Open Sculpture Studio

[Debra Jones]

I had a great time Thursday at the studio of Clarke Riedy in downtown Phoenix. He offers an open sculpture studio. It was almost as much fun exploring the industrial areas by the airport (the new railroad tracks area!) and found myself locked in with two other participants and a model under Clarke's supervision.

His generous set up consists of sculpture stands and a block of wood. He drills holes, provides flexible wire for gestural armatures and lets us on our own with wax based clay. I had only ever used plasticine or terra cotta so I was somewhat new to the materials but that was quickly overcome.

As a novice, I stuck to my comfort zone and began with a head and shoulders. The model moved 90 degrees every 15 minutes or so and it was a really good exercise in relearning how to see.

At the end of the session he melts down the clay and throws it all into a general pot to reuse next time. I was in a second session of a three week pose and having become a political junky in the last few weeks, I will not miss the debates this week, but plan on a revisit in two weeks to brave a standing model. Hopefully I will get a chance at three sessions and see if I can overcome my ADD style.

Final note: Oddly, I found I used my LEFT hand dominantly through out the night., keeping a warm handful of clay for adding details as I worked and digging in those thumbs of the OTHER hand way more than usual. Any psychologists able to explain this phenomenon?