Ascension

As per the previous posting, "The Painter", "Ascension" is one of the original sculptures of the Postulant Series.   He sold at Art On The Boulevard in 2009, and is one of the three largest pieces (about 25.5 inches tall), two of which I will post at a later date.   I so enjoyed the surprise on this guy's face at the luminous bird that had alighted on his sleeve, it's glow coloring his fingers and his eyes with it's light.   When I rolled out the slabs for the body of this sculpture, a little chunk of dried clay was accidentally crushed beneath the wet slab.   I didn't notice it until the next day, when I turned the slab over.   Instead of recycling the mass of clay to begin again, I incorporated the crumbles into his costume.   I highlighted them with painted shadows.   To me they look like a pathway, paving stones from his head to his heart.  

The heavy woven cloth texture that was characteristic of the Postulants was accomplished with a large wooden rolling pin rolled over the clay, the wood surface meticulously hand-engraved in the negative woven pattern.   It took me two weeks, and I still didn't carve the entire length of the rolling pin!   I still have that in a drawer somewhere.   I wonder what my pie crust would look like with a nubbly woven texture.