Gage Sculpture Group is Back!
 
 
Sculpture student Gillian Danby with instructor
Hanna Boos working on a clay nude.
 
 
 
The history of the Gage Sculpture Group spans over three decades. It traces back to the fall of 1963 when a small group of dedicated local artists convinced well-known Canadian sculptor Frances Gage to come from Toronto to teach classes in the basement of the Delhi Recreation Centre in Guelph. In 1989, Guelph sculptor Hanna Boos took over leading the group at their weekly Wednesday morning sessions. After a brief hiatus last year, Hanna will once again offer a new series of sculpture workshops January 19 to February 23, 2000. A second session will follow in March and April.
 
The course is open to both beginners and advanced sculpture students. “Sculpting,” explains Hanna, “requires learning about both technique and anatomy.” Novice students usually begin with models of hands, eyes, ears and skulls while the more experienced students generally make sculptures of a live model who attends the sessions. “The first challenge is to carefully look and observe proportions,” says Hanna. Sometimes a few preliminary sketches are made. The next step is to learn how to build up with clay and then hollow out. The workshop will also teach how to make an armature which is a wood or metal frame used to support the clay. The final step is learning how to fire the finished piece in a kiln.
 
Students may also choose to work in relief which involves starting with a flat piece of clay and building it up to a half inch or so. Other students may choose to explore abstract forms of sculpting.
 
In between the regular Wednesday morning sculpture sessions, Beverley Cairns of Elora will be offering a variety of specialty workshops such as mounting, painting, and casting techniques.
 
It’s not hard to understand the attraction many feel towards the tactile art form of sculpture. Hanna Boos, for one, enjoys expressing herself in this 3D medium. “It’s timeless, relaxing and very meditative for me,” she says, adding that “it’s entirely possible to totally
lose oneself.” May the Gage Sculpture Group continue its long, rich history!
 
 
For more information on the upcoming Sculpture Workshops, please call Hanna Boos (519) 836-2032.