The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1902-07-23
A VISIT TO THE SCULPTORS.

When first l knew that there was
to be school of sculpture in Mont !
pelier l promised myself the pleasure
of visit, when the class should be
fairly at work, that / might watch the /
"modus operandi" and see the work |
of a really truly" artist, as the chill
dren say. | wanted to know just how
the beautiful statues are made to
take form and shape and how they are
finished.
Having learned that castings were
to be made last night, | wended my
way thither, to be welcomed with a
cordial invitation TO make myself at
home and permission to look on as
much as | wished. Several young
men were at work on their models, one
on head, another foot, and others,
different forms of ornament. Here
then was the work going on that ap-
pears so easy and is yet so hard, which
requires the artists eye to see and
the trained hand to execute Fascinat-
ing work it is, though requiring much
patience that every line and curve
may approach perfection, and it must
be gone over and over, carefully
measured, patted and pinche1
smoothed here and there, a little
duutu VI a Shaving ldheu Oh, I'LL, Dll ny
bit, the model is complete.
Three of the students had finished
their models ready for the casting.
This is very interesting process to
the ordinary observer though it re-
quirs no particular talent and is part
of the artists drudgery. | will try
to tell how it is done. First huge
mixing bowl half or two-thirds full
of slightly blued water wash blueing)
has the pulverized plaster carefully
sprinkled in, something as hasty
pudding was made in olden times
and is stirred with a spoon till it is of
about the consistency of thin paste.
Now the hands are dipped in-sounds
inviting doesn't it? But you would
want an apron-and with deft move
ments the mixture is dashed all over
the model, being blown upon occasion
ally to more effectually spread it.
When it is slightly hardened another
thicker mixture is made of the pure
white plaster and the entire affair is
! thickly covered till it resembles a
huge frosted cake, only the frosting is
rather uneven. Tomorrow, | was
told, the clay would be chopped out
and the perfect mould would be pre-
| pared and filled, for all the world like
] a jelly ulOulN, Dll Oul VI NnlCll MOulh
come the form that pleases the eye
rather than the palate. This is, in
short, the way the work is finished
and is only IA small part of the effort
required to produce it. 1t must be
period of some anxiety, to the anna
teur at least, lest there be failure or
| flaw somewhere and his work have
to be done all over again. AS in every
other important work, one III ust be
content to work patiently up, step by
step, from the simplest forms to the
most complex; and here again, it is
proven that steady work and constant
study are what tells, and as Mr.. Lopez
assures his students, "Genius is made
up of about one-fourth talent and
three fourths hard work. "
l was surprised to see the PROCESS
that had been made in the short time
since the class was organized. Some
of the students are carvers and doubt
less are enabled, thereby, to undertake
at once the more difficult work, while
others are beginners and struggling
with the drawing. Watching them
at their work my mind scared, as
did Samantha Allen so often, and
beheld the beauty and dignity of
work, the power that creates forms of
than to begin "eppisodin" and l
doubt if Should have been listened
to if did, so absorbed were the
workers, but remembered what" Dick
Heldar' told Maisie" about work !;
A great deal depends on being mas
ter of the bricks and mortar of the
trade. But the instant we begin to
think about success and the effect of
our work-to play with one eye on the
gallery we lose power and touch and
everything else. If we make light of
our work for our own ends, our work
will make light of us. Success isn't
obtained by the sacrifice of other peo-
ple-you must sacrifice yourself and
live under orders and never think of
yourself, and never have real salts
faction in your work except just at
the beginning when you are reaching
out after notion.
Four flfths of everybody's work is
bad but the remnant is worth the
trouble for its own sake,
And so l came away, glad that l
had been able to spend this brief time