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Book Sponge

Book Sponge

It’s been awhile since I posted anything on my blog.  Hi everyone :-) Today I share with you “Book Sponge” as my husband just named her.   This sculpt came about after having a close friend come over to work (staining my redwood benches/arbors) and brought her eight year old daughter (the last of her seven daughters!) with her.   Her Little Mo Mo, as she likes to call her, wanted to earn some money too as a model for me. 

The other day I told Mo Mo that I wanted to do some quick sketches for fun of her and she wanted to do it right then, as kids are, spontaneous. But she had to wait for the day that her mother came over to stain.  Here’s the result of my session with her below.  I sure had fun sculpting her.

Little girl reading a book sculpture.

I thought it would be more enjoyable for us all to be outside together. That way Mo Mo could get to watch her mom working while I was sculpting her and it would give her something to do. Well, that sounded nice…..

Young girl likes perusing her children's book and soaking it up. Book Sculpture.

I brought out my sculpture stand, clay, tools, spray bottle.  Had to get out of the gazebo a nice big cushioned lounge chair for Mo Mo to sit on.  Put the music on for all of us to enjoy and the weather was holding out okay.  But then our shade tree kept moving the light and we were getting hot and the wind was kicking up……How can she sit like that? Ms. Flexible!

Mo Mo was cute in that she wanted to model but you want to know how long that lasted?  Well, the sitting still part lasted for as long as I could take photos of her around in a circle from each angle.  (Although, at first she said she could keep that pose forever, her choice of position,  as it was so comfortable for her to sit in that flexible position.) She was a typical squirmy girl, albeit as cute as pie.  She thought that if she just sort of held the same position it would be alright.  Maybe for another sculptor it would be, but I was having trouble because she’d move so much.

How do sculptors of children do it?  Ha!  And I have a lifesize children sculpture to do coming up that will be composed of two children, probably in a playing pose, not a much easier pose like this one sitting down.  Thought it would be good practice to work on a little girl sculpt and get my feet wet so to speak and get used to the body differences of little girls versus women.Back view of the girl with pigtails reading her book. Sculpture

It wasn’t long before Mo Mo was standing up with me at the sculpting stand, and I was working from the photos on my camera (just looking at them while the sun shone so warmly on us) and she was “sculpting” the face for me.  I let her work on the face while I worked on the body.  She decided she wanted her portrait to have pigtails instead of how she was wearing it- mid-length and wavy blonde down her back.  So keeping with her wishes, I decided to add pigtails later on another day when I was finishing her.  She’ll be excited when she sees that the sculpture has them, although they look a little different than the ones she put on, lol.Pretty tom boy little girl reading a story.

It was funny because I had only been at the portrait for about a half hour and she made the comment: “That doesn’t look like me.” Tough critic. :-D Well, I hadn’t even started to do the portrait but was just roughing in the figure.  Kids do not have patience, I know!  Thank goodness I have patience though, hee, hee…  Princess is written on the girls top.

Her blouse read “Roxy” but that’s a brand name and I decided to put “Princess” on it instead.  Every little girl is a princess to their mother (and a twirp all wrapped up in one).  She is a cute little girl with a dimple in her chin and round little body.  Oh, that reminds me…. she can eat! ….

We were into the sculpting session maybe ten minutes and she tells me she’s hungry. Then goes inside and comes out wiping her mouth (not sure what she found) She had just before this had a plum fresh from the tree.  Now she told me she really wanted a tuna sandwhich and lots of mayonnaise.  Well, having clay all over my fingers wasn’t conducive to making her a sandwhich, so first I asked her mom if it was okay, she reluctantly said,…. if I want to :-) .  So I asked my hubby to do the honors and he gladly did and spent some time with her inside in the cool house.
Sculpture of girl with pigtails reading a book and soaking it up.

She had a tuna sandwhich, a big one, and then another plum.  Then a bit later another plum!  Her mother tells me she can sure eat some groceries and now I believe her!  With a big appetite like that, she has lots of energy.

Pretty much that was it.  I didn’t get that far on the sculpt that day but Mo Mo made some money and I got to take pics which help me create this sculpture.  She didn’t want to leave when she finally had to go, so I guess she had fun in spite of not liking so much the sitting still part.  I can’t blame her. I’m sure at eight, sitting still would be the last thing I’d want to do too!  She’s a cutie alright.

Oh, the size of the sculpt is small, about 6 1/2″ tall  by 10″ wide (from foot to foot).  I can always make a larger one off this maquette size. After I fire and patinate her, I might put her in the Winter Show at the Patrick Ranch Museum in Chico, CA or if someone is interested in her, please contact me. :-)

Thanks for watching and reading my blog,

~Tamara

14 Responses to “Book Sponge”

  1. ZooDoc says:

    Adorable! Looks just like her. Love the facial expression and pose! “Book Sponge” is a cute name for this piece.

  2. Tamara Bonet says:

    Thanks! I wonder why you like the name so much (wink, wink).

  3. Cathleen Johnson says:

    What a precious piece! I like that MoMo won out with the idea of the pig tails as I think they really make her more lovable and realistic. It sounded like a real challenge having a little one pose for you but all things considered it really looks great! Wouldn’t this be a great piece for inside a library where all the little kids meet for the reading circle????

    Great work my girl!!!
    Love Cath

  4. Tamara Bonet says:

    Hi Cathy! It’s a pose definitely for a youngster as I don’t see very many adults maintaining that flexibility, lol. Pigtails on either side sort of go with the the legs out on each side too. Hopefully today I’ll show it to MoMo and see if I have her approval.

    She would be neat for a library setting! I hope I can do a lifesize of her one day. But I need to take more pics of the model as she will grow up and then I won’t have more detail of anatomy like I’d like to put in a larger piece.

    Thanks for commenting my dear Cathy! Love you!

    ~Tamara

  5. Rachel simpkins says:

    This is my baby sister Mackenzy that you did the sculpture of just wanted to say I love it and you didn’t awesome job

  6. Rachel simpkins says:

    How much is that

  7. Tamara Bonet says:

    Ah, thanks. It sure means a lot that you and your mom both love it. Makes me happy :) By the way, your mom is such a wonderful lady and I’m enjoying getting to know her and learning of our similarities. So glad Mackenzie wanted to model for me. I think I’ll really have to bribe her if she’ll do it again for me. Money might not be enough, ha ha! Your mom said money and food would do the trick.

  8. Tamara Bonet says:

    Not sure on the price until I’m all finished (she’s unfired right now)but I’m thinking around $1200.

  9. Rachel simpkins says:

    Lol well thanks mackenzy and i have the same dad we actually look a lot alike when i was that age i love it. that peice is worth every pennie that’s how much i love her maybe someday when i can afford it u will still have it

  10. Tamara Bonet says:

    I hope I have it then so you can have it. I didn’t know that you two had the same dad. I was pretty sure you are the one that lives in Fort Bragg and that your mom and Mackenzie went to visit recently. Will be nice to see pics of all of you girls. Other than Mackenzie, I’ve only met Mindy. I have 5 more to go!

  11. Olga says:

    It is really enjoyable to observe, Tamara! The feel of a material- clay- adds softness to subject selected -the child reading. It does really beneficial on this way. Just one little suggestion – I wouldn’t be applying poly-coloured glazing to this lovely sculpture.. Perhaps some sculptures speak a lot better being simply fired.. What do you think, Tamara?!

  12. Tamara Bonet says:

    Hi Olga, Nice to see you here. Your thoughts are most appreciated! I will take your advice and keep her as natural clay looking as possible. Stay tuned :-) Look forward to seeing what you are working on too Olga- you know what a big fan I am of your precious moments of sisters and of children. Just love them so much!

  13. Laura Littrell says:

    Hi Tamara,
    I’m Tammy’s 5th daughter who lives in Lake County. Your sculpture of my little sister is actually quite amazing. My mom sent me a picture of it and I was blown away at how well you captured Mo Mo’s likeness(for a moment I thought the sculpture would turn to me, tilt its head and give me one of those beautifully awkward Mo Mo smiles). Well done!!

  14. Tamara says:

    Nice to meet you Laura! Yay, I love your comments. Thanks a lot. “Her Mo Mo smiles” are so cute. I asked her if we could use her nickname and also put it on the bottom of the sculture to read “Little Mo Mo” and she said okay. But later when I talked to her she reaffirmed that she really doesn’t like her nickname but prefers “Mackenzy.” Lol, well when she gets older, I think it’ll grow on her. :-)
    Thanks again for writing.

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