I have been cleaning up fussy bits on the heron, mainly getting crumbs off - I found this little tool at an art supply store.  It is basically a pipe cleaner on a stick but it has been a big help getting tiny cumbs out of tight places. The clay I am working with is very hard - like wax.  I'm not sure if this would work with softer clay or if it would leave marks.

 I am trying something new with the shims on the heron - let's see if this works - I printed off a photo of the heron to the actual size and then laid the clear plastic shim material over the photo. I then drew on the shim material and cut each piece.  I tested it against the actual heron and I had to trim a bit but it seems to work.  I will probably have to trim again as the first two coats of mold material will change the shape somewhat, but cutiing the shims is the most difficult part of the mold work and I'd like to get as much done ahead of time as possible.

 The shims get a coat of Trewax (floor wax) so the mold material won't adhere to them.

 I went to the foundry to watch Flight getting chased....

 This is the mystery sculpture from a few posts back.  You can also see from my clothing and the trees that this pic was taken some time back.  I've been working on her off and on for a while and thought I would share another pic of her.

 Don and I went uptown for John King and Mike Ratterman's two person show at Zephyr Gallery in Louisville Ky.  But we went to 21c first to see the golden reproduction of Michelangelo's David - here he is peering through the trees.

 John Kings show consisted of glass cut in various shapes and mounted in wood frames - as you encounter each piece you discover that some, such as this, have human proportions.  You really have to see them in person to get the full scope, really nice work.

Mike Ratterman's show concerned the ephemeral nature of life and he demonstrated this with various installations involving salt.  Ingeneous concept and extremely well done, a must see.

 A friend of ours, Marilyn Matthews and Katherine Wariner recently had a show this is a very nice watercolor by Marilyn. 

Some good news, Daphne is a finalist in a competition sponsored by the Art Renewal Center.  There were 2100 entries, 500 finalists.  The ARC promotes a more traditional type of work and has had an annual competion for a few years.  I entered last year but wasn't accepted.  Visit their website to see work from past competitions http://www.artrenewal.org/pages/contest.php?contest=2010-2011%20Salon&page=Main

My Otter water feature had to make room for a visitor - today was a scorcher so this raccoon decided to take a dip and cool off. She looks happy doesn't she?  Racoons are normally nocturnal but nursing mothers will be seen during the day looking for extra food, she is coming up for bird seed.