Pause Button

I am currently undertaking a commission. So I have to press the pause button for side projects. I apologize for the interruption. I will keep you posted when I begin working on the Star Maiden again. Until then, Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah.
-Jon

Primary Forms

Welcome back! I have been fleshing out the primary forms and trying to stay true to Alexander Calder's original. Some things I noticed after a lot of hours were that the legs on my piece are not as long as his original and that the arms were longer than his. I have been able to work on the length of the arms and so forth, but I'll have to own up to the shorter legs. There's an armature that would difficult to manipulate. That's ok with me because women come in all sizes and shapes anyways. I have been adding the clothing piece by piece. Here's where it becomes a sculpture in the art nouveau style in my opinion. Although it is still rough, I believe it will look wonderful with more time and attention. The head piece has been difficult for me to wrap my mind around. I took a picture of the back of the head when I saw it in person but the view offers very limited information. I will persist and use my artistic license where necessary. When I get it coming along, I'll take more picture and post them. I should include a disclaimer here.... my computer is crashing and is operating on borrowed time. The cpu has one foot out the door. I may have very limited access to the blog soon. But I will keep readers posted. Until then, happy sculpting!

As of Late

I apologize for not posting anything in the last month. Some exciting things have happened for me. A local well known sculptor, Pete Helzer, had invited me out to his studio to help him during one of his bronze pours. He is working diligently and finishing up his public arts project for the city of Portland, Oregon. Pete has also looked over a course I recently developed to hopefully teach at the local community college. I've been hoping to get a jig out at Lane CC for some time. I have been working on the Calder Star Maiden study too. I have not made the progress I wanted. However, I have been learning, analyzing and doing some sketches of various design work in 3D. I have pictures of my progress with the sculpture that need edited and I will get them up by early next week or sooner. Thank you for your patience. I am very excited about this piece.

Star Maiden, by Alexander Stirling Calder

I am currently recreating a sculpture by Alexander Stirling Calder. He's a first generation American, father of the modernist Alexander (Sandy) Calder that we all know and love. Anyhow, A. Stirling Calder created his Star Maiden for the Pan Pacific Exposition in 1915. He copyrighted it in 1914. He hired Audrey Munson as his model. She was commonly hired during this time for sculpture and film.
I first encountered his sculpture in Miami, Florida at a museum and decided that I must study the sculpture more at a later time. That time is now and I am reproducing it as a study to learn more about sculpture of that time period and to gain some influence in my hands of the Art Nouveau movement of the early twentieth century. I will post pics as I go, but here is the original version for now with the master Alexander Stirling Calder. Enjoy.

"The future hasn't been written yet, it's what you make it!"

It's been a long while since I've considered blogging. A lot of different things have occupied my art schedule until recently. I've finally obtained my Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Florida and moved back to Oregon. Unrestricted and free to create whatever I want, I face many crossroads. As I journey down this path, my blog will be an online journal and open to the public. I will post my findings, inspirations, and successes. I have come across some interesting material in the last few months. A book referred to me by my professors, Anna Calluori Holcombe and Nan Smith, called An Artist's Guide: How to make a living doing what you love has been quite informative and worth the investment. Get it on Amazon.com for around 17 USD. Another source of wonderful information has come from Ann Rea, a painter in San Francisco, who runs a website called ArtistsWhoThrive.com. Every artist who wants to make a living with their art needs to read this blog. I am very ready for a change in my art life and my real world journey starts now. Check out my website at JonBurnsArt.com for more on me. Good luck to you all who aspire to be more! In the words of Doctor Emmett Brown, "The future hasn't been written yet, it's what you make it!"
-Jon Burns

An Extremely Subject Word

"Beauty, which I admit to being in pursuit of, is an extremely suspect word among many in the art world. But I don't think you can get along without it. It's a confirmation, frankly, of meaning in life."
-Robert Adams