This was a tough project for sure. I had never done any sculptures in my life outside of playing with playdough with the kids! The first project I did was all wrong as I discovered that I needed to use the subtractive style for carving. My husband pointed out to me that Michelangelo said that I needed to "free" the form from the material I was working with. I stared at that block of styrofoam for awhile and thought "well I can get a cat out of there." I don't own a cat but tried to keep in mind my daughters cat while I carved at it. I soon discovered that with the subtractive method, you can't put it back on if it falls off! Consequently, the cat was much larger in the beginning. The tail was originally longer too. The good part about it is that you can recognize it as a cat! The medium I was working with is also difficult as there were imperfections and irregularities in the block of styrofoam as I was working with it. Almost in the middle, I discovered a huge gouge or bubble. The little pieces of styrofoam would also crumble and not cut smoothly either. You also can not sand this material so it took some careful sculpting to round the edges. The Masters have nothing to worry about from me for sure. While I was working on this project I also thought about how difficult it must have been for them using stone. I wondered how many stones just crumbled half way through months of work. I have always enjoyed the beauty of sculptures. But now having attempted one on my own, my depth of appreciation goes far beyond my original appreciation.
Mitsi
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