Caring for your Sculpture

Mixed Media

The outer surface of my mixed media sculpture is acrylic paint...essentially a tough plastic coating. Most of my sculptures are also coated with a varnish designed to provide further protection from UV rays and scratching. Mixed media sculpture owners should be aware of the following:

• Handling and Transportation: Wash hands or use lint-free soft gloves when handling mixed media sculpture. Try to only touch the base. Transporting mixed media sculpture can be challenging. Use the threaded nuts in the bottom of the base to bolt your sculpture to a board for easy, safe transportation (older pieces are not equipped with threaded nuts).

• Dust: You can remove dust from your sculpture using a gentle air source, or if a stubborn dust patina has built up, with a soft brush.

• Sunlight: UV rays can cause paint finishes to fade. While I use the highest quality acrylic paint and varnishes and have never noticed any fading in my work, I encourage you not to display painted artwork in direct sunlight for long periods of time.

• Heat: Never expose your sculpture to heat that would be dangerous to a human, such as a closed car on a hot day. Acrylics and many glues can temporarily soften when heated, potentially distorting the sculpture.

• Physical Damage: My mixed media sculptures are tough and delicate at the same time. If you throw one across the room, it won't shatter, but something will likely crack, bend, or break off. If your sculpture has sustained physical damage, please contact me and I will be happy to help you...chances are I can make it look like new.

• Long Term Storage: If you are going to be storing mixed media sculpture for a long period of time, try to store it in a cool, dry place. If your piece was originally shipped to you, use the box it was shipped in for long term storage. Otherwise you can simply use an archival plastic bag.

Ceramics

Most people are somewhat familiar with caring for ceramics. Ceramic sculpture owners should be aware of the following:

• Handling and Transportation: Do not handle the sculpture excessively. Handle your sculpture by the thickest parts, and be particularly careful of thin parts and protrusions as they may break or chip. Most of my pieces are stoneware that is fired to cone 5. This means they are fairly tough. But some of my surface treatments are fired only to cone 04, which means they could be scratched if treated very roughly. When transporting, support and protect the sculpture with foam, bubble-wrap, or other appropriate packaging material and be especially careful of thin, delicate bits.

• Dust: You can lightly wash your ceramic sculpture with warm tap water and a soft brush. Do not soak. Do not use a dishwasher or cleaning agents.

• Sunlight: UV rays should not be a problem for ceramic sculpture, but for greatest care, do not display in direct sunlight for extended periods of time.

• Physical Damage: If you drop your sculpture on the floor you probably now have many many sculptures. If your sculpture has sustained physical damage, please contact me and I will be happy to try to help you. Please note that many of my ceramics have small cracks that develop during the drying and firing process. These are part of the unique character of the sculpture and will not grow over time unless subjected to freezing or other extreme stress.

• Long Term Storage: You could probably bury your sculpture in your backyard without ill effect, but I don't recommend it. Do not store ceramics in damp areas that are subject to freezing.