I had intended to make this post before Thanksgiving, but it was a crazy week and I was pretty short on time, so I'm a little behind here.  I just got back in town after a great ten day visit with my family.

I hit a big milestone before I left town though.  I finished the neck, meaning I've finally finished the entire body.  All that's left to actually sculpt is her hair.  So close now.

I already knew the position I wanted her head in, tilted to her left and back just a bit, so figuring out the length of the neck was probably the trickiest part.  I started by attaching two wires to the top of her spine.  I found the right length and angle, got a nice "back of the neck" curve, then held the head in place with a few spring clips while I welded the wires coming from her spine to the back hairline.  I started working on her right side first, which is the stretched, straighter side of her neck.  It was pretty easy going and when I finished it, it looked great.  Then I moved to the other side, but after struggling for an hour or so, I realized her neck was going to be about 3 inches thick.  I had attached one of the first wires on the other side in the wrong spot and her entire neck was off center.  The head was still in the right place, but the neck was completely off.  Fortunately, I didn't have to cut the whole thing off and start over, though I did have to cut almost every wire, bend it a little further to the side and reattach it at another point.  It was a fairly easy fix though, and this time, it really did look great.  The other side of the neck is sort of scrunched up, so it has a lot of wrinkles.  It was a little trickier than the first side, but it worked itself out.  I got to bend a few nice complex curves to accomplish the wrinkles.  I filled out the front of the neck last, and that was all she wrote.

There were a few bumps along the way.  I burnt through a few wires.  I wish I would have kept track of how many times I've done that on this piece.  You'd think I'd learn, but I always push it just a second too long.  Then I say bad words.  Then I fix it.

So anyway, I finished the neck.  She looks amazing.  I am so beyond happy. 

I picked up a new patina color, vista burgundy, but it ended up looking pretty chocolaty.  The original vista rust, now that it's been working the steel for about a month, is starting to look good.  I may still try the red, just to see how it looks, but so far I think I like the rust best.

I also started doing a little work on the base.  I can't get too far ahead of myself on the base, because I can't really do too much to it until I've finished the patina and clear coat on the rest of the piece, but I got a little jump on it.  I was originally going to try to cover it with a sheet of wrinkled copper foil.  After further consideration though, I realized that I'd need to cut into it in two spots to get it around the feet, and that would leave two seams across the top.  It also wouldn't really work for bending it around the sides, as the base is an odd shape.  Instead, I've decided to cover it with overlapping strips of the wrinkled copper foil.  That way the seams will look/be intentional and a little more uniform throughout the base.  Also, I decided to put one long strip around the sides, rather than trying to fold it over from the top.  I measured the circumference of the base (a little under 15 feet) and bought an additional 15 feet of the foil to supplement the original 10 or 15 feet I bought.  The base is only 3.75 inches tall, so I rolled out the entire length of foil and cut it in half lengthwise.  It's 1 foot wide, so that gave me two strips of foil at 6 inches by 15 feet,  I rolled one strip back up and began wrinkling the other.  

When I finished wrinkling the whole length, I laid the first eight feet along the edge of a sheet of plywood and bent a nice straight line along one edge, sliding it down and continuing the line until I finished all fifteen feet. I then marked a line on the plywood at 3.75 inches, lined the folded edge up against the line and repeated the process, folding the other side.  Now I have a fifteen foot long strip of the wrinkled foil with clean folded edges at the 3.75 inch height of the base.  Starting in the back V of the base, I wrapped it all the way around it, finishing at the other side of the V.  As I said, I can't attach it until I've applied the patina and clear coat to the sculpture itself, but at least I got a jump on it and I now have a good idea of what it's going to look like.  I love it!

So next up is the hair.  Still not 100% sure how that's going to play out.  I have an idea of what I want, but I think I need to look at some images online to get an idea of how I want the hair to fall.  Definitely going to be long and wavy.  My model had shoulder length hair and I asked her to tie it up anyway, so I could get clear shots of her neck and shoulders, so this is one aspect of the piece that I have no reference photos of.  I'll be using all thinner wire for this part.  I need to figure out a better way to heat this stuff up.  It's taking me forever to get them hot with the little propane torch I have and I need to do it to about 50 more pieces.  Oy.  So hair.  That's what I'll be focusing on through December.  Wish me luck!

Winter is my least favorite time of year, even in a temperate climate like Los Angeles.  When daylight savings ends, it gets dark before I leave my day job.  "The darkness" also brings with it cooler days, cold nights and rain.  But not even good rain.  Usually just enough to be uncomfortable and a nuisance.  Only rarely do we get a good heavy soaking in LA, and it's even more rare that we get any thunder and lightning with it.  Summer rains are almost non-existent.  Being part lizard and loving the warm summer nights, this cold, gloomy time of year is always a bit of a downer for me.  But on the flip side, it always brings a beautiful musical shift to my evenings, with lots of bowed strings and more melancholy music. I got off the plane last night and it had apparently been raining all day.  The rain had stopped, but everything was wet and just chilly enough to need a light coat.  When I got home and unpacked, this song bubbled up, perfectly fitting my emotional state.  I have no idea what he's singing about, but the textures, dynamics and tones speak volumes to my heart.  It was a perfect song to listen to while standing back and assessing my metal lady after nearly two weeks of being away.