#757 "Secretary Bird"

"Secretary Bird"

7"H 9"W 5"D

Edition 50

1,800

  

       Blog, text, photos, drawings, and sculpture . . . © Sandy Scott and Trish

 

#752 "Secretary Bird"

      During the Covid-19 virus shut down I find myself studio bound and 

      incarcerated like never before. I'm taking advantage of this time 

        by revisiting startups and works that were set aside for one reason or 

         another in years past and among the many is a head study of one of the 

                 most interesting birds I have ever encountered afield: 

                  The Secretary Bird.

"Secretary Bird"

10"H 10"W 6"D
 Edition Size 50

This head study is a nightmare for a mold maker and foundry to cast.  

                                                   We spent many hours consulting the foundry and relying 

                                                             on their assistance in the production process. 

This study is the result of an unforgettable trip to Tanzania several years ago with a group of artist friends:  Jan Martin McGuire, James Gary Hines,  John Agnew, Julie Askew, Robert Caldwell, Paul Dixon, Tony Pridham, and Dale Weiler. Trish and I were given our own guide and Land Rover,  spent time consuming hours at water holes in search of closeups and details of various species and returned home with over 15,000 digital images.  The Secretary Bird is famous for its long black head plumes, is a raptor closely related to the osprey and can be found stomping snakes in sub-Saharan African grasslands.  Please type in Secretary Bird in the white blog search box for more info on this subject.   

                      Blog, text, photos, drawings, and sculpture . . . © Sandy Scott and Trish

# 751 "Night Owl"

Loose is how it looks . . . not how it's done.

"Night Owl"

11"H 9"W 7"D

Ed Size 35

1,500

This sketch is a workshop demo created from life at the Brookgreen Gardens zoo aviary.

While I do many clay sketches in the field, in the studio, and during workshops, I deem 

only a handful worthy of casting in bronze.  I modeled "Night Owl" in approximately 

25 minutes on a very warm, sunny day which caused the clay to be very soft and juicy.

For more information regarding loose modeling, type in "loose" in the white blog search box.

Blog, text, photos, drawings, and sculpture . . . © Sandy Scott and Trish

#744 "Little Blue on A Branch"

"Little Blue on a Branch
18"H 10"W 10"D
Ed. 35
4200


Blog, text, photos, drawings, and sculpture . . . © Sandy Scott and Trish

#708 "Keeper Of Secrets"

"Keeper of Secrets"

18”H 18”W 11”D
Edition 35
6,000

The beautiful, brassy Raven has long been a favorite subject, and this 

year’s new creation, “Keeper of Secrets” is an attempt to record the 

audacity of the bird and the irresistible pleasure I’ve had experiencing 

Raven in the field.

Blog, text, photos, drawings, and sculpture . . . © Sandy Scott and Trish

#707 "Wake Up Call"

"Wake Up Call"

20"H 28"W 10"D
Edition 35
4,200

Blog, text, photos, drawings, and sculpture . . . © Sandy Scott and Trish

#686 New sculpture: "Silver Wings - Trumpeter Swan"

   "Silver Wings - Trumpeter Swan" is a new sculpture introduced in Cody this fall.  Please go to the search box and type in trumpeter swan for more information about the creation of this work . . . drawings and photos are shown. 

 Below are images of the work in progress in clay and the finished sculpture cast in bronze.

Shown below . . .  the flexible rubber mold in progress.

Shown below . . . silver nitrate being applied during the patina process at the foundry.

Shown below . . . two images of the completed and based bronze casting.

Go to the BLOG INDEX and Reference Page for more information.  

See post #616

Blog, text, photos, drawings, and sculpture . . . © Sandy Scott and Trish

#679 Art shows: "Buffalo Bill Art Show" . . . 2014

Last weekend was the 34th Annual Buffalo Bill Art Show and Sale held at the

 prestigious Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyoming.

http://www.buffalobillartshow.net

Below, are images of my work in this year's exhibition . . .  "Silver Wings",  

depicts a Trumpeter Swan;  followed by "Dixie".

Silver Wings

Dixie

Shown below, are images of the new sculptures in clay before being cast into bronze.

Go to the BLOG INDEX and Reference Page for more information.  

See post #616

Blog, text, photos, drawings, and sculpture . . . © Sandy Scott and Trish

#637 In the studio: Green Heron

Compared to most herons, the Green Heron is small, dark, short and stocky with short legs, broad wings, 

long bill, and thick neck.   The crow-sized bird is sometimes call the Green-backed Heron.

Below, is John James Audubon's (1785 - 1851) lithograph of the Green Heron.

The Green Heron is typically concealed in vegetation and is hard to see because its coloration appears dark.

The little heron is solitary and secretive and lives around small bodies of water or densely vegetated areas.  

Seeing them is tricky and I've seen the bird only a few times in the wild and always along shallow marsh edges.

Below, are drawings created during a rare encounter with a Green Heron while in the South Carolina Low Country.

The Green Heron's neck is often pulled up against the body when at ease . . .  but when feeding, 

the bird thrusts its neck forward and the long, dagger-like bill strikes swiftly to catch prey.

Below, is a clay model of a recent sculpture of the Green Heron.  I chose a pose that depicts the bird hunting and about
to plunge for its its prey.  The heron appears dark while hunting in the shadows, but is beautifully colored in the sun.

The sculpture was modeled with a dark brown Classic Clay which is a very fine product and one 

of several different types and brands of oil based plasteline clay I use.  Typically, if the wings are extended, 

I use Chavant's Le Beau Touche clay because it is sticky and will adhere to armature wire and aluminum foil better.
 Note:  It's difficult to photograph Classic Clay because of its dark pigment

Below, is the new sculpture, "Green Heron" cast in bronze.
The patina was achieved with liver of sulfur, cupric nitrate, and a trace of ferric nitrate.

Green Heron
11"H 15"W 9"D
Edition 50
3,000

Go to the BLOG INDEX on the right for more information.

Blog, text, photos, drawings, and sculpture . . . © Sandy Scott and Trish

#635 "Jake"

Please see the previous post for more information about this subject.



Wild Turkeys have a distinguished ancestry and are truly an all-American bird.
The big bird has survived since early pioneer days and our forefathers once
feasted upon its delicious meat just as we do now.

For wariness and cleverness, it is unsurpassed by any other bird but it's possible
to get relatively close to them in the wild at Brookgreen Gardens because
they are used to human activity.

 www.brookgreen.org


Over the years, the species has been one of my favorite subjects for not only sculpture,
but for etchings and drawings.   Brookgreen Gardens in Murrell's Inlet, South Carolina offers
an "in-the-field" experience and a great place to observe, sketch, and photograph Wild Turkeys.

Below, are images of a new sculpture entitled "Jake".  The bronze will be introduced at the 2015 Prix de West Exhibition
in Oklahoma City next month at the  National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum.   The show opens June, 13.

"Jake"

3600

Shown below, is the clay model in progress.

Below, our Brittany, Penny joins Trish in the mold room while making the flexible rubber mold of Jake.

Below, I'm at the foundry placing the sculpture on a base plate for welding and the addition of terrain shapes.

 Below are two photos of Jake on the patina rack . . . after patina and before wax.

A Jake Turkey is an immature male turkey.  A Jake has shorter feathers on each side
of the tail fan and a small snood above the beck.  A snood is a flappy piece of skin that hangs over a turkey's beak.
All of the tail feathers on a mature Tom will be the same length and will appear as a symmetrical semi-circle
when he struts.  See the previous post for an image of a strutting Tom and the sculpture entitled "Tom".

Below, are photos of Wild Turkeys taken last month at Brookgreen Gardens.

The photos shown below are of a mature male gobbler or Tom. . . . a Jake's beard is short and grows with age.

Go to the BLOG INDEX on the right for more information.

Blog, text, photos, drawings, and sculpture . . . © Sandy Scott and Trish

#634 Wild Turkeys at Brookgreen Gardens

For more information about Brookgreen Gardens, see blog posts #625 and #627 throughout #631.

Additional info can be obtained by typing in Brookgreen Gardens in the "search this blog" box.

brookgreen.org

Brookgreen Gardens, located in Murrell's Inlet, South Carolina is an accredited museum boasting the the largest and most important collection of American figurative sculpture in existence.  I recently returned from there and am still under the spell of beautiful Brookgreen.  While the sculpture collection is paramount, the 9,000 acre grounds are an award winning horticulture masterpiece and home to an accredited zoo and aviary.  Over the years, I've come to know Brookgreen well 

and upon entering the grounds - especially in the early morning - I'm sure to encounter free ranging 

Wild Turkeys which is the subject of this and the next two blog posts.

For many years I have visited Brookgreen and continue to know it as an "in the field" experience. . . 

a camera and sketchbook is always close by and I've accumulated lots of photos and drawings of Wild Turkeys.

Below, are photos taken last month at Brookgreen.

Below, is a new sculpture entitled "Tom".  Also shown,  is the clay model in progress before the mold was made.

Additional images are shown of the bronze sculpture during the patina process at the foundry.
The patina was achieved with the following chemicals:  Liver of sulfur, cupric nitrate, and ferric nitrate.

Go to the BLOG INDEX on the right for more information.

Blog, text, photos, drawings, and sculpture . . . © Sandy Scott and Trish