[Woodcarver] Modeling Clay

[Lori Corbett]

HI Merrilee!  
    A "free form mount" is a term I use to describe a base I build to 
mount my birds on. They aren't  realistic like a habitat vignette, nor 
are they a standard turned base. They are free standing, interpretive 
pieces that suggest  a habitat element...perhaps a curving spiral to 
suggest a branch, or an angled "C" curved form to suggest a piece of 
bark. They are sculptural in form and flow with and compliment the pose 
of the bird carved for it. When I design my pieces, I design the 
presentation and bird together as a cohesive piece...each compliments 
the other. This is where making a clay model really can help as I can 
transfer my 2-D sketch into a 3-D design and work out problems (and also 
sometimes find that it looks good on paper, but NOT 3-D).  Designing in 
clay is an extra step, but it saves wood and headaches (for me anyway).
    As to the carving standing on its own...Most of the time, my clay 
models will not stand on their own without some additional propping (due 
to the weight of the clay), but the finished carved piece DOES balance 
and stand on it's own. These things I also plan for in the design and 
make subtle alterations while carving and fitting...that usually takes 
care of the balance issue (rarely, I will have to add some weights into 
the bottom of the finished piece, but I challenge myself to avoid this 
if possible).

Hope this helped!
Lori

Merrilee Johnson wrote:

> I see the value in trying out potential problems in clay before 
> starting to carve but can you tell if the carving will balance on its 
> own?  I am assuming your truckin' guy will be "standing" when done?? 
> But if this is so how can you be sure it will when you screwed the 
> wire armature down to begin?  And I suppose that technically if I 
> can't  make  it in clay I might have trouble with making it in wood 
> also??
>    Lori - What is a free form mount?  I probably should know this just 
> from the words but just to be sure;-)  Thanks!
> Merrilee
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