Starting over

So that last piece to be finished that I mentioned before. It started life as something very different. And early on it refused to work. The proportions looked odd. A leg wouldn't stay in place. It was just wrong. I hated it. I didn't take a picture of it. Some things shouldn't be made public.

Turned it in all directions to see what I could make of it without too many alterations. The base diameter limits things a bit. I don't even know how I came to decide on another hand balance. But there it is. See below. After breaking all the limbs, slicing the torso and re-positioning the legs, et voila, you get a straddle planche.

It still didn't quite go to plan. The torso was a bit long. More hacking and surgery ensued as I dug out pulp from the shoulders and shuffled the armature a bit further down the body. The legs had definitely been too long on the original piece. More measuring and marking off. Snip, snip. That's more like it. Now, will she be a beam girl or a cirque girl?

Even working with a basic armature and a bit of pulp padding, you can feel if the shape is going to work well. There's just something that tells me it's going to look right. So long as I don't do something stupid. It's taking it's final form now. I keep having to add another layer to arms and legs. One of the minor inconveniences of working with paper pulp is the inevitable shrinking as it dries out. What was plump and fulsome in fresh form becomes flat and skinny when bone dry. Which is why I don't do male bodies. Sooo much pulp and sooo many layers. When will it finally be the right size? So I avoid them. Which isn't to say I'll never do them but...I'd have to be really in the mood. We'll see. Never say never.

What I can say is, never be afraid to recognise when a thing isn't working. And the sooner you can spot it, the better. I suppose that goes for life as well but we can be a bit reluctant to admit that something isn't going the way we want and hope that if we just keep bashing away it'll all turn out fine. I mean, you can do that but you can end up beating the fire out of it. It's fine. It does the job, but it lacks...the joy of knowing you're on the right path to something you really want to see. Changing direction and going for something totally different can free up a huge amount of energy.

And that settles it. The was-to-be-a-cirque-hoop-performer is not working. I hate it. It's been sat behind my paint tub, untouched for a week. It needs taking care of. But first, I have a box full of pieces to be sorted into sizes and eight bodies in white to paint. And measure, name, write blurb and photograph. Priorities. In the words of (I think) Seth Godin "get your stuff out there". Finishing the sculpture is just the first stage.