tom johnson : artwork

so first and formost.. new studio space after mildly daunting beginnings people are getting started on their various things and its really quite exciting to see how everyone is reacting to the environment. on monday i started work on the embroidered drawing, i plotted out some simple lines and then began apliqueting (sp) various patches, buttons and more woven string. after the several hours of sitting awkwardly i decided it was necessary to make some kind of jig to make my life a little easier. i didnt get round to this til friday but it is certainly doing its job and i made it big enough that it can be used for subsequent work with room for expansion. here it is, and an update after some more sewing. i spent some time working on the steel figure, his legs are now vaguely assembled but im not entirely happy with it so im going to rework the plans and chop, change and add quite significantly next week and beyond. the busts are steadily getting there, i finished casting the bases this w...

well i decided to leave it a little longer to post as i will be moving into a new studio tomorow and plan to update weekly with what ive been doing. so heres a brief summary of what ive been working on for the last month. the first thing ive made is an effort to better understand casting methods and materials, for this, i enlarged a small sketched and used this as the design.. i welded an armature to give a stable base and then went about sculpting in clay. i then made a wall from sheet steel and made a mould from the piece using gelflex, this mould was then filled with various consistencies and colours of jesmonite in order for me to better understand and plan future work. i have learnt an immense amount from this experience, and i now feel totally comfortable designing and making some more complex works. next up is a similarly self progressive work in steel based again on a sketch this time working on expanding my skills with welding and forgework. although slow and somewhat strenuou...