Soap stone sculpture
Finished 08.10.2019
4.7 x 6 x 12.4 cm
This artwork was my first-time using stone, so shifting from my comfort zone of 2D drawing to 3D carving was quite the challenge. It was highly enjoyable, and a somewhat therapeutic experience. I did this at school, and I can remember the classroom being quiet and calm (an unusual occurrence) as we all worked away. It took a long time to complete, and when it comes to art, patience just isn’t one of my strong suits (that’s something I should work on…).
I was quite proud of the idea to make half the sculpture the eagle, and the other half the skull. I felt it made the work a little more unique, and it also meant I didn’t have to struggle with making both sides exactly symmetrical, which in hindsight was a brilliant avoidance. The soap stone was originally a lot lighter and greyer. Instead of using oil to finish the sculpture (like I did with my Commenticus sculpture), I used shellac. This gave it a brown tint. I put more coats on the beak and the eye, which made these parts shinier. The shellac brought out a lot of texture and detail out in the stone, like the lighter veins throughout the rock.
This piece won the sculpture award at my school for the annual arts exhibition. The school had gotten a local artist to judge and award people with various categories. The artist themself was a sculptor, so this made the award a little more special!
