Works starts on the statue of St John
Work has now commenced on the statue of St John the Baptist. The sculptor, Rodney Munday, is working in his barn aka his studio. The dimensions of the statues have been modified following the tower visit, and they are now just slightly under 2.2m. As you can see, still very impressive.
Fabrication of St John Baptist (slide presentation)
(To run the presentation, click ‘Present’ on the right hand end of the tool bar)
(See below for the Fabrication of the Virgin Mary with Child)
The first step has been to build a lightweight wooden frame. This is then covered in chicken wire which is roughly moulded to the statues outlines. The head and the upper body are exaggerated as they will be foreshortened when viewed from ground level.
The second stage is that slabs of clay are applied to the wire framework, to provide a base coat.
As Rodney Munday continues to work on the statue of St John, it is possible to see the scale of the statue (compared to Rodney on the ladder). Rods and supports have to be in place to support the model until the clay is dry, but at night the statue has to be wrapped in polythene to ensure that it does not dry too quickly so that the finer details can be added.
The work on the statue of St John the Baptist continues with more detail being added the torso and to the face. The metal rods at each side are needed to support the arms because the weight of the clay whilst still damp could pull the wire framework out of shape.
The lamb begins to take shape. As the main figure is now largely finished Rodney Munday has been working on the lamb. Following suggestions from the congregation of the Parish Church he used a Cotswold Lion as his model, and even had a shepherd come in to inspect the work to make sure that it was realistic.
Now that the clay model has been finished the next stage of the process is the creation of the mould ready for casting. This is a slow process as the clay model has first to be covered which liquid rubber in repeated light coats which take time to dry. Once sufficient coats have been made to create a flexible mould, the next step is to surround these with a more rigid material which will have sufficient strength to hold the bronze for casting. The work is messy and not particularly pleasant; you can see Rodney Munday looks like someone from Ghostbusters in his hazard suit. One photo shows St John with what appears to be a halo. This is where the seams of the mould have to go. The seaming is chosen in consultation with the foundry so that the finished mould can be transported prior to casting and the end point is a statue with structural integrity.
Fabrication of the Virgin and Child.
Lockdown brought benefits to Project Black Jack. Rodney Munday had planned to return to France (where his wife and son are living) after he had completed the clay statue and the moulding of St John. However, rising levels of coronavirus created restrictions and finally lockdown meaning that he was trapped in England. So rather than waiting until March to start work on the Virgin and Child, with the result that he finished by early March and the statues were then shipped off to the foundry for casting.
Fabrication of The Virgin Mary and Child (slide presentation)
(To run the presentation, click ‘Present’ on the right hand end of the tool bar)
There are photos of the process of creating the clay model of the Virgin and Child on the Presentation above, but here is a link to a short time lapse photo of the process, with a twist. The clay layers on the Virgin’s skirt begin to slip, unnoticed by Rodney, so that at one stage she appears in a state of déshabillé. However, it’s all quickly rectified and she is returned to a more modest form of attire.
The photos below show pit pipework which establishes the dimensions for the two statues. Just behind is a slim metal structure. This is a template made to the dimensions of the niche so that Rodney can be certain that the statue will fit into the available space, when it is due to be installed in August. The pipework is then split into two sections, one for the Virgin and one for the Child, which are worked on separately. The first step is to create a chicken wire “form” which is then gradually covered in slabs of clay as a base layer.
Work on the Virgin continues, as the clay is added to create the form.
Rodney has been working on the Child. In order that the proportions look “right” from ground level, the Child’s head has had to be enlarged. He has been created as a separate figure, and in the photographs taken looking upwards, it is striking how much the pose presupposes the Crucifixion.
Work continues on the Virgin and Child, with both elements of the statue now coming together. One of the photos shows the sculptor lying on the floor, just so that he can see how the statues appear when looking upwards.
Casting a Bronze (slide presentation)