2022 10 Kate Church at Shake Rag Alley

 Metamorphosis: Creating a Figurative Sculpture with Kate Church

Shake Rag Alley, Mineral Point, WI

October 2-7, 2022

Sunday, 10/02/2022

Today I went out to breakfast with Denice before finishing the packing for the Kate Church workshop at Shake Rag Alley in Mineral Point, WI. I left Milwaukee around 10:30 a.m. and made my way southwest to the Wilmot Flea Market where I found some goodies that made the journey worthwhile. Then I headed west during which I made two more stops at Sunday antique stores where I also added to my larder.

In Mineral Point by 4:00 pm, I checked in at the Mineral Point Hotel. Prior to leaving Milwaukee I had heard that at no upcharge to me I was being shifted to their Jail Alley building so I was curious to see what that was about. As it turns out, their Jail Alley facility is a large house like place with six rooms including a kitchen. To say I am in more that I need would be an understatement.

At 6:00 p.m. tonight it was time for the group to meet at the Lind Pavilion for a taco dinner. We also got a tour of the Smeja Studio which is our location for class. I this was led by our instructor Kate Church and Sandy Scott, the Shake Rag host and owner of Longbranch Gallery.

Kate Church is from Nova Scotia, Canada. Her main art form is doll making and her work has been featured with Cirque du Soleil. She has a masterful way of crating dolls that tell stories while baring their souls. I took Kate’s 2019 class at Shake Rag and I am glad she is back to teach again.

Here is the class sample for our workshop this week.

After a nice meal and introductions, we all scattered back to our homes for a good nights rest before class actually begins tomorrow. 

Monday, 10/03/2022 - Friday, 10/08/2022

Our workshop is being held on the Shake Rag campus in the Smeja Studio.

Cheryl Smeja is a leather artist and the tools of her trade are still in the studio. 

Each of us got our own work space in the studio. Kate supplied us with clay, tools, face molds and sewn body forms. 

Kate is a master sculptor and she very generously teaches her technique.

We use polymer clay to construct the heads and makeup and pan pastels to color them.

The bodies are made with wire, stuffing and cloth sewn bodies.

We were asked to bring a mount for our main doll and I selected the boat and the pedestal for my work.

The base was painted with acrylics.

The outer shell of the boat was colored with pan pastels while the inside was finished with acrylic paint.

The sail was made from cardboard, pattern paper and paint.

I will be posting a blog after I take this work home and finish it.

Here are some photos of the work of my fellow workshop participants.

I want to thanks Shake Rag Alley, my fellow workshop attendees and especially the wonderful artist Kate Church for five fun filled days in the workshop.