Introduction

In this workshop Lisa Reinertson will guide students in an exploration of the figurative ceramic sculpture inspired both by working from life, and by the great figurative sculptures of the Italian Renaissance.

Instruction

To get inspiration from the Renaissance, we will begin the week with a visit to Florence and the Bargello Museum where we will see the amazing sculptures of Donatello, Michelangelo, and Della Robbia. On return to the studio, we spend our first five mornings working with a live model, doing figure studies in bas-relief, and small 3-D figure studies. In the afternoons, we will each work on a mid-size hollow built sculpture inspired by the artwork seen in Florence. This can either be a 3-D wall piece like the Della Robbias, or a sculpture in the round.

Techniques

Firstly, we will do warm-up sketches with the model and sketches to develop the concept for the final sculpture. Each day, Lisa will work along with the students providing many opportunities for demonstrations of her sculpting techniques. Furthermore, she will show slides and provide one-on-one feedback on construction, composition, and conceptual issues. While your sculptures are being fired we will return again to Florence for a visit to the Academia to see Michelangelo’s David and his powerful “Slave” sculptures.

Logistics

Students will study in the beautiful environment of La Meridiana, hosted in nearby accommodation and a full meal will be served on all course days.

The artist

Lisa Reinertson is a California artist known for her life -size figurative ceramic sculptures and her large-scale public sculptures cast in bronze. Her work has an underlying humanism that addresses environmental concerns. Public commissions of historic leaders of Peace include sculptures of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Cesar Chavez. In her work, Reinertson combines a realism rooted in figurative art traditions with a contemporary expression of social, political and psychological content.
Reinertson completed her MFA at UC Davis in 1984, studying with Robert Arneson, and Manuel Neri. She has taught figurative ceramic sculpture at several universities and colleges in California. Her ceramic work has been in exhibitions and museums nationally and internationally, and is in several public and private collections. www.lisareinertson.com