First comes the idea. In this case: a strong, mature figure, representing Wind. You can hear the air flapping across her body; and yet, she tries to listen to something, a small, nearly negligible sound perhaps, a sound from a quiet place behind her. Then the execution. I start with the face, because if the expression isn't right I'll have to start over. Once the face is done I complete the head around it, but do not apply the hair yet - that would come later when I decide on the direction of the gales of wind.
Then I do the feet and hands, in accordance with the movement I have in mind. They are hollow with the exception of fingers and toes.
Meanwhile, I build the neck under the head. It too is hollow. (in general the 'wall thickness' is half a centimeter for any structure I create. Then I proceed to build the shoulders, arms are created, the hands are attached.
So far, the sculpture stands vertically. At this point I need to lay it horizontally to continue work on the body - or else it will collapse upon itself. (Of course, I create an internal armature inside the sculpture as I build it.)
So I lay it on a wooden shelf, create legs, body, build scuffoldings in places the movement needs to 'lift' the figure away from the shelf. The scuffolding is made of clay so it will shrink at the same rate as the figure itself.
At this point I work on the garments, in this case it is more then a 'decorative' detail - it is in fact the structure that will support the sculpture when it will finally stand upright. Her feet are not touching the ground - she is floating above, so it is the garments that hold her up there. Hair is added.
Once the piece is bisque fired I intend to glaze the garments with a transparent glaze, so they will have a different shine than her skin, and fire her again.
