Grand kids make great subjects for portrait sculpture

I'm a little prejudice on the subject of depicting these little darlings.  I have been creating childrens' portrait 'heads' and 'busts' for over 40 years.  I have made portraits of some of my collectors grand kids but this is the first time I have worked on my own granddaughters sculpture.  Alexandra and her mother, Caroline have been

Ali sits at my 'Down Under Art Studio' in Portsmouth, NH

coming down to my studio in Portsmouth to sit for Ali's 'head'.  (A portrait 'head' differs from a portrait 'bust' in that the 'head' is sans shoulders and is a bit more informal in it's presentation.) The finished cast 'head' is mounted on a handsome block of marble or hardwood which will appoint the sculpture work. These pictures show the sculpture process about half-way through the sculpting or modeling process. Clay work unlike carving wood or stone which is only subtractive is the process of adding and subtracting; much like painting it allows a lot of subtlety and refinement to the completed work. The 'clay model' then has a negative mother mold made on it. From there a 'cast stone' or 'lost wax bronze' is created.


As you can see my subject doesn't really stay real still or pose
and posing is not really necessary.



I like to work from life, usually 3 or 4 two-hour sessions are all that is required. The sittings are filled in with photo's that I take at different stages of the sculpture. In other cases I work completely from photo's. The duel busts of 2 sisters pictured below was completed only from photographs supplied by my client. Notice the 'polychrome' patina. The 'patina' being the coloration of the sculpture and polychrome indicating a number of various colors. Finishing the sculpture in this way is really a look back to the way the ancients; Greeks would finish their marble carvings and bronze casts. I also could have completed this work in a variety of traditional bronze 'greens' or 'browns' which were typically arrived from by the washing of 'copper nitrate' for blue-green or 'ferric nitrate' for brown. The 'Sisters' are cast in 'stone' which has the advantage of being about half the overall cost of a 'lost wax bronze'.

"Sisters"   Cast Stone     (c) William Barth Osmundsen

Visit my "Down Under Art Studio"
at the
Ben Franklin Block Building
75 Congress St.,
Suite LO2
Portsmouth, NH

Place of remembrance

'A time before 9/11"

A 4 foot Acrylic painting which the Artist hopes to use for the basis
of an 18 foot Tile Mural.

This past Sunday, the 10th Anniversary of 9/11, seemed to put to rest an unease which has pervaded our country. The ceremonies were understated in a very, very dignified way which echoed the marvelously thoughtful placement of the endless pools where the Trade Centers once stood. The beautiful bronzes engraved along the top edge of the cascading falls and the trees lining and giving protection from the harsh stone and steel city.

A firm named Snohetta, which means Snow Hood, in Norwegian created the only above ground building on the 8 acre memorial site. I invite you read my recent article about these Architects and 9/11 in the September 9, 2011 issue of the Norwegian American Weekly.

Best regards, Bill Osmundsen

for further reading on my mural project:- "A time before 9/11"

ON OPEN WATERS

“The Voyage of the Fox,” sculpture depicted here is the work of the article’s author, Bill Osmundsen. The prototype was created as a model for a bronze monument to be placed in New York and Norway. Further information about this project can be obtained by visiting the artist’s website: http://BronzeSea.org/FoxSculpture.aspx, or by contacting Project Coordinator, Victor Samuelsen at fantslake@aol.com or (203) 561-0005. Photo courtesy of Bill Osmundsen.

NORWEGIAN AMERICAN WEEKLY

On open waters: The Norwegian-American voyage of the FOX made the impossible a reality.

This year marks the 115th anniversary of the voyage of the FOX, the first transatlantic crossing by oar, in an open 18-foot rowboat named FOX. The nearly impossible feat was accomplished by two young Norwegian-American seamen who left New York June 6, 1896, and arrived in Le Havre, France on Aug. 7, 1896.

By Bill Osmundsen
Norwegian American Weekly

Around the time that Nansen was lauded for his polar achievement, two other Norwegians by birth – George Harbo and Frank Samuelsen – rowed more than 3,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean in an 18-foot surfboat called FOX. They didn’t discover anything, but they did prove that through endurance and careful planning, two men in an open boat could actually achieve what was in 1896 believed impossible. If we look at their modest effort, compared to the mounting of the great expeditions of the Fram – Nansen, north and Amundsen south, they also exhibited great courage and fortitude and should join the ranks of explorers who have pushed the human limits. Harbo and Samuelsen were the first to successfully cross the Atlantic in an open rowboat.

READ THE REST OF THIS STORY at norway.com

Visit our Web Site:-BronzeSea.org

4 New Giclee Prints, "On Virginia Beach"

4 Giclee Prints are offered

for the Christmas Holiday

at

40% discount


Pay Pal Accepted

For quite some time I have been wanting to develop a reliable source for Giclee Prints. As you may know Giclee is a printing process which allows for excellent duplication and when done by printers' who consider it as an Art form you can get an image which is hard to tell apart from the original. Another advantage is you can choose from a variety of surfaces; such as paper or canvas.

The paper prints are printed on Premium Archival, acid-free, matte paper. The image sizes for all the paintings pictured above is approximately 20 inches x 16 inches. The paper itself is about 26 inches by 22 inches. The prints are signed and number in the traditional manner, under the picture; the edition is 250 of each in paper. With this type of print, you will need a glass with the frame. There is a further discount on the collection of four prints.


The canvas prints are finished with a 'Gallery Wrap', which is to say there is a plain finished edge and framing is not really necessary. As well the canvases are coated with a protection from ultra violet rays. The edge can be finished in black or white (the canvas color). The overall image is 20" x 16" approx.

The wrapped canvas maybe framed and we are offering 4 various 'Float Frames'.

A new feature to the BronzeSea.org web site is we are accepting Pay Pal. This allows for payments with a variety of Bank and Credit Cards as well as your Pay Pal account.

Please visit my web site to make your purchase. Here is the link:- Paintings n Prints


Have a very happy holiday season.

Bill Osmundsen

ps pls place your orders early for Christmas delivery