FLY WITH ME - A Mind Liberated
A short story on the inspiration behind my second sculpture, the creative process I followed and final result FLY WITH ME.
The best thing about Art is its honesty, a way to express our dreams. Any kind of Art can bring joy and freedom without the need for permission.
Through sculpture I can create Art that brings my dreams to life.
My inspiration
I am inspired by many other creators and thinkers. Their words of encouragement to take time to travel our minds, to dream and see where our imagination can take us helped me to take the steps on this path as an Artist.
”When you're curious, you find lots of interesting things to do.”- Walt Disney
When we take time to explore our mind and all the many ideas we have, we can find some gems and maybe a few diamonds.
”Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.”- Albert Einstein
Even from a man like Albert Einstein who was well known for his understanding of science and observing the facts that make our world function, imagination was seen as superior.
And for those who like their inspirational quotes with bit more sass, we have George Clinton, who said:
”Free your mind and your ass will follow.”- George Clinton
One of my favourite sensations, is that of flying. I can’t quite manage it yet in real life, but when I delve into my mind, everything is possible. I would guess flying above the plains, mountains and rivers is something most people would dream of too. Life is so expansive and unlimited, with many amazing ideas that can come from our imagination. It’s a journey worth taking.
My concept
So now you understand why I created the Fly With Me sculpture. This was made by combining my vision of a mermaid and a bird. A mermaid who can explore the beauty of oceans, but still look up and be curious of the beauty in the skies above, and dream of what may lie in the many lands beyond the shore.
I imagined this mermaid being friends with a bird, so they can share their stories of the beauty of both worlds. A beautiful partnership where they can explore the wonders in the deepest ocean and fly above the mountains. Together they can see more and understand the world on a much deeper level.
Process of creating the sculpture
Before sculpting, I have to sketch out some drawings of my concept to find the best layout. I chose the sketch on the right because it shows more connection between the mermaid and the bird. And this layout is quite challenging to model in clay and requires good technique to keep it from breaking.
First I made the general shape of the sculpture, then placed some wooden sticks into the wet clay to make the structure stable and avoid it collapsing. I then waited until the clay was dry enough to take the wooden sticks out of the sculpture.
This step needed some good observation as removing the support sticks too early would have caused the sculpture to collapse and if I waited too long, the clay would be too dry and crack.
Can you spot all the support sticks?
Once the structure was stable, I could work on adding more detail to the sculpture, including the fine details seen in the picture below:
The clay sculpture was shaped by hand and then I used simple tools such as bamboo and wooden knives to refine the shape and add more detail. And for making the bubbles on the waves under the mermaid, I used a ballpoint pen.
The sketch only covers one perspective of the sculpture. Even though I followed the direction from my sketch, my mind was free to explore, to fly across the creative land of my mind and develop other perspectives. This sculpture also gave me a great challenge to study and practice anatomy in 3D.
I have included some pictures showing a few different angles in the photo’s below.
You can see the final result with all details on this clip.
Thank you for taking time to read this post, I hope you enjoyed it. It gives me great joy to be able to share this with you all. If you enjoyed reading this, please share it with others.
And if you missed my last posts about my first sculpture, you can see it here MOTHER SEA – A Poem, Sketch & Sculpture born from the Love of our Oceans
@theluvbug, I think this post is in need of some of your attention #theluvbug
Upvoted and resteemed!
Thank you !!!
Wow! That is some great work there. How long did it take you to finish this project?
Thank you @enforcer48 It took me about 10 hours
This piece is awesome!!! So glad @enforcer48 shared this in the ifc discord!!! You are very talented!!
Thank you very much @charisma777 !!
Very nice @livvu! It's crazy that this was only your second sculpture. You're really talented! :)
Thank you so much @midlet for the great encouragement from a great artist like you
I make applied arts, too! A question... why does she have the "apple" instead of a nice-tailed "apple-abouts"? :) ∜mp
I am not sure what you mean, can you elaborate please?
Well, part of my work as the chief editor of the company under which account I answer you is to verify endless inflow of materials and visuals, and I do rarely spend time to explain, but you are an exception. Let me cite this: “Fly With Me sculpture... was made by combining my vision of a mermaid and a bird.” The lower backside zone implies that there is a bone structure of a hominid (bipedal ape) since the hyper-development of the gluteal muscles and the development of the intergluteal cleft is a human-thing only. She might well be a viviparous placental mammal like us, but if nature has given her the lower end of our trunk, it will be only because the bones of the hips connect the spine to the lower limbs to allow movement via hip joints so that she can walk, climb, jump or run, and even swim, but will not have the capacity to balance herself seated on a sloppy and notably wet rock, resist the movement of the sea when in “outrage,” or what is more—permit her have her toes in a swimming position for more than half an hour, which would be required for the tail end… I understand you have this “female” vision to please the eye, but also, regarding body comprising fat at this very zone is once again characteristic only for humans. If I managed to convince you somehow, I’d suggest you modify the description to a “Fly With Me sculpture... was made by combining my vision of the human female beauty and the grace of a mermaid dreaming about the scope of a bird.” OR … “...vision of a mermaid in human transformation, ready to step on her feet, eager to see the lands revealed/guessed by a/the bird.” Below, you’ll find a picture of a mermaid’s skeleton. If you'd like to publish work with us or submit for fast feedback, join my creative team on Discord, link included under my articles. ∜mp
Thank you @me422us for taking time to provide such a detailed explanation, it's really appreciated. This journey has been one of learning and I am thankful that you bought this to me attention. For me, a mermaid is a mythical creature and therefore it's anatomy is for each of us to imagine and create.
I will look further into what you have said and take it into consideration when working on my future sculptures. It would be great to get your view on it
Yes, about the vision. Reach out whenever you need it. Throughout the years, I have had to defend creators' visions, and speaking before the critics speak, often grants peace of heart. ∜mp
It is a work of art, of her vision, and the title is apt for her work of art. It was not a scientific expose sculpture of reality. Her vision of her mermaid works for her, and well to be honest it works for me also.
Suggesting an Artist "I’d suggest you modify the description" is well and truly beyond the point of true and utter arrogance. Perhaps the "Last Supper" painting should be renamed also because we still eat supper.
It is her vision. And a well done piece of art.
I do not judge the work but help her elaborate her description. Visions have to be explained not because they work for few of us, but because she must sell it, and as a creator, she will need to sell the idea, the vision, and both of them, plus keep the self-branding steady enough to resist other views... It's arrogant not to expose something to improve the way she can defend her from the lions, but to live in the past and to expect that people will be digging graves instead of advance in mindful knowledge. ∜mp
That is an amazing sculpture. I think you did a fantastic job on it. That and I liked the drawing also.
Thank you for your great encouragement @bashadow !!
Looks like curie found you also, congratulations on that @livvu.
Thank you very much @bashadow
This is incredible. You are really creative and talented.
Thank you so much @artzone !! I'm so happy you like my art
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Thank you so much !! I really appreciate the support from @c-squared community
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Thank you so much @artzone.curators