Rope Making Detail # 2

This is the kind of rope

we will be making.

Welcome back to the rope making business.

 

Visualise entering the studio, turning on the lights, our worship music and standing in anticipation before the wrapped up sculpture. Take a deep breath and begin unwrapping the plastic, revealing the creation. You fold the plastic and begin turning it around slowly on it’s lazy-susan to take in the piece and see that all is intact. Especially the new coil, is it all in place? Did the supports deep everything together? Whew, all is well.

We gather our tools for this specific task. Fill a plastic dish with fresh water and settle down on our stool for the work ahead.

First, we must mark out a uniform distance between the twist lines on the rope. This is basically a judgement call and is up to you. Just know that the further apart the lines are the more horizontal they will be. The closer together, the more near vertical they go. Then there will be more of them which will mean more detailed work. I chose a tool with a certain comfortable width and I used it to mark ticks all along the coil as to where the twist lines will be.

Then, on the left you see how l then drew the twist lines all along the coil. Remember, as you go along you are placing pressure on the clay coil. Make sure you are placing your free hand behind the coil in the looped areas to prevent cracking/breaking the clay rope. I always begin each line at the top/back of the coil, (right of the tick) come around over the top through the tick. (going right to left.) Then for the rest of the twist line I begin further down the rope (left of the tick) on the bottom side and make the line going up to join the first. (going left to right) This will give you an idea of how the spacing you have chosen will look. Make adjustments now before you have gone too far. It is relatively easy to erase the line by simply wetting your finger and running over the clay coil. Make new ticks and begin again. This can save you a lot of time if you adjust early.

Next, we use a round cutting tool and follow the twist lines cutting a dip or depression into the rope. You will need to judge the depth of this cut. At first it will feel like it leaves sharp edges but that will be taken care of in the processes to follow. Chose a small round cutting tool. Again, like when the initial guidelines were made you will begin at the upper back of the rope, then moving right to left, come over the top, turning the cutting tool with your fingers as you go, to stay in the centre of your line, and ending on the outside centre of the rope. Now you go to the underside and come up moving from left to right, cutting to join up the earlier cut. Glad you understood that!

Following this, use a tool shaped like a “V” and carve a small depression into the centre of the dip you just carved. This gives the twist in the rope definition. Again, it need not be deep, just enough to indicate a division between the twists.

Now, all of this takes time and means some focused energy. You get into the work, into your right brain and time is forgotten.  Suddenly you might realise your thirsty or tired and find you've toiled for an amazing amount of time and you realise you really need to take a break. I've sometimes argued with myself, like come-on you wimp...what's your problem?

Meanwhile your hands are shaky, your eyes begin to have trouble focusing, a muscle in your back might begins to complain, and you might even begin to rush, trying to finish the whole piece or section your working on. You cannot afford any of this happening as the work will deteriorate quickly if you do not stop. It is important to remember this is not a contest of endurance. This is not a speed drill. It is not even a competition. This is a part of a work that needs a rope represented just right. There needs to be a unity of “finish” in the work. If the piece is impressionistic the whole thing usually needs to be just that for the unity of the piece. If it is realistic, then the same holds true. Know that any particular nuance in that rope says something and will affect the message of the sculpture as a whole!

Also, this is for your fulfilment and enjoyment. Have a coffee, take a short walk, call a friend or just do a few exercises, stretches etc. Then, you can continue and you will be in a great frame of mind.

Finally, this piece is a message from you, the real you, to the world. You must know that your feelings and mental state will be communicated in and through the work. We must know the deference between the pain we may wish to express and the pain we create in the process. We must come to understand that and how it affects our attitude and the way we do our work. 

OK, I think we have done a lot of work today, so let’s go through the end of session procedures. First we clean up all the little pieces of clay we cut off and are lying about. Grab a small dry brush and sweep them out of crevices and off the sculpture. Then we check places where we nicked or scratched any other part of the sculpture with our tools and repair these areas. Usually wetting our finger and rubbing over the nick will smooth it out. Now wet some paper towel pieces, place them on plastic under the sculpture to keep it from drying to fast while it is wrapped up. Check to see if any supports need to be returned. Then lightly spray the whole sculpture and wrap it up in plastic. Wash up the tools, shut off the music, the lights, and we are ready to go.

We will continue next week Friday morning.

“Also, I have given ability to all the skilled workers to make everything I have commanded you.”

Exodus 31:6