| How Small Frys are Created | |||||||||
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Galleries >> (1) Customs - (2) 6" Limited Ed - (3) 3" Limited Ed - (4) Cake Toppers |
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   Three Stages (side) --- Body Parts --- Three Stages (front) |
| How Small Frys are Created | |||||||||
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Galleries >> (1) Customs - (2) 6" Limited Ed - (3) 3" Limited Ed - (4) Cake Toppers |
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Three Stages (side) --- Body Parts --- Three Stages (front) |
| ASHBY - ARBOR DAY SCULPTURE: We use Ashby (shown above) to demonstrate how Sheri makes her sculptures. Ashby
is available for purchase. THE MATERIAL: Small Frys are made from a mixture of Fimo & Sculpey, colored modeling "clays". (Fimo is German, Sculpey is American.) These materials come in a solid form and must be warmed and worked with the hands to make it pliable. Sheri does most shaping with her bare hands along with ordinary items found around the studio. She uses commercial sculpture tools only rarely. The clays come in approximately 60 wonderful colors and if Sheri doesn't have a color she wants, she can usually mix it from a combination of other colors. Consequently, she seldom uses any paint on the Small Frys. After the final form is sculpted it is placed in an oven to bake. Most often it is baked several times as the work progresses. The finished work is rich in color and reasonably strong - rough handling can cause it to break however. Fortunately any breaks are usually clean and can be quickly mended stronger than before. THE PROCEDURE: The warmed clay can be shaped entirely by hand. It can also be pressed into molds to speed the process. We have made several Small Fry molds for head, arms, legs, and body parts. As you will see in the illustrations that follow, these are generic in design and require extensive alteration after they come out of the mold. The middle photo above shows Small Fry body parts from a mold. The rough edges are "fins" and are caused by excess clay that is squeezed out by the mold. After these are removed, the surface is repaired, and the entire part is reshaped to give the desired form. Sheri's method is to construct a nude figure giving it the necessary movement and gesture and then cloth the figure as shown in photos one & three above. |
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  Ashby Head & Hair Parts --- Ashby Trousers & Hanky Parts |
| THE HEAD: (above
left) Illustrated are three stages of head development. The 1st is a generic head
without any features. After the fin is removed, the seam is repaired, and a mouth is
formed as seen in 2nd head. Next the nose is attached and shaped followed by the ears,
eyes, and tongue as shown in head #3. Sheri carefully measures the size of each ball of
clay so the resulting features will be the right size. These unshaped balls of clay can be
seen in the middle of photo. The strip of brown clay at the lower left is cut repeatedly
as shown at the lower right. This will serve as hair. Next the head is attached to the
body. THE TROUSERS: (above right) Designing clothes for Small Frys is much like designing clothes for people - a pattern is created and used. After the pattern is determined, the clay is rolled into sheets and cut to shape. The blue pieces above are for Ashby's cut-off trousers and their pockets. The red triangle is for Ashby's handkerchief. |
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  Ashby Arm & Shirt Parts --- Ashby Base & Tree Parts |
| THE SHIRT:
(above left) The shirt is done in two stages. First the torso is wrapped with the
larger piece of white clay. Next the arms are formed and dressed with sleeves and then
attached to the torso. THE ARMS: (above left) The arms and hands are shaped in our own hand mold. The hands come out of the mold flat with the fingers attached to one another. After the fins are removed, the fingers are separated and shaped and the fingernails are added. The sleeves are then added to complete the arms. ASHBY'S BASE: (above right) Ashby has a circular base that he is attached to. This is made from three different colors of clay as shown above (3 top circles). TREE PARTS: (above right) The trunk of the tree is an actual twig. This inserts into a ball of clay which holds it upright. This ball is wrapped with another layer of clay that is given a burlap texture. A few other details are added and the piece is complete and ready for a final baking. |
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  Flesh Color extruded into Coil --- Eyes on Pie Pan ready to Bake |
| FLESH COLORED COILS: (above left) We extrude flesh colored clay in a coil as shown in left
photo. We cut the coil into measured lengths for use as noses & ears. Both the nose
and ears are rolled in balls, attached to the head, and then sculpted to the desired
shapes. MAKING EYES: (above right) Eyes are made using black clay. Measured pieces of clay are rolled into balls and places on an aluminum pie tin as shown in right photo. These are ready to bake. |
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  Legs & Arms on Tray --- Heads & Head Molds |
| LEGS & ARMS:
(above left) Tray of legs and arms that are ready to be attached to torsos. Hand
molds are shown at bottom. HEADS & HEAD MOLDS: (above right) Shown are six head molds (white) & the varied heads that come from these molds. |
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  Sheri's Workbench --- Body & Clothing Parts |
| SHERI'S WORKBENCH:
(above left) Sheri's workplace. This is where is all happens. BODY & CLOTHING PARTS: (above right) Shown are heads (flesh color), torsos (beside heads) and clothing parts for a particular sculpture. Striped clothing can be achieved by combining different colored clays. |
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