How to Make a Snowman Look Like a Roman Statue 2/24/15
Marble torso of Eros 1st century A.D., Metropolitian Museum of Art, New York
The snow that fell early this morning in Atlanta Georgia was pretty, but there wasn’t really enough accumulation to make a snowman. In Jan 2011, we had 4-5 inches of snow that lasted for days. Inspiration came over me, and I made a snowman…er, ‘snow torso of a man’, on our diving board.
I love the Greco-Roman sculptures that have survived the ages minus heads, arms & legs; so much so that they inspired many of my earlier paintings (see ARCHIVE- Figurative Abstraction).
In 2011, I set out to create my snow torso with classical sculpture in mind. I piled buckets of snow on top of the pedestal…er, diving board, patting and compressing the snow. Using a kitchen spatula and wooden spoon, I began carving the figure, occasionally spraying with water to further compact the snow. Knowing the limitations of snow, I had to forget the ‘contrapposto’ twist and curve of the figure, and keep it upright so it wouldn’t fall over.
After a few hours with some warming breaks, I had my own version of Eros to look at through the window….until the sun came out.
You can read more about Eros at http://metmuseum.org/exhibitions/view?exhibitionId=%7B74ad4b7e-5557-4b1f-a1d0-254d7d32d61a%7D&oid=257633
Snowman torso in progress