Sculptor Gregory Marra stands next to the memorial statue in tribute of Chris Kyle.
"As for our grass-roots support, we are currently working with the Navy SEAL Museum, All American Veterans Services, Tea Party Community, ACS Public Relations, and the Tea Party Tribune,” said Don Smith, a talk radio host and a public relations maven who is helping Mr. Marra wrangle the complexities of public outreach and fundraising.
“I know it sounds crazy, but I feel their presence. That’s what happens when you’re creating a life-sized image of someone.”
I know.
That does sound crazy. You are crazy. That is what happens in isolation, the way you work like that, meditatively, your physical motions ritualistic for prolonged periods.
As artist and craftsman, what happens is you set your mind to a task, a fairly simple task, the big decisions are made already and it gets down to chip chip chip away careful not to do this and avoid that, repetitive ritualistic tasks that do not require the full mind to carry out and cannot contain the mind's full energy so the other part of your mind takes flight. Turns out the larger part of your mind takes flight, free form, goes where it wants, when it wants, how it wants, and enters another reality altogether while your body back there anchored by mind to task stays focused and busy at functioning and doing that on autopilot. You trick yourself into allowing yourself to connect with the universe and for the universe to connect with you in ways your ordinary material bound self prohibits. You're crazy.
Driving in rush hour is similar. You are thinking and driving, making small decisions and doing it well, and dreaming and planning at the same time. With those two thing going on, it is the ideal situation for your intuition to provide something for you. It can feel like your spirit looking ahead and providing a picture for you. You are insane.
Did I ever tell you about the time I did a commission for the man with an offering carving? I saw a very simple and attractive start to a painting and thought that outline would make a good bas relief. All I would have to do it scrape the background away and then scratch in some details. I already did one bas relieve before so that makes me, what, an expert.
Here is my copy of the book where I saw this. Tomb of Horemheb. My book says Haremhab, the vowels were not agree upon then.
Ha! That was the military general who followed the old courtier that followed the death of king Tut. Half the paintings in my copy have grids drawn over them in pencil. The whole thing is in pieces. That means I replicated at least half of these, and sold most of those. This book has been a treasure to me ever since I found it a long time ago when I was a wee lad.
Bed wetter.
Kidding. I loved this book to death. It is worth a 2.25 million dollars to me. You can buy one for 29₵
Chipping away at the background with a dental tool. A real dental tool the dentist gave me. It is boring. Best to break up the project into bits. Leave it on the work table and return to it here and there throughout the day, throughout the week until it is done.
It takes a whole spare bedroom. It makes a huge dusty mess.
One night I bathed, wrapped myself with a towel, passed near the workroom with the open project, went in, sat down and chipped away, chip, chip, chip, chip, chip, chip, chip, it is very boring, chip, chip, chip, chip, chip, it is not so long and I am transported, zoop.
I am in a dimly lit cave. Back home I am physically in a cave-like bedroom at the back of the apartment, so not so remote a transport, but there I am doing what I already am doing, I went to a thousand years ago, two thousand, four thousand years ago, toiling away at wall. I drew the picture that I am working on and I am there again to correct it and to have my corrections corrected by somebody else and then together we will move on, and right before we do move on I snap back to present day where I actually am sitting there chipping away making a mess, I did make admirable progress there wrapped in a white terry cloth towel, I stand up feeling and looking exactly like a half-naked Egyptian scribe.
So yeah, you sound crazy to me. I understand completely.
22 comments:
These statues will be in a well respected museum I assume. In that museum, I suggest they place , in the museum restrooms, a picture of Hillary shrieking "what difference does it make".
That looks like fine work.
That looks like chocolate.
I don't know if my assumption is correct, but, I feel as thought these brave men cannot, may not, be fully honored, as longs as the conditions under which they died remain unclear.
We owe, not only the families of the dead Americans, also the men and women in uniform a resolution of this matter... to put it diplomatically.
That is some channeling Chip.
I mean I think we know how they died. It's just not the official version... at least not yet.
I like to think that that is important. For the living.
Is Chip Anoyed?
the pierogis look scrumptious.
That's a very static sculpture. It sure isn't Bernini, but that's what happens when you mix politics and art.
That's a very static sculpture.
Tea Party is status quo.
That Bernini is gorgeous. I'd never seen that.
That Bernini is gorgeous. I'd never seen that.
Yes, it's my favorite one, Blessed Ludovica Albertoni.
Chips pirogues made me hungry.
Chips pirogues made me hungry.
The basis for some buenos nachos.
The picture on the book cover is lovely.
Chip, who was the author of Egyptian Treasures?
The static presentation makes sense here. It's the virtue of steadfastness, reliable unyielding strength. Not so much beauty as form, but character.
I think it's time for a "bed wetter" tag.
Well said, bago. It's amazing that anyone can create something so realistic that conveys such a message of resolve.
I love Bernini's work.
You can do static that is not static.
Although granted, there are not too many artists of this ability around...ever.
This is one of my favorites...
Bernini, Michaelangelo, Canova, Carpeaux, Rodin and a few others knew something of sculpture.
That is a nice sculpture, but not a great one - while I could envision something more along the lines of Bernini's David armed with something other than a sling, I could not produce such a work.
Sculpting is a tough job. Not everyone can do it.
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