
Miniature Cow/Calf Zoo Project Elephants
Cow: Somewhat gathered in her legs, showing unity with her calf and a soft interaction.

Starting with a block of foam and all reference images for the maquette
The miniature elephants have been approved with the exception of a few minor changes. The next step is enlarging the miniatures to maquette size. All of the maquettes will begin in foam. I always like to start with a simple skeletal sketch on the foam to help cement the anatomy. I sometimes redraw the skeleton as I work, to keep the all-important bone placement in mind.

Refining the Foam
The maquettes will be three times the size of the miniatures and approximately 1/7th life size. In other words, my 5.5″ tall cow elephant mini will be 15.5″ in the maquette size, and approximately 108″ (9 feet tall) at life size.

Cow/Calf Zoo Sculpture – The first layer of clay
The cow gets her first layer of clay and some legs. The calf is started for size comparison.

Clay on the ears – Zoo project
I have been working on the cow and calf in preparation to take them on the road with me to a round of shows beginning November 9. I will be able to refine details with the bulk of the anatomy in place. The public loves to watch an artist at work and in the past, I have actually gotten a LOT of work done while selling bronzes. It’s nice to have a husband that knows how to engage the patrons during the shows. He’s a great team member!

Waterfowl Festival, Easton, Maryland –
Traveling with the clay to my shows, I actually get a lot of work done!
December 10 – Here is the progress from the road. I will ship the clay back home after this show in Vegas and finalize more details over Christmas.

I took the cow/calf to Audubon Zoo January 25 and got approval to move forward with the enlargement phase…And she is off to the foundry for molding!

March 15, 2016 – This 3D scan shows the detail captured in the process. The surface information from the maquette
is plugged into a cad program which relays the information to a CNC mill. The enlargement factors are entered and the maquette is cut to the appropriate increased size in foam… in this case, x 7.03 larger than the maquette.

April 1, 2016 The baby is cut in foam to the specified height
Synappsys (Alan Ray) is in charge of the milling process. I love these guys (Mark Palmerton/The Crucible) because they are staying on task for our tight time frame. Most of the detail has been
captured in this foam enlargement. The foam will be refined, sanding in details that were lost in the milling process. Then, we can add a layer of clay and begin sculpting… the fun stuff!