If you are still in shock that I chose to gouge the face off my cat sculpture rather than live with the original “meh” work, I thought you’d like to see the results. The new “Lucy” evokes emotions in a way that the original never could. The result: SOLD!
Read the gouging post here: Those Stupid, Bulging Eyes
Lessons Learned in the Redo
The process was worth the outcome: good or bad
I framed this redo as a creative exercise separating myself from the outcome as much as possible. I studied what I didn’t like and learned from those mistakes. The result was great, but there was every chance that the piece may have ended up in my “pile of shame.”
Paying attention to the “story” of the work
The first cat was jutting out of the frame, but why? The new piece had to have a deeper story. I thought about what she would be doing and landed on the concept of her cautiously checking out a butterfly that landed on her paw.
Movement and Play
Even though I was working with some of the constraints of the original piece, I wanted a more intentional use of line to convey movement and play. A conversation that I had with my husband about proper anatomy sculpting was also on my mind in the redo.
Opulent Color
I’m striving for more vibrancy and richness in my color palette. The background of the original was pretty, but not awe-inspiring. The gold added much-needed contrast against the cat figure and better defined the purple flower mandala pattern. The gold also increased the opulent whimsy factor.
After a couple of attempts to layer pops of color on the original background, I had to try something drastic. I separated the clay from the backing canvas (not an easy task) and used an Exacto knife to cut away the thin black clay layer around the mandala. This allowed me to reattach the piece to a new canvas that I had coated with antique gold paste wax.
Finishing Touches
The butterfly is a paper butterfly that I enhanced with alcohol ink and paint. I considered sculpting the butterfly, but this mixed-media approach added variety and a nice lightness to finish off the clay work.
