by Louana M. Lackey - Ceramic Arts Daily

More documents

Recommendations

Info

At the Archie Bray several terra cotta figures at the Bray to use for dioramas of Native American costume and related exhibits. Rudy was assigned the task of making a large Lewis and Clark diorama. Toole wanted him to illustrate the expedition on the day in 1805 when Lewis set out to discover a route to the Pacific while Clark was left behind with a larger group to reconnoiter the head- waters of the Missouri. Rudy was no expert on dioramas. In fact, I’d never even heard of them. The dioramas he had in mind were exhibits showing bucking broncos, wild buffalo exhibits, scenes from Virginia City—small accurate models of buildings—a kind of childlike fantasyland with exhibits of various kinds. I had no skills along these lines, but I was confident I could model Lewis and Clark diorama, 1954. Mixed media, 7 ft. 10 ft. 9 ft. Montana State Historical Society Museum, Helena, Montana. 39
40 RUDY AUTIO figures. After looking at the painful efforts of some of the artists Ross had hired earlier, I knew it wouldn’t be difficult, so I modeled some sample studies. Ross loved the studies and his staff was joyous. Here was an artist who could create the figures they needed. The historical society did the research for Rudy, who took leave from the Bray for the project. He began <strong>by</strong> developing the figures from beeswax. They started to take shape at home where he could keep the beeswax warm and malleable on the kitchen stove. For weeks afterward, Lela worked to get the stove burners unclogged. Rudy later switched to petroleum wax, which was easier to model than beeswax and didn’t crystallize or become moldy. He constructed the figures over wire armatures, which made them rigid enough to place into position in the exhibit. In addition to modeling the figures with authentic costumes, Rudy had to paint the diorama, model its landscape, and fill it with figures, canoes, tents, camping gear—the works. He did a great deal of improvising to build ground forms, riv- ers, and canoes, and to find indigenous grasses and colorful material typical of the site on the Beaverhead. Muriel Guest from the Bray and Bob Morgan helped him with some of the basic work. Morgan was a sign painter and exhibits designer who later became a popular wildlife artist. Les Peters, also a wildlife painter who had a good sense of the western landscape, painted the background, successfully merging it with the foreground and the three-dimensional figures. People began to drop <strong>by</strong> to watch the progress of the work. Once the figures of the Lewis and Clark expedition were finished and painted, they were put into place in the exhibit. When the exhibit was finally finished, it was seven feet high, ten feet wide, and nine feet deep. Rudy describes the scene, which depicted
Page 1 and 2: y Louana M. Lackey
Page 3 and 4: Published by The American Ceramic S
Page 5 and 6: Contents Foreword by Peter Voulkos
Page 7 and 8: BI Know Rudy eing in Rudy Autio’s
Page 9 and 10: Company in Helena. The firm’s own
Page 11 and 12: Lela Autio, 1952. 24 RUDY AUTIO on
Page 13 and 14: Peter Voulkos, Rudy, and Pete Meloy
Page 15 and 16: Archie Bray, 1952. 28 Change in Lea
Page 17 and 18: 30 RUDY AUTIO Rudy also had begun t
Page 19 and 20: 32 RUDY AUTIO Sermon on the Mount,
Page 21 and 22: 34 RUDY AUTIO Bird and Egg, early 1
Page 23 and 24: 36 RUDY AUTIO work had begun to cha
Page 25: 38 for a new car, he found temporar
Page 29 and 30: 42 Pete and Peggy Voulkos and “tr
Page 31 and 32: 44 RUDY AUTIO Christ Surrounded by

by Louana M. Lackey - Ceramic Arts Daily

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?