New Kong Sculpt In Progess

Last month I sold my original Kong bust. I took a last photo before shipping Kong off to his new home in CA.

I'm at work now creating a similar, though smaller sized bust.This one will be cast in a mold so the teeth have to be made in two sections.

The top and bottom canine, and front teeth will be cast separately from the molars.

I rigged the jaw halves together with aluminum wire so I could articulate them to approximate how Kong will be chomping down on his native victim.

I'll be updating with work in progress photos as Kong takes shape!

Ceramic Dinosaur Sale

I'm listing one of the first dinosaur sculptures I ever created on eBay:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120845666173&ssPageName=ADME:L:LCA:US:1123

This T Rex was inspired by the "old school" tail dragging dinosaurs of my youth. I do appreciate the modern day Jurassic Park type of dino.

But there is a certain charm to the early art restorations of dinosaurs by the likes of Charles Knight.

And of course as a teen nothing was as inspirational as watching one of Marcel Delgado's stop motion film dinosaurs charge through the jungles of Skull Island!

Good Business Sense

Everyone these days seems to be doing a lot of online shopping. I thought I'd share a story about one online merchant that my wife Diane did business with over the holidays.

I had asked for a particular fishing lure called a Northbar bottle darter, in a certain color for my birthday. My wife ordered it online from The Surfcaster: The Surfcaster - Rods, reels, lures, and equipment for the serious surf and inshore fisherman

Well apparently I have good taste in lures! The Northbar darter has taken some pretty large stripers from the looks of the photos on their website: Blog Northbar Tackle Montauk, NY

The lure/color I wanted was sold out! Doug the owner of The Surfcaster sent my wife the Northbar bottle darter I wanted in Blk/Purple so she would have something to give me on my birthday. He said he would email her when the out of stock lure became available.

Well Doug went a step further than that. He sent the lure I wanted for free and included a hand written note thanking my wife for her patience!

It arrived just in time to make a truly surprise Christmas present for me! Many thanks to Doug for being a gentleman and going the extra yard for his customers.

And while on the subject of lures I found this beauty while walking the tide line the day before Christmas.

One of my winter projects will be stripping this wood lure down and refinishing it for striper season.

King Kong Auction

I'm selling my bust of Kong mauling a skull island native on eBay. I hate parting with him but I need the space for new work.

"This is a handmade, one of a kind sculpture of King Kong for sale. Inspired by the 1933 horror film this bust depicts Kong chewing on a Skull Island native. It would make an eye catching addition to any collection! The bust is an impressively sized piece measuring 19" L X 15 1/2" H X 11" W and is sculpted in Apoxie Sculpt clay. Apoxie Sculpt is a two part epoxy type clay that when set is extremely hard and durable. Adding to the realism of the sculpture is the actual grass skirt and real miniature necklace the native wears".

Anyone looking for an interesting one of a kind piece for your collection stop by eBay and check out my auction: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120829836053

Peggy the Seagull

Last year my wife and I were throwing some leftovers to the seagulls. Competition among the gulls to get at the chow can be pretty intense.

It was then that I happened to notice a seagull with a strange leg watching us in the distance. Its one foot was deformed and its leg stuck out at an odd angle.

I pointed the seagull out to my wife and she immediately felt sorry for it. She tossed a piece of food to it and the bird made an attempt to hobble over to it but the other seagulls swooped in and stole it.

A few days later the gull with the strange leg showed up again. By now I had named it Pegleg. My wife thought that was inappropriate and christened her Peggy.

So now all our choicest leftovers are set aside for Peg. Well throw something large like a chicken carcass to the rest of the gulls and during the melee Peg will hop over to us and scoff down what we brought her.

She has figured out some feeding strategies on her own. While the other seagulls go into the water to bath after eating Peg will wait for us by the exit to the beach for a quick nosh as we are leaving.

This past month we hadn't seen Peg for a few weeks and I began to think something had happened to her. Sunday my wife and I were a few blocks away from the beach when I noticed a gull flying high in the opposite direction.

I couldn't be certain but I thought its leg stuck out like Pegs. So as I'm looking up the gull does a quick turn around and circles over our head. Here I am deciding if its the gull I think it is and the gull is circling lower cocking its head doing the same exact thing.

Then I realized we were wearing different coats and hats then we usually wear when we walk the beach and Peg wasn't sure at first that it was us.

When you take in too account all the other people strolling around us its pretty amazing that a gull can pick out two humans by facial features alone!

Peggy will be happy to learn I have some leftover baked salmon with her name on it.

Thanksgiving Stuffing Recipe

I'd like to wish all my online friends a Happy Thanksgiving! I've been busy getting ready for my Black Friday/Cyber Monday sale at my Etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/BlacknickSculpture

I'm having a 20% off sale and offering free shipping on purchases of artwork ( after discount ) of $100.00.

Between working on my Etsy listings I braved the supermarket for some last minute supplies.

This year instead of a turkey were doing a roasting chicken stuffed with ( of all things ) White Castle hamburgers!

Here's the recipe in case you think I'm ribbing you:

White Castle Holiday Stuffing

10 White Castle hamburgers, no pickles

1 1/2 cups celery, diced

1 1/4 tsp. ground thyme

1 1/2 tsp. ground sage

3/4 tsp. coarsely ground black pepper

1/4 cup chicken broth

In a large mixing bowl, tear the burgers into pieces and add diced celery and seasonings.

Toss and add chicken broth. Toss well.

Stuff cavity of turkey just before roasting. Makes about 9 cups ( enough for a 10 - 12 -pound turkey). Note: Allow 1 hamburger for each pound of turkey, which will be the equivalent of 3/4 cup of stuffing per pound.

Let me know if any of you are brave enough to give it a try!

Bad Santa

I thought I'd share a few work in progress photos of this nasty little fellow I just listed on Etsy: Clubba The Bad Santa by BlacknickSculpture on Etsy

If you missed my earlier blog post this is the armature I made for the sculpture.

I like to wrap the armature with floral wire to help the clay stay in place.Once the armature was completed I began adding Apoxie sculpt clay.

Here the final pose is taking shape. The legs are done but I can still reposition the arms and head if I choose.

Adding some detail to the face with a needle tool.

Adding the bat to the figure and sculpting the sleeve.

The finished sculpture and base outside being primed.

Beginning painting the face.

Giving the figure a wash to accent the details.

Putting the finishing touches to the gift box my bad Santa will be holding. I named this guy Clubba because, well, what do you name a character holding a Louisville slugger?