral Horn.
Sioux Falls is a great town. I've had bronzes in their SculptureWalks for three years now and always look forward to making the trip there each year from VA with my wife to see the 50 or so new sculptures that are installed along Phillips Ave. and to meet the artists and spend a few days there. The residents seem to really enjoy the new pieces each year.
Hopefully you'll have one of your own out there before too long.
Good luck. I like the work you've shown.

[evaldart]

Pleased to meet you SH, your student work certainly demonstrates ability and imagination...but that is only a place to begin. It is the most inconvenient medium, sculpture, because to to get the most out of it (your creative episodes) you will need tools, space, materials and a whole lotta will. Whether or not it earns you a living is yet another challenge to be managed by that OTHER you that bothers with the uncreative stuff in life.

Where to begin? Buy a WHOLE LOT of clay and start making, right. And the creative juices will somehow make the rest of it happen as it overflows into the nether.