Featured Artists
Featured Artist: Chad Bridges
Jul
The Mermaid
When I first started creating plaster sculptures, one of the biggest problems I ran into was the weight. This Mermaid sculpture is roughly 2‘ x 3‘ and weighs right around 75 pounds. And because I enjoy creating large sculptures, I had to figure out a way to make the sculptures lighter. That’s when I switched to using XPS foam as a base for the sculpture, then I would cover it in plaster. After I created the foam base, I would then apply the plaster, followed by the detailed work in the plaster.
The Osprey
I created this 3‘ x 3‘ Osprey sculpture that would have weighed over 75 pounds using only plaster, but by using XPS foam as the base and plaster as the detailing coat, it weighed only 7 pounds. This process worked great for a while until I had to ship one of my pieces to a client. That’s when I realized that weight was not the only issue with plaster, but strength and durability as well. No matter how well a plaster sculpture is packed, there’s a high risk of damage during shipping, as I unfortunately found out.
The Business Sign
I had a client request a business sign that would be an oval 4 feet wide by 26 inches tall by just over 4 inches thick. Something of that size would’ve been well over 100 pounds using the plaster method. I had to make sure that it was going to be durable because you never know how your client is going to treat your sculptures or who’s going to be around your sculptures. So I ended up looking for a product that could be applied thinly and still be durable without having to use caustic chemicals. I was surfing YouTube one day and came across Aves Apoxie Sculpt!!!
Aves is my new “go-to” sculpting medium!
Not knowing how this product was going to change my life in the art world, I did my research and realized that this could possibly be a product that would work very well with what I was trying to create. This oval sign that I created for a client only weighs 12 pounds by using XPS foam as the base and Aves Apoxie Sculpt detailed hard coat. Since completing this sculpture, I concluded that Aves Apoxie Sculpt will be my “go-to” sculpting medium.
Here are my current sculptures on which I will be applying Aves Apoxie Sculpt.
I absolutely love Aves Apoxie Sculpt! Thank you very much for allowing me to share my artwork in your newsletter.
Respectfully,
Chad Bridges
Website: ATB Designz
Instagram: @artchadbridges
