Give the Lady a hand...

Lady Justice with her new arm and hand.

The dowel support is standing on the base to hold it in

position till it is dry enough to support itself,

especially while it is wrapped up for night.

(I think she's too serious, maybe a joke...)

I was on my way to the studio knowing that the next step would be critical in the development of my "Lady Justice". Her left arm and hand.

First of all I found out the angle I'd begun when I first made the initial arm was not a good angle. I wrapped it in wet chamois and let the arm soften with moisture for a while. During this time I worked on details like making her ears, having them stick out from under the blindfold and smoothing her out, removing rough edges etc.

Then back to the arm,  To get the arm into the right angle, I cut the arm at the elbow and experimented with a new angled cut. After a few tries I got the correct angle and reattached the arm. Then I took new clay and build up the arm, checking it for correct body proportions etc. Then I came to the wrist. Taking some fresh clay I fashioned a hand looking like a mitt, and connected it to the arm. After this, I had to make a brace standing on the base to hold up the arm and the hand in its correct position. The extension of the arm make it impossible for the arm to stay in its correct position, especially with the weight of the plastic used to wrap her up for the next day.

Then on the next day (which was today) I found the arm much dryer and was able to begin carving the correct form of the arm and the details of the hand. This hand will be holding the scale so it needs the fingers going down into a "holding" position.

Tomorrow I build the DNA morphing out of her side into the arm. This will be structured in such a way that it will not only make the symbolic point in the sculpture but will be a main support for the extended arm. (Double duty eh? I like that!)

It has been going well but slow due to the extreme extension of the arm. 

"The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!...." 1 Cor. 12:21

Lady Justice Has Changed...

My new (incomplete as yet) Lady Justice, 24" high.

See her right arm and the sword morphing into DNA.

Her left arm will hold her scales.

A detail of the arm and sword.

Notice the clay brace on her foot to keep her from collapsing while drying.

This is a detail of the "stand" beginning with law books and binders

of the old order mophing into DNA at the top.

I was on my way to my studio and I had an idea. As I've been thinking about the trial I mused about "Lady Justice", goggled her and realized it's mostly "old school"! Yes, there has been some efforts to bring her up to date, new clothes, new "sexy" looks and so on, but from my experience I see the whole justice system moving, in some ways kicking and screaming, into the digital age. This is my effort to express the incredible change and impact DNA has had, in a very very short time. Looks to me like everyone is kind of reeling with the dizzying possibilities and results of DNA on and in the justice system.

The sculpture is not finished, the scales and what they will weigh is another decision. I have some ideas floating around...

Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?" "I don't know," he replied. "Am I my brother's keeper?" Gen 4:9

Surprise Reasons for Vacationing...

   Don't worry how he looks, he's happy I'm back!

So I went to my studio...

as soon as I could after we got back from our vacation trip. I could not wait to see all my guys, see how they were doing and bringing them up to snuff on everything. I noticed that they had not changed a lot. Other than having dried some in the heat, things seemed much the same.

Except, I realized I’d changed. I had to explain that I’d actually gained a new perspective, or two.

For example I had to admit that I really missed my studio. That I had thought about it a lot, and according to my traveling companion I also talked about it all the time. That I was possibly a bit too anxious to get back home I suspect, for her liking.

Also, that since the art show was about 7 months away it was important to kind of step back and prioritize my creative work. Discipline myself to make a list of artwork that might be “relevant” for the show in Feb. What feelings and issues did I really want to express? I could tell all my guys in the studio thought that had been a good idea.

Then I had to do some thinking and planning about how I would go about making enough time for myself to make all of these items. I explained that I had a plan that I could realistically implement. I could hear the applause.

So, now that my business stuff for the end of July is done and I can get down to it. I’m  glad I had the vacation and I’m glad I’m back. Let’s turn on the music, the coffee maker and get busy....

“The slave drivers kept pressing them, saying, "Complete the work required of you for each day...”   Exodus 5:13

A Creative Vacation...

So I went to the studio...

On Saturday, the day before we were planning to leave for our vacation trip I dropped into my studio for the difficult task of seeing that all would be ok for my being away for two weeks.

I gently un-wrapped the hands sculpture to check the repair on the cracks that had showed up and I had repaired earlier. It looked good. They were gone. Now I needed to repair the under-glaze that was disturbed in doing that repair. Plus, I needed to put another coat of Ivory over the cuffs and paint in the dark tones on the cuffs and the lower arms. This I did slowly and with the knowledge this would be the final coating before the bisk firing. I ended with going over the whole thing and doing the final touch-ups of all colors. (black, Ivory, and yellow)

I have come to a decision on a working title for this hands piece. I’m thinking...“6.5 Weeks”. This refers to the time that it took to find Candace and therefore the amount of time her body lay frozen in the shed. The more I think about it I like it.

Now, what will I be doing on my vacation? Will I do anything regarding my art? After all, I have to plan art pieces for the art show that my Daughter Odia and I are doing in January of 2012. We are planning to major on pieces inspired by the loss of Candace and the trial which took place this February and is still not quite over. We now have the appeal to go through yet. I will be taking, my sketchbook and my camera along and begin planning and sketching ideas for art projects for the art show. Both sculptures and charcoal drawings. I actually have ideas but I need to prioritise for the show. Only 7 months to go, which is not that long! I already have some ideas using the “hand theme” like this one I’ve been working on now. “Ouch” is all I can say.

Yes, it is a vacation, yes we are going to a nephews wedding in Victoria BC and yes, it is important to take time to contemplate and plan what emotions and feelings I must share.

“For he is like a tree planted by streams of water which yields its fruit in its season...”

Psalm 1

Tearing Apart

So I went to my studio....


I decided I needed to add “cuffs” to the arms of my sculpture. No not those kind of cuffs! These are jacket cuffs and because the arms are upright they kind of slid down. This is a win win situation as the arms were so thin at the bottom I was worried about the stability of the sculpture. Those arms are so thin that the top heavy sculpture could easily fall over. A very practical consideration for sure but in this case necessary. As a result the whole sculpture is affected in its look and balance. Therefore now I have to make sure that in working the surface color and detail I do not distract from the focal point, being the rope and the hands.


I was on my way home after adding the jacket cuffs I suddenly remembered that I’d left the sculpture “fused” on the wood base. This was not good. Even though I’d covered it with plastic to reduce drying I knew that by the time I got back to it some drying would have occurred. As the clay dries it shrinks. Being fused onto the wood base on which it was created would mean it would tear itself up as it shrank. All night I worried and dropped in the next day just to check. Sure enough it had begun to do just that. (See photo above.) Naturally, I “unfused” the sculpture from the wooden base and did a quick repair on the tears.


Perhaps I shouldn’t have repaired it. Perhaps the tear was meant to be part of pain of the sculpture.


Maybe it represents the wound of my heart. Maybe it is everything that has ripped us apart. Both on the outside where it becomes visible to others, and on the inside,


If it shows up again, I think I’ll leave it there...


Another man dies in bitterness of soul, never having enjoyed anything good.Job 21:25

Just say it, "Rodents!"

So I went to my studio on Clifton....

Today I’m carving rodent bites into the fingers of my sculpture. I am defacing my sculpture and I don’t like it!

Can I say that I am disgusted with this piece of art? It hurts to do it. It represents the worst in human kind and it’s ugly to think that I have to deface it to represent the facts of what happened to my daughter.

I’ve never felt like this about anything I’ve created before! I’m so sorry to lay all of this on you my readers. Let me suggest that you come back and read my blogs after I’m done with this one and have something pleasant to create and talk about!

"And if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck.”

Mark 9:42

A Tight Rope

So I went to my studio on Clifton....

Spent a few hours working on the rope. I am quite happy with the results. I used a wood tool to make the twisted groves in rope and then for the "twist in the twist," I used a comb's teeth to lightly brush along the rope. Makes it look like an old hemp kind of rope. Reminds me of binder twine which we used every where back on the farm when I was a kid.


It is also important in this case to indicate the tightness of the rope. This can be done in several ways...make the rope look like it's stretching, the straight lines of the rope itself, bunching up the skin, the swelling of the skin and showing how it is pressed into the skin or the wrist. All of it screams of pain.


Not only do I know that Candace is alive today but that God numbed her feelings just for this, the biggest test of her life....

"Consider now: Who, being innocent, has ever perished? Where were the upright ever destroyed."
Job 4:7