On line art gallery

We are expanding our on-line presence for our insect sculpture collection some of which can now be viewed on www.onlinegallery.art

This new venture will hopefully encourage readers to peruse the art work of other artists on a site that offers a wide range of mediums, subjects and styles.

Too date the Hornet on the Apple shown below and the Stag beetle have been added to online gallery with more pieces coming soon. In our fictional world humanoids may playfully spar with hornets for grazing rights to an apple but thankfully the hornets dominance is secured by it’s greater armory and strength.

In this same fictional reality stag beetles often provide transportation and other services for their humanoid friends but their relationship is symbiotic not exploitative and both species enjoy the fruits of each other’s labor.

A new sculpture compliments Martin Pierce's original door hardware

To date Martin Pierce’s collection of fictional insects and entomophile humanoids sculptures has introduced us to stag beetles, wasp, hornets, and Jay birds, today we introduce the dung beetle.

Edition Size 30 Dimensions 10 1/2”W x 6”D x 9”H Price $ 2,600

The piece has moved from pattern and mold making to bronze and to a discussion of appropriate patinas and new pieces that will be associated with the dung beetle. The story line is developing to include family members and to a fictional portrayal  of this scarabs dung dwelling. Artistic license is playing a  role, so Martin is giving all adults horns even though in reality this attribute varies between species. The dung beetle is a semi-fossorial animal meaning it is a creature that has developed the skills and anatomy to dig and live some of its time underground. Consequently, the beetle has a strong compact body, bulldozer shaped head and 2 stout tooth like front digging legs for burrowing into dung. The remaining 4 legs are longer, more segmented and end in a serrated saw-like claw. This complicated organism is extremely dexterous and able to coordinate all 6 legs to walk, to  create a dung ball then manipulate and roll  the ball backwards and even bury the ball for offspring in the case of a brood ball. If that is not it enough, consider that it can also fly and that below the polished smooth wing casings are 2 powerful wings that can lift this small but heavy creature taking it to new feeding grounds.

Edition Size 30 Dimensions 10 1/2”W x 6”D x 9”H Price $ 2,600

In Martin’s fictional world the dung beetle co-exists with humanoids and when not caring for his family members helps till the soil and aerate the fields for seasonal crops for humans. The 2 species also collaborate in the annual insect race where humanoids act as riders and navigators to steer the backward moving beetle to the finish line. These scenes as well as other family members are hopefully going to take shape in sculpture and paintings over the next few years.

New Raven Sculpture Takes Shape

Following on in the quest for a perfect raven sculpture Martin has drawn his intended subject side on and full scale at 22” from tip of tail to tip of beak.  Using old school techniques to maintain the bird’s proportions he drew the raven on a 1” size grid and then increased the grid to 2” to achieve the correct size. While this could have been done in photo-shop with a grid tool, the size of the piece would have made it cumbersome.

He will now need to draw the front elevation, plan and top view so that he can correctly show the leg stance and wing position and capture the birds pre-flight position with the wings slightly apart.

Finding a captive raven to study for the other elevations has not been easy but we have found 4 ravens who are residents at the Big Bear zoo so will be travelling there soon to get some footage for the next stage.

Martin will be carving the raven in basswood which is a tight grain but relatively soft easy to carve hard wood. At this point he plans to carve the bird as whole sculpture to ensure its correctness from all elevations. Once it looks correct and mindful of the cost of and weight of bronze he will then cut the sculpture down the middle so that he can carve out the center and thus make the sculpture hollow.