I began something recently, not smoke not water, something else I’ve been thinking about for many months. It comes from the spiral idea which you see in Twisty and Henry (Twisty II). I’ve had it in the vision of my mind, only I hadn’t figured out how to build it exactly. I’ve been waking up in the night and turning this form over in my mind, trying to discover the way to do it, while I fall back asleep. Thank God I’m not one of those people who lays awake at night unable to sleep. This I do just for my own amusement. So I saw finally how I could build it out of parts, basic shapes which would assemble into the piece, how many and what they’d be like. I’m beginning with modeling clay to rehearse how this will work. I’m not sure yet if this finally result in a wax for bronze, or a formal clay model from which to make a good mold, or what. I don’t have much in the way of prepared sketches either. The form is too complicated for me to draw well, so I need a process of sculptural “sketching” to work it out.

Here are some parts, as we say.

I can tell already that this will never free-stand, so I supposed I’d have to make an armature of some kind.

And now,