Daydreamer, sculpture english language

DREAMS OF THE DAY, or “DAYDREAMER”.

Grigiry Gurevich, story of a sculpture: “DAYDREAMER”.

Part 1
- [ ]
Accident.

I was leaving gas station and was ready to turn right  to a highway with pretty heavy traffic but stopped to be sure that no one is in my line. I finally was free to turn. Slowly start to enter right lane and suddenly huge truck hit my car on the front left, knocking a bumper of my car and making a dent. Both of us stopped and came out from our cars. I was pretty nervous because my passenger was a friend from Sankt Petersburg, Russia, beautiful young woman and we are going to visit Washington, DC. I must admit, she did not expressed fear or any negative emotions and was sitting in the car, waiting for the end of our situation patiently and come.
Somehow I felt guilty, thinking that I turned right without being more careful. On the other side, I perfectly realized, that this accident could be a fatal one.  But both of us were a live and not injured. Driver of a truck pointed on a flat tire and was ready to call police, when I immediately offer to pay for a damage I cause to his truck. Truck had a flat due to a bumping in to my car.
It was no aggression or any expression that he was angry.  I guess he looked at my pleasant and peaceful passenger and decided to make a deal on the spot as I want it as well. We agreed on $300. I had no cash on me, but ATM was right at the same gas station, where I withdrew cash and gave it to him.
Left side of my bumper was on the ground, still being attached to the right side of a car’s body.
I had no rope or any string to attach, at list temporary, left part of bumper. It would be impossible to drive anywhere with bumper hanging with one end being on the ground.
In a mean time, my beautiful guest was sitting quite and piecefully in the car, wating for the next my move.
I had no idea, what can be done in this situation. It was no one around that I could ask for help.
Situation is not too pleasant, honestly saying.
I, as usual, always rely on power of a Universe, still was looking around wherever I could, if something will come to my mind to do something to start moving.
Suddenly, I see on the ground, not far from a gas station, a nylon string, a loop - like. It was pretty long one. I was able to find something on the bottom of the car to attach a bumper with that nylon strip. Bravo!!!! Here we go.
If someone is looking for the answer to a question: what HAPPINESS is? I definitely can say, that it was right  here, right at the moment, when I found this nylon string!
It was no doubts that Washington trip definitely was  out of question. The only one thing I could do is to bring immediately car to a repair station, it means driving back to Jersey City, about half an hour away. To my luck, my friend said she is in good spirit and happy that we both are a live and have no injuries.
Much later, I realized, that actually, I was not guilty at all, when accident happened. I was turning to an empty part of a traffic, when truck driver
sharply turned from a second line to a first, where exactly at the same time I was turning on my right. He is the one, who must pay me money for a damage of my car!
But nothing now I can do and I must accept my loss.
I decided to come on the way to my home to stop at one body shop, not far from my house, to make an estimate on attaching a bumper back .  After looking at the problem, estimate was $3500!
I decide, that after so much excitement, we must go home and have good meal and I must think, before I will spend $3500!

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Part TWO,

STORY OF A “DAYDREAMER”, or “accidental collector”.

After a good, tasty home made meal and exciting conversation and great time, my friend was ready to fly back home to Sankt Petersburg and I had my morning for a next meditation, as I usually do since my childhood. My meditations started since I matured in some way, are visual and psychological. At this time I started to think about ways of repairing my car, spending as little as possible doing that.
By the law of physic, the more you spend time thinking, the less money you will  waste.
I decided to drive my car to rural part of Newark to a Egyptian car repair place, hidden from main traffic. Once this place was recommended to me by a man who repaired only vans in outskirts of Newark where no one will go except recommended people, mostly by black or Egyptians. I was maybe two times there and because I accept people as they are, no matter what race or religion they are, I establish right away eye contact with any person, the same, as with animals, looking in to their eyes and see if they will look in to my eyes the same way. Besides, I always bring one of my prints as a gift to the person, I’m dealing wit. This simple gesture opens up a heart of anyone and conversation brings friendly attitude right away.
I passed two bridges and made a sharp right then in to this repair station, looked like a huge dark space right on a side of Passaic River. If you need to get there, it will be almost impossible to find the entrance. From outside it looks like a huge dark place, but when you enter wide open gates, inside you can see about 8 Egyptian  guys working on different lifted cars and few others who help them. Before you enter this barn, you must pass many broken cars and parts lying all around in dirt. All work is done on the raw ground. There is no asphaltum or cement floor there. You feel like you enter a huge cave.
The owner is a young guy, always busy. Looks like he is a genius repair man who really loves what he does. It is his life, his passion and he knows what he is doing.
After parking my car behind pile of other cars, I entered and was patiently waiting for him to come over.
“Hi, what’s the problem this time?”
I right away opened my print.
“This is for you”
“Another one? I like very much what you gave me last time. All my family liked it”.
“It makes me happy. I have bumper hanging down on one side and a dent on left side”
“Bring it in. I will lift it. .........I see. Metal connections broke and bolts are missing. Your bumper has three parts. It will cost you $300, plus I have to order parts for your car. Usually parts for this Wolksvagen are expensive. Maybe additional $150. Total $450. But you have to wait for parts. Come over few days later. I will do it for you while you wait here.”
OK. Thanks. Great!
While we were talking, I noticed not too friendly looks of other guys around. I did not pay attention.
Next morning doing my meditation, I visualized a bumper being attached to other parts and metal connections, where bolts must connect bumper to my car.
I have to visit a HOME-DEPOT, a big hardware store in Jersey City.
I found what approximately could be connecting metal parts, but I must cut them in right size in right place and drill holes in them.  All together price was about $12 for four pieces.
I have all necessary tools to cut those, pretty thick pieces of metal and after cutting them to drill holes for bolts. Between my “found in trash objects” I found bolts matching diameter of holes.
It took 5 hours to make those parts. Next day I went back to my repair man.
“You did not tell me if I need to order parts”.
“I made those parts myself”
“What? How did you do that?”
“ I went to HOME DEPOT and made them myself”.
“It is impossible!”
“Let’s go: I will do it now”
He lifted my car and in forty minutes my car was ready to go.
“How much?”
“Give me a $100”.
“ Here is $150”.
“No, you do not have to give me more. You gave me your beautiful art work. It’s OK, brother».
«No, no, keep it. Thank you. See you possibly some other time”.
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- [ ] Thought about the accident still was in my mind. I did not know if I need to declare my Insurance agency about the accident. Time passed but my thought still was on my mind, should I declare about the accident, or not.
Once, I was shopping in Journal Square area and I see a sign “ ATTORNEY OFFICE”.
“I must ask my question”.
I’m opening a door. Secretary, “Hello! Do you have an appointment? Please sit”.
“Hello, is it OK if I will ask just one question?”
“What question?”
“I had an accident and we did not call police and I did not make a report to my insurance agency. Do I need to declare about the accident, or it is not necessary?”
“Just wait, I will ask if you can enter” ...... “ You can come in”.
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”May I come in?”
Lawyer was sitting behind the table, previously, as I understood, looking on the screen of a monitor. He looks like an intelligent, European style Egyptian person.
“What is your question? Take a sit for a second”.
“Here it is”, and I asked my question.
“What do you do? Where do you work? Where do you live?»
“I was not ready that you will have more questions to me, than I to you, but I’m an artist and I live in Jersey City, downtown”.
“An artist? Interesting. Do you have a website?”
“You can see me in WIKIPEDIA, find on GOOGLE, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Who is Who.......”
He found me right away.
“Oh, yes, you have interesting work! May I visit your studio?”
“Absolutely!”
“Tomorrow? As a lawyer, I suggest you to call the agency”.
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 Next day he came over, looked around.
“Impressive. I want to buy all your work. OK? How much?”

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On photos my studio and metal part being cut and left over.



PART3 of a story of “DAYDREAMER” sculpture.

The offer OF PURCHASING ALL MY ART WORK AT ONCE was unexpectable and made me think.
I started to imagine empty walls in my apartment. All work is gone. I have a new beginning and big chunk of money. It is very tempting to say, “great, I’m going for that!”. From another side,I will miss being surrounded with my art. Besides, if I give up all what I did during my life time for certain amount of money, that means that the price for the individual piece will be miserable.

“I have ro think about your offer”.

“I really like your work. Think about the offer, make an estimate, price list and we will discuss it further when you will be ready. Here is my business card. You have interesting sculptures here. I specifically like this bronze piece. When did you make this one?”
He pointed on a “DAYDREAMER” bronze piece, which was resting on a wooden pedestal for more than 10 years and was exhibited only in a few shows.
When I was teaching sculpture in Newark School of Fine and Industrial Arts in City of Newark, in a huge, three floor studio with high selling and steps going to the balcony if you need to do a big scale sculpture, many wooden surface tables where filled with the dust from dry clay which was impossible to clean because of rough texture of them and they absorbed clay since this Art School was established 100 years ago, where water from two faucets was brown from rusted 100 years old pipes and all students were washing by this water hands two times a day when they were taking a break and when they were living my class and I washed my hands 10 times during my class session with them every time  I finish my demonstration and several times after they take a break because I was constantly sweeping dusty floor from water based clay, cleaning rough textured tables with a wet dirty rugs and preparing clay for a next group and at the end of class again repeating the same process of cleaning, so in the morning or next class desks will be decent to start new session.
My style of teaching sculpture to my students was not based on a lecture, but practical. When students come to my huge, light studio with three big windows, I pass equal amount of clay to all 12-15 students, ripping clay off from a box for students and myself, about 3- 4 lb. (pounds, equal to about 6 kilo), and after greeting them (in the US , at list in this school, students often are coming to class in the morning without even saying hello, or Good Morning, but I do), I start to do a demonstration, so all of them will watch how from a mess of clay body evolves a clear image. I sculpt with two hands and I have no idea how it happened. I’m righty and write, draw, and use tools, cut bread, sharpen my tools, all I do only with my right hand, but I sculpt with two hands and , as I noticed, other sculptors do the same, use two hands, what a fenomenal case!!!
I teach my students a proportion of sculpture elements, deep relief, shadow and light inner relationship and art anatomy.
After my 20 minutes demonstration, all of them try to sculpt what they observed during my demonstration. My session is two and a half hour with one group and after one hour and 20 minutes brake, another group is coming. By demonstrating to them second time in a day, I perfect my skills and I like it. What I do for 20 minutes, my students do for about 3 sessions, about 7 hours. Naturally, I come over to each of them and explain what has to be done differently, changed, why and how, but newer - the - less, I still have plenty of free time on my hands and I do not just sit and watch them sculpting, but I do always something from my head. I think, it is good for them to see, that artist always has to be busy, thinking and creating something new.
This huge studio had two small rooms. One was an office, I guess, deep on the right with a small window and another, on the left side of a studio space, possibly a storage place. There I usually store my back pack. I always carry a back pack because my life is life of a traveller. I’m on the go all my life and I always have something to carry with me.
Office space had a table and I adapted it for sculpting there and keeping started sculpture there. Door is always open and anyone can come in and see what I’m doing there. During 12 years of teaching there, not one thing was destroyed or stollen from my studio, except one new student, who arrived to art school by recommendation of Newark Board of Education stall from my back side pocket my valet with all my documents, cards and $40 cash in it. It was unpleasant and I noticed by his look that he was the man who did that. I had no real proof and I let it go, but declared this case to the office and soon he did another theft and was  kicked from a school.
While my students perfected their assignment, I started to mess clay and improvise. I had no idea what will happen under my fingers, but something was coming slowly, but shorly.
This how my “DAYDREAMER” was conceptualized.

Grigory Gurevich, this is one of my 20 minutes demonstration on sculpting parts of human face “MOUTH AND LOWER PART OF A NOSE”. Demonstration was done in clay, but this as a hydrocal cast, from a mold I made after a clay sculpture and made a backing as well and it is painted with acrylic paint.

“DAYDREAMER”,  PART 4.

OFFER

I decided to experiment with my “admirer» of my work and see what will happen next.
First I sent an email informing that I decided not to sell all my collection AT ONCE, but to give him a chance to purchase what he likes the best relating to his aesthetic and financial preference.

I selected close to 80 framed and some un framed pieces, made a long list and emailed it to him.
In about two days I received an email, that he would like again revisit my studio and to look at my art and than he will decide what is really the best work for his collection.

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 THE PROCESS

After one of my demonstrations to my students of NEWARK School of Fine and Industrial Arts (NSFIA), I gathered  about 70lb of clay and on the table of what I call  “an office”, started to assemble this clay on a metal pipe, attached to the wooden base.

it took many art classes before I finally finished my sculpture improvisation.

Right in front of my students I made a plaster negative, so they will learn simplest and cheapest way of casting. This first plaster cast require “shims” - small plates of any thin and flexible metal material which like a meridian will go up and down on the sculpture, separating front from back.
Negative is made outside of clay original and afer separation from original clay is used for another project. And negative has to be assembled together, brushed with clay inside and now plaster is poured inside to make another original.

Now, the sculpture exist only as an air on the inner parts of a negative. By putting two parts of negative together we receive a shell, where inner empty part of sculpture is an air sculpture. Those parts with the hole on the top for pouring plaster in, must be tight by a rope or rubber strip.

I made two casts - one plaster and one -  cement. After they dried, I could start chasing them. Chasing is a very long and tedious process. You work with many different tools: chisel, metal or wood carving tools, you constantly make small butches of plaster, filling holes, carving, cutting, adding, subtracting, filing, sending and...... finally it is ready, possibly in two to three weeks.
To make story shorter, when one sculpture is ready, I decided to cast one original in bronze. It has to be done in special casting studios called “FOUNDRY”.
I drilled a hall in a granit bace with a diamond powder drill in order to attach sculpture to my brown plate of granit. I saved money by making my wax, chasing it, made a robber negative and after bronze was casted, chased bronze at home with my own tools and dremel tool. It saved me about two and a half thousand dollars.

My “DAYDREAMER” entered only few exhibitions during many ears. Bronze sculpture is very heavy and it is not easy to bring it up and down, up and down, so sculpture stayed in my house without being heavily exhibited.

When my new collector came over to see my art, first, I asked him if he was able to select any pieces from my list.  He did nor respond, but was looking around. Suddenly he said that he has an offer:  What if he will buy every month five of my pieces, what discount he will have for each piece?  I was not ready for that, but I must respond right away, so I said, how about 10%?

“That will be fine. I will be your stable collector than. What is your price for this bronze?” He pointed on my “DAYDREAMER”.

“As I wrote before, the price is $20,000.00”.

“How about this: because I will be your permanent buyer, I can buy today this your sculpture for half price, Is it OK?”

I’m a bad sales person, but I learned from other artists, that if offer comes right now and buyer can pay on a spot, do not refuse. Next offer maybe newer will come again.
I said, YES.
HE PULLED A PACK OF $100s.
I brought my sculpture and placed it in his car’s trunk. We shake hands and drove away.

I have newer heard from him again.

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How I PURCHASED my DAYDREAMER

Small piece of land  on the side of an entrance was a perfect place for my cement cast of a DAYDREAMER.
I collected few stones in one spot to lift sculpture above the ground and installed my sculpture there. It looked like it rests in right place. Greenery, branches, grass looked like a continuation of a floral decoration of a sculpture.
Few days later I looked down and my DAYDREAMER was gone.
Obviously, it was stollen.  
There is nothing I can do about it. I get used that my paintings, prints, sculptures go away, stollen by gallery owners, by strangers who rent a room in my apartment and I discover a loss much later, ETC.

Newer - the - less, I still was thinking, who could take this sculpture?
My visual morning meditation gave me one idea, I thought is worth attention. Periodically I see one homeless woman is moving in front of her a shopping cart. My inner voice told me that I must talk to her. When I’ve heard through the window a noise of moving shopping cart outside, I grabbed one apple and run downstairs. I was there in right time. She was pushing her empty cart in front of her. All what she wear, her shoes, her dress and a jacket and scarf on her head and the post her showed that she is lonely soul, abandoned by society.
“Excuse me, miss”, I started, the same time giving her an apple. She stopped and slightly straightened her hunchback - like spine.
“This is for you”.
She looked at me and I see a question in her eyes.
“Yes, please take it”, she slowly took an apple and again, looked at me.
“What do you want from me?” I was reading in her eyes.
“I wanted to ask you, if you noticed by some chance a sculpture was standing right here, near these steps?” I pointed in the corner of a ground where now were just couple of stones left over.
She gave me a long look.
“This is a sculpture I made myself and it took long time to make it. Perhaps you know where it is?”
She did not stop looking at me, I guess thinking if she can open for me some kind of secret she knows.
I was patiently waiting.
She looked at her cart and slowly picked her eyes again on me.
“Your sculpture is in a store, on the corner of Grove and Montgomery Streets. You have to talk to the owner. My partner brought it there few days ago”.
I was amazed. My sculpture was one block from me.
“Thank you so much”, I touched her shoulder in appreciation and right away went to the junk store, which was opened on this corner about only few weeks ago.
Store was on the ground level and only couple of windows gave a minimum light there. I stepped in, greeted the owner and asked if I can look around.
He nodded.
“Are you looking for any particular thing, if I can help you?”
“Nothing in particular, just looking”.
Suddenly, very high, almost under the sealing, I noticed my sculpture is resting on the shelf.
“Excuse me, you have here sculpture. May I ask you, how much is this sculpture, if it is still for sale?”
“ Ah, this one? It is a good piece. Arrived only few days ago. You can give $150 and take it. Few people were looking at it, but did not come back”.
“Actually, it is my sculpture. I made it and I put it on the ground right in front of an entrance to a house where I live and I had a conversation with a homeless woman who told me that my sculpture is in your store. It was stollen from me.”
“Oh, sorry to hear that. I did not know it. In this case, you can just take it. I gave to someone $5 for bringing it here, but you take it, if it is yours”.
“Thank you. Here is my $5 to you as a compensation for your loss.”
I brought sculpture home, painted it in green acrylic, brushed acrylic sealer over to protect sculpture against bugs, inserted metal pole, cemented it and put it back in the ground, where it belongs to.
A year, or so, later, workers were changing a gas ballon in this ground and broke my DAYDREAMER. I just left it there as a memory of my work.

Grigory Gurevich, copyright June 4, 2020, Jersey City.